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v2006

Guys i have an offer in Acturial science at CASS, chemical engineering at UCL and computer science at bath bristol kings and imperial. I am going to put UCL as my insurance but dont know which to put as firm. Is the acturial science course at cass respected? Does anyone know if many graduates end up in acturial jobs?

Reply 661

Flugtag

v2006

computer science at imperial.

Reply 662

Sasuke!

shady lane

I just wanted to make this one post and temporarily break my silence. I'll be starting at a bank and have seen the educational profiles of many of my fellow graduates.

There is not a single person in a front office position (IBD, S&T, ECM/DCM) outside of these universities:

Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
Warwick
St Andrews
Edinburgh
Bath (just one)

Here are the middle office unis:
Cass
Manchester (incl. Manchester Business School)
Oxford Brookes
Durham
Loughborough
Warwick (MSc HR Management or something)

The vast majority of those going into middle office have degrees in finance, economics, or math. Amongst the front office students, there are degrees in law, history, politics, and even one in music.

So...as I've said and I'll say again, for the front office, it appears that university reputation matters more than the course. If you are outside this circle (which I agree is flexible and differs slightly between different banks), you pