LSE Economics or NTU Accountancy and Business
 

Hello all,

I am in some dire need of advice, because I feel rather lost and confused about my future.

I got an offer from LSE Economics. I originally intended to go on a scholarship, but didn't manage to secure a govt scholarship. I am now left with the options of going LSE self-financed and to stay local and study a double degree in Accountancy and Business at NTU.

Going to LSE will cost about 150K - 200K, and my family isn't super rich, just the typical heartlander family staying in HDB 5-room.

Can anyone tell me the career prospect of an LSE graduate? People kept telling me "oh you can go into investment banking and earn a lot of money", but honestly speaking, isn't it very tough to get into the good front office roles?

I will only go to LSE if I know that the future career prospect is great, and it is worth the initial investment in school fees. Any advice from you guys who are already working and know more information?

Thank you!

Stay local. There is no guarantee that having LSE degree will surely succeed. You can always take a master degree overseas when you've accumulated enough wealth of your own later in life instead of 'taxing' on your parents' retirement fund

Okay, thank you for your opinion.

Right now the only thing that is swaying me to LSE is the fact that it has always been my dream school. I also thought about getting a mid-term scholarship and get bonded to a stat board, but then again it is not guaranteed that I would get it.

As for NTU Accountancy and Business, I am fine with it, just that I really have never considered accountant as a career choice..

I have been browsing the forums and many are saying the outlook in finance sector is very bleak, the industry is shrinking etc. Pretty confused..

Studying in NTU Accountancy is always the safest bet if all other plans don't work out. U won't go wrong.

I think it is a bad idea to incur >150k for your LSE study. Career-wise, LSE is definitely way more advantageous than NTU. BUT, it is very unlikely that the LSE education can develop your career in a way that justify such a large investment.

Finance career is not accountancy. Like the other forumer said, an accountant would never get out of job. Whether recession or boom time, every firm still need their finance lifeline to be processed by humans. But prepared to work late hours, esp in early career stage.

Dude...i know what i am talking about. To get into the finance industry, studying in accountancy is one of the most feasible routes. It's NOT just about doing audit and accountancy. It opens the doors to banking, business related industry etc.

Since you've your mind set, you should have this thread closed.

why is CSLEE sprouting nonsense? don't know anything yet still wanna talk so much. haha.

now i can see why you can't get govt scholarship despite stellar results. you lack some key attributes: humility, eq etc. a far cry from my PSC scholar colleagues and bosses.

I am afraid I may become your boss in a few year's time. haha.

Hello CSLee...

I think you mixed up and got the wrong person. I am the original poster and I am always logged on (-: I didn't post as an unregistered guest and made the previous posts..And not sure who is the unidentified person.

As for why I didn't get a govt scholarship. I thank you for your feedback, and of course agree that humility is a key trait.

Thank you for responding on the thread nonetheless.

Go to LSE! I am studying in the UK now. Almost everyone that I know who is averaging a first class have a summer internship with a BB front office firm. 20% of the econs student in LSE gets a first class. I am not sure what is the percentage for NTU but I can guarantee that it would be a lot harder. If you want to do investment banking, the choice is pretty clear IMO. Every year JP morgan front office in London has 40-50 places. In Singapore, probably 1-2. You might think that there is a larger pool of applicants in UK. However, IB only recruit from 5 schools in the UK, thus the actual pool is a lot smaller and thus it is relatively easier to get a top job than in Singapore.

Though it would really depend on you family finances. If they still can afford, I would think it is a worthwhile investment. Speak to your seniors, I believe they can give very good advice. Look at linkedin profiles of LSE Econs Singaporean students.

Take the bet, you are too young to be conservative.

+1. Go to LSE. It really is a much more WOW factor on your cv than local. It is also much easier to do well in UK than Singapore, contrary to popular belief. The standard in UK is lower but for some strange reason it has a better reputation.

