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Which university should I firm for investment banking?

Hi

I currently hold offers from the following:

Nottingham Uni- Economics (L100) AAA
Cass Business School- Investment and Financial Risk Management AAA
Queen Mary Uni- Ecoomics (L100) AAB


Which university would maximise my chances at getting into a front office role at an investment bank? I assume it would be either Cass or Notts but which should I firm and which should I insure. Do any Notts or Cass grads make it to FO roles in the city?

I know Nottingham is a semi target uni for investment banking but im not too sure about Cass, but either way i am willing to go the extra mile interms of networking and securing summer internships which I am willing to do.
P.s if i do opt for Nottingham i might change the course to Econ and Maths would this hinder my chances?

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Reply 2
Original post by WishfulBanker
Hi

I currently hold offers from the following:

Nottingham Uni- Economics (L100) AAA
Cass Business School- Investment and Financial Risk Management AAA
Queen Mary Uni- Ecoomics (L100) AAB


Which university would maximise my chances at getting into a front office role at an investment bank? I assume it would be either Cass or Notts but which should I firm and which should I insure. Do any Notts or Cass grads make it to FO roles in the city?

I know Nottingham is a semi target uni for investment banking but im not too sure about Cass, but either way i am willing to go the extra mile interms of networking and securing summer internships which I am willing to do.
P.s if i do opt for Nottingham i might change the course to Econ and Maths would this hinder my chances?



Firm Notts. Rep for QM & Cass in banking is pretty much the same, so I would just go where you think you will enjoy yourself more (course & the uni) and have better prospects (outside of banking).
Reply 3
Original post by maine.
firm notts. Rep for qm & cass in banking is pretty much the same, so i would just go where you think you will enjoy yourself more (course & the uni) and have better prospects (outside of banking).


do what this guy says
Reply 4
Reply 5
Firm Nottingham. I would say insure Cass over QMUL, even though the grades are the same as Nottingham.
Are you insane? Taking Nottingham and not cass? Cass is WAY better than Nottingham. The fact that it is in London gives you so much opportunities. The IFRM course is great for investment banking. One of the best in London. Firm Cass and don't even think about firming anything else!
Reply 7
I was thinking that an economics degree is generally more respected that the ones at cass, is this untrue?
Are you at cass?

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Original post by WishfulBanker
I was thinking that an economics degree is generally more respected that the ones at cass, is this untrue?
Are you at cass?

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To my understanding...

- Economics is a way more respected degree academically and so is more likely to get you an interview
- The Cass degree is specific to IB so you are more likely to ace any tests the banks throw at you but does NOT have the same respect for academic rigour as the Economics degree
Reply 9
Original post by will2348
To my understanding...

- Economics is a way more respected degree academically and so is more likely to get you an interview
- The Cass degree is specific to IB so you are more likely to ace any tests the banks throw at you but does NOT have the same respect for academic rigour as the Economics degree


:facepalm2:
Reply 10
I actually wanted to know if notringham econ is good enough for front office at tier 1 banks, or at least tier 2 banks (BNP Paribus and the likes..) and i will transfer to tier 1 eventually. Do you know anyone fron Notts in FO BB? Or would i have to get a Msc elsewhere?

P.s i am aiming for S&T not IB, if it makes a difference

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Original post by WishfulBanker
I actually wanted to know if notringham econ is good enough for front office at tier 1 banks, or at least tier 2 banks (BNP Paribus and the likes..) and i will transfer to tier 1 eventually. Do you know anyone fron Notts in FO BB? Or would i have to get a Msc elsewhere?

P.s i am aiming for S&T not IB, if it makes a difference

Posted from TSR Mobile


It's good enough, sure. But the cass one is just superior to it, really.
Reply 12
Original post by WishfulBanker
I actually wanted to know if notringham econ is good enough for front office at tier 1 banks, or at least tier 2 banks (BNP Paribus and the likes..) and i will transfer to tier 1 eventually. Do you know anyone fron Notts in FO BB? Or would i have to get a Msc elsewhere?

P.s i am aiming for S&T not IB, if it makes a difference

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lol at the naivety.
Reply 13
I guess i will firm notts and insure cass

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Reply 14
Original post by WishfulBanker
I actually wanted to know if notringham econ is good enough for front office at tier 1 banks, or at least tier 2 banks (BNP Paribus and the likes..) and i will transfer to tier 1 eventually. Do you know anyone fron Notts in FO BB? Or would i have to get a Msc elsewhere?

P.s i am aiming for S&T not IB, if it makes a difference

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Most graduates who start at tier 2 fail to even remain at tier 2's for the best part of their early careers - I've been to presentations where the figures are around 50% of graduates in trading will fail to last 3 years (at one talk, albeit from a hedge fund trader, I was told that 90% of analysts fail to last 3 years in sell side trading) - take that with a huge truckload of salt (as I did when I heard the figures) but it doesn't disguise the fact that it's harder to stay in trading than to get into trading. What makes you so sure that JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs will try to take you from BNP Paribas anyway?

To answer your question, Nottingham econ will give you an average chance of getting a front office role at tier 1 banks (and to be honest, I see no difference particularly between tier 1 and tier 3 - they're all bloody difficult to get a graduate role from at the moment and the tier 3 banks are just taking a lower number of graduates, it's still on par in terms of competition largely). You can easily make it or not make it into any tier 1 from Nottingham, depending on many factors - CV, interview style etc.
Reply 15
Does proximity to the city really matter, I will travel to the city every now and again if I choose Nottingham, but does cass have a massive advantage location-wise?
Reply 16
Original post by WishfulBanker
Hi

I currently hold offers from the following:

Nottingham Uni- Economics (L100) AAA
Cass Business School- Investment and Financial Risk Management AAA
Queen Mary Uni- Ecoomics (L100) AAB


Which university would maximise my chances at getting into a front office role at an investment bank? I assume it would be either Cass or Notts but which should I firm and which should I insure. Do any Notts or Cass grads make it to FO roles in the city?

I know Nottingham is a semi target uni for investment banking but im not too sure about Cass, but either way i am willing to go the extra mile interms of networking and securing summer internships which I am willing to do.
P.s if i do opt for Nottingham i might change the course to Econ and Maths would this hinder my chances?



Ignore QMUL - Cass and Notts are more prestigious.

Mathematics and Economics is equally good for a degree - plenty of mathematicians, engineers and physicists make it into FO IB roles, as the quantitative skills are important. If that's what you want to do, then do it - it won't hinder you at all (if you enjoy it more, it'll only benefit you).

Be aware that Notts is only a semi-targeted uni (you've said this yourself, but don't set your expectations too high when Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, LSE, UCL, Warwick are the main target unis for FO). However, you've asked for what will maximise your chances, and this will be between Cass and Notts.

The difference between them is probably negligible. Go to whichever one has the course which you prefer, do well in it, work hard to make connections, get on internships/spring weeks etc. and you'll end up with pretty much the same chances as you would have if you went to the other.
Reply 17
Original post by WishfulBanker
I actually wanted to know if notringham econ is good enough for front office at tier 1 banks, or at least tier 2 banks (BNP Paribus and the likes..) and i will transfer to tier 1 eventually. Do you know anyone fron Notts in FO BB? Or would i have to get a Msc elsewhere?

P.s i am aiming for S&T not IB, if it makes a difference

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Hey there,

would you be so kind to explain me why you decided to go for S&T and not IB, as I'm fortunately sure about the courses I'll firm/insure, but definitely not about which division to pick over the other? Btw, I'm more passionate about a role in capital markets, although I fear that I will fail, that possibility was already mentioned before, and end up without any exit opportunities... Furthermore, I don't know anyone who actually works in trading to tell me about the job, only someone in M&A.
Is Cass like completely different from city university or something? How come economics isn't under Cass courses
Cass isn't different a such. It's a different name and they have higher entry requirements for their courses but your degree is awarded from City.

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