School Choice: UCL MRes+MPhil/PhD in Econ or Cambridge MPhil in Econ Research?

[rbinzhu]

I'm just gonna cut the crap and get straight to the topic.

I got 2 offers for the above programs. For those who are less familiar with these 2 programs (since its a US-dominated forum):

Cambridge: leading to a PhD conditional on an average grade of 70 across the modules in MPhil, and by historical statistics, 50-70% students met the criteria. However, funding is not guaranteed. 

UCL: No funding for MRes (but I can afford the MRes). Average of 50% across courses to enter the MPhil/PhD, where there will be TA positions for unfunded students and it will generally cover the tuition fees + 20k annual stipend. 

I know Cambridge Econ is rock bottom these days, but this is why I am struggling:

1) I plan to go for Macro, and Cambridge seem to have a larger faculty, where UCL's strengths are in labor and econometrics. 

2) Although the program is criticized for its poor teaching quality and less guidance provided to students, but dude, its Cambridge. Although I am not considering entering the industry, but who knows what will happen 10, 20 years later, and Cambridge definitely dominates over UCL. 

Finally, I hope you guys could offer me some suggestions.