What are the best choices in the UK for an M&A lawyer wanting to change industries and trying to land a job in investment banking in the UK (EU citizen and therefore no visa issue), specifically in an investment bank with a strong M&A practice?

I am thinking:

LBS - For obvious reasons. Best program in the UK and one of the best in the world. But I would have to pull off at least 700 on my GMAT and although I really think I can do it, it ain't gonna be easy...

Oxbridge - Once again, obvious reasons. Two of the most renowned universities in the world. However, their MBA is only, one year long and that worries me a bit. And I would have to get at least 680 to 690 on my GMAT. Once again, it's doable, but not a walk in the park.

Manchester - One of the most realistic choices in my opinion. An 18-month program with internship component, which is rather useful for students seeking a shift in industry and a greater improvement in networking. But it's not in London (and it lacks the worldwide reputation of Oxbridge and LBS). So I'm not sure if it would be possible to get a job in investment banking coming out of MBS.

Imperial - A reasonable choice also, but lacks the reputation of LBS and Oxbridge and, although almost at the same level of MBS, it is a shorter program and I am not sure whether it is really helpful toward such a big career shift. It has the advantage of being in London.

Warwick, Cass, Cranfield - One year programs, in universities that for some reason don't quite appeal to me too much... Maybe it's because of my legal background and the fact that they don't have a very strong law school... I know Imperial and LBS don't have law schools also, but as part of the University of London they make up one very reputable institution...

Don't rule yourself out. Poets and lawyers aren't expected to get super-high GMAT scores. But pay attention to which schools have alumni doing M&A, not just the ones with law schools.

In order, the schools to focus on are London Business School > University of Cambridge > Cass Business School > Cranfield University > University of Oxford > Imperial College London > Manchester > Henley > University of Warwick.

Cass, of course, is a sister to the City Law School, which was the Inns of Court School of Law. I guess that's a network to consider.

PS you are right that the internship at MBS could be a huge advantage. But is your personal network enough to get you that internship? M&A is superhot, since every MBA wants to work long hours for someone else in M&A and then set up a PE house with other people's money ten years later. Lots of competition for a sector that's not really known for hiring MBAs. It might be easier to work on due diligence...

Thanks JK.

I guess that my legal background would qualify me to work on due diligence. But you think an MBA then wouldn't be that useful for me?

That would certainly be useful...

I think it's important to decide whether you want to go on the best programme, the one most highly rated in the rankings or the one most likely to convince an employer in your chosen industry to hire you.

If you are certain that you want to go into investment banking, I'd advocate the third option, which would point to LBS and Cass (in that order), due to the brand value/rankings of the former and the geographical location and hence employer relationships of both.

But bear in mind that a lot of people change their career ambitions while studying for MBAs, and it may be that there are better programmes elsewhere, albeit that they may not score more highly in the rankings.

Thanks Mistermark.

I guess it's pretty clear to me that I want to go to the best program possible AND with better rankings AND that is most likely to enhance my employability.

With that in mind, LBS is the most obvious choice. The problem is that it's not very easy to get in, but I've got a year to prepare for the GMAT and to work on my essays (I want to apply for the 2015 intake). I will work toward LBS, but will have Oxbridge, Cass, MBS and Imperial on my application list also just in case. I know they don't quite have all of the features I am after together, but if I can't pull LBS off I will just have to make due with one of them... Assuming I will get at least one offer...

Thanks for the help!

You're right on track. Strangely enough, I did a quick search on LinkedIn for MBAs working in the UK in the top M&A firms, and these were the main schools they came from (listed by number of graduates)

LBS
INSEAD
Cass
Manchester
Warwick
Cambridge
Imperial

INSEAD is a shocker - but maybe it's just that a lot of their grads tend to sign up and list themselves on LinkedIn. Although they do have a strong London network for finance.

Thanks, mba hipster.

That's very useful information.

I haven't prepared for the GMAT yet, but I am hopeful... However I know LBS is not going to be easy... But I think I'll be able to get offers from Cass, MBS and Imperial... Cambridge might be a bit harder but I also think I can do it...

INSEAD is a huge school: for much of its life it produced more accredited MBAs than every other school in Europe added together. So it's not a surprise to see it on this list.