Take a student loan. Try applying to non govt scholarships or bursaries, like ngee ann kongsi or hokkien huay kuan. There might also be scholarships available in your GRC, go check on that. Then when you are in London, you can apply to uni-affiliated scholarships as well. I knew someone in my year who managed to get 3-4 scholarships. Not super high value each, but managed to recoup about half the cost. Then, you can also work part time. The course load is very light, I honestly had about 12-15 hours of classes a week in total, not including all the classes I skipped. I still got a first class.

Good luck with your decision.

yup, this is true. I reckon ~5%. and that's why I always encourage people to go overseas for undergrad if possible.

NTU double degree in biz and accountancy cant make it. Better to go smu where they train students to be more vocal, knowledgable+gain more international exposure

The reputation of SMU is on the decline man... Just look at the forums all around

Oh look the same insecure smu mouthpiece from the "SMU economics or NTU Business" thread is starting to infest this one as well. LOLOLOL. Go back to mugging lah. I see you're not really that bright, so you need to prepare extra hard for class part tomorrow, if not you will look like a fool in front of your vocal and knowledgeable peers.

Forum posts are most of the time made by trolls that have no idea what they are saying and feed on the rage and tears of others. Straits times would be a more accurate gauge. That is if you bother reading.

Oh look, another paranoid fool trying to compare different uni;s to see which one is better. No one mentioned here which uni they are from, but judging by your intellectual capacity, you won't even survive the first few hours studying in a university.

We need more construction workers and road sweepers you know. Your'e more than welcome to join :)

Hmm, the arrogance and stupidity is strong in this one. I would say 80% you're an NTU student

I would say 99.9%

Yep, SMU is garnering more favorable attention from the public as well as the corporate world:

://.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/adding-diversity-the-university-scene-20140126

Naive moron. All uni;s have their strength and weaknesses. You wanna compare NTU vs SMU?


Reasons why Employers choose NTU :

(Can't find any LOL->No reason at all. )

Reasons why Employers choose SMU :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MV1ZUtwXaY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MV1ZUtwXaY


Why students should choose NTU marketing video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cukOWFmYmYA

^I would say good effort put in trying to advertise your campus. (serious here for a second)

Why students choose SMU marketing video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45yn3bb7srg


Just look at the way both uni's present themselves.

We can tell how much effort put in by each faculty to present themselves to attract top minds, and there is no doubt more effort put in by the smu faculty. They portray themselves as a world class tertiary institution for people who want to be different and push themselves beyond their comfort zone to get what they want. Hence the slogan, "A different U"

Now lets take a look NTU: "Global leaders for (lol) sustainable world"

This was their recent catch phrase up to 1-2 years ago when they decided they need to have a direction in where they wanna be for NBS. All they can do is throw rankings around saying they are the best uni in asia but sadly that is all they can do. Ever heard of the hokkien saying "Zui gong, lamp pah song" （嘴说睾丸爽）

If people say that SMU gets students by using "sham marketing strategy" well, we can tell they certainly do a much better Job than NTU and it speaks to which one puts in more effort to train and groom their students just by they way they display themselves and testimonials from students and employers all over.

But that said, I will make a standpoint that all uni's have their strength and weakness and one is no better than the other. They all have equal strengths and weakness.

150K is peanuts for a first class education.

Just make sure you give your parents more pocket money when you start working,

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Save the money and go local. There are plenty of NTU business students who make it into high paying jobs in IB, S&T and PE.

If you are willing to work hard and hustle hard, you will make it.

Secondly, it sucks to be young and full of debt.

go to smu bro, its the best

If your family can afford it, go to LSE. Then try to get a job in London if you are keen on working there.

If not, come back to Singapore and I don't think you would have an issue landing a good job.

If you want to hedge, you can use your spare time to study for ACCA. There's no need to go to NTU Accountancy actually.

IMO, it's better to take a degree in a non-accountancy area and take ACCA if you are keen to have more options.