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School of Oriental and African Studies

London

Why is SOAS so under rated?

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i dont know, i know its one of the largest chambers in the country, is a radical left wing chambers and has an outstanding reputation for human rights. the magic circle firms are solicitors not barristers ? correct me if im wrong but none of them are chambers. i wouldnt want to work at a right wing chambers and i wouldnt want to do anything but human rights representation (which falls into many categories).

School of Oriental and African Studies

London

Reply 21

President_Ben

If you going to mention BCG, Goldman...

1) LSE has an undergraduate population of 3500ish.
2) Very few from SOAS get into front office position in banking. I haven't and nor has anyone else remarked of anyone from SOAS making the interview stage, let alone assessment centre and then onto the job offer. I'm sure some exist, but they are by far the exception, rather than anything approaching 'a rule'.

SOAS is good at what it does, which is a lot of academic work relating to that specialist area it covers. It is significantly less good and less focused on high prestige and profit maximising business.

Reply 22

lukeyboy

i would like to do my postgrad at lse anyway, what sort of weighting is a postgrad qualification given ?

Reply 23

Klinsmannic

SOAS is good at what it does, which is a lot of academic work relating to that specialist area it covers. It is significantly less good and less focused on high prestige and profit maximising business.

If I'm not mistaken, after NGOs and Charities, PWC is the third largest employer of soas grads.

what is pwc ?

and what sort of companies are NGOs

Reply 26

President_Ben

Alias667

and what sort of companies are NGOs

PWC are the largest graduate employer in the UK and struggle to recruit in strength from the best unis in the UK because their graduates would rather take on the 'tough stuff' of the business world (strategic consultancy, investment banking). Not a good measure use. In fact, an awful one.

NGO = non-government organisation (many shapes and sizes that, can include anything from the IMF and World Bank to specialist QUA-NGOs - quasi-autonomous NGOs which are in the UK, regulators of industry).

Reply 27

Klinsmannic

NGOs are Non-Governmental Organisations, falling under the broad category of civil society...they basically operate in the 'space between government and the general public' (i forget the name of the author). Obvious examples include Red Cross/Crescent and Medicines Sans Frontieres, altough there are hundreds of them operating in a single country.

PWC is PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a prof. services firm, basically a 'big-4' accounting company.

Reply 28

Klinsmannic

It is significantly less good and less focused on high prestige and profit maximising business

Not a good measure use. In fact, an awful one.

So PWC is not a profit maximising business?

The point im trying to make is that soas doesn't just churn out workers for NGOs and charities, on the contrary.

Reply 29

Piers-

President_Ben

Firstly, not all business is profit maximising.

And your definition of second choice is looking really wide. SOAS is definitely not second choice in the most competitive graduate recruitment areas (strategic consultancy, the magic circle for law and investment banking)

Second choice meaning, quite simply, that it is not first choice for people wishing to go directly into business. I would have thought it obvious from the context :confused:

President_Ben

Very few from SOAS get into front office position in banking. I haven't and nor has anyone else remarked of anyone from SOAS making the interview stage, let alone assessment centre and then onto the job offer. I'm sure some exist, but they are by far the exception, rather than anything approaching 'a rule'.

Considering the very nature of SOAS, very few try to get into front office banking positions, in comparison to LSE. SOAS is excellent at what it does: Oriental and African studies. As you said, it is not focused on profit maximising business. It is not that kind of place.

Reply 30

President_Ben

Piers-

Second choice meaning, quite simply, that it is not first choice for people wishing to go directly into business. I would have thought it obvious from the context :confused:

.

Considering the very nature of SOAS, very few try to get into front office banking positions, in comparison to LSE. SOAS is excellent at what it does: Oriental and African studies. As you said, it is not focused on profit maximising business. It is not that kind of place.

PWC is a pretty low prestige profit maximiser (for individuals) compared to the likes of investment banks or strategic consultancy. The highest paid accounting partner earned a few million and only a handful made over a million in the year. Banks individually turn out hundreds of new ones per year.

Meanwhile, SOAS is more like... 15th or beyond choice for people wanting to go directly into lucrative business sectors. 2nd choice is some kind of bunfight between Oxford, Cambridge, LSE (and maybe Imperial).

Reply 31

Johan C

I agree with every word you've said President, but which ones are first choice then ?

Reply 32

President_Ben

Johan C

I agree with every word you've said President, but which ones are first choice then ?

Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and Imperial in the top tier.

UCL and Warwick below that.

Bristol, Nottingham.

Some kind of general mish-mash of Bath, Durham, York, Kings, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Manchester and a few others.

SOAS below that.

Reply 33

lukeyboy

i cant accept that for what it does SOAS is not as good as manchester, thats slightly ridiculous.

Reply 34

Socrates

President_Ben

By business, I'm referring to the most competitive jobs in the world of finance, public service (diplomacy, Bank of England, regulatory bodies like the FSA, parliament, Security services such as MI6) and FTSE 100 companies.

In which case, it is the safe bets that work out best. Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE, UCL and the other top unis from outside the south east.

Considering SOAS is a social sciences institution, I'm not particularly surprised. Having said that, the top law firms and top accountacy firms have recurited from SOAS, and continue to do so.

Reply 35

Socrates

President_Ben

SOAS is better than Notts, and under the rest of the other Unis you've listed, and probably evens with Kings, if not higher.

Reply 36

President_Ben

Socrates

SOAS is better than Notts, and under the rest of the other Unis you've listed, and probably evens with Kings, if not higher.

Notts owns SOAS in the employment stakes. Owns it.

Reply 37

Socrates

President_Ben

Notts owns SOAS in the employment stakes. Owns it.

If thats how you judge universities, I feel sorry for you.

Reply 38

BovineBeast

President_Ben

Meanwhile, SOAS is more like... 15th or beyond choice for people wanting to go directly into lucrative business sectors.

Are you aware that SOAS has the highest graduate starting wage in the country. No, they don't want to go into 'lucrative business sectors'. Most of them want to go into a job they enjoy.

Reply 39

President_Ben

BovineBeast

Are you aware that SOAS has the highest graduate starting wage in the country. No, they don't want to go into 'lucrative business sectors'. Most of them want to go into a job they enjoy.

Funnily enough, a lot of people enjoy the lucrative business world. In fact, those students who go to the best universities are ahead of the pecking order and will get to pick the jobs they want over those at SOAS.

Meanwhile, those starting salary 6 month surveys obviously count for piddles. There is a severe statistical biased loaded into those tables in that the richer, busier graduates are likely to think 'I can't be bothered to fill this out' and those places with a significant number of international students take a heavy penalty as work abroad reflects badly due to differences in purchasing power parity between countries.

Do you think over life and by 30, the average SOAS, Oxbridge or LSE student will be and have earnt most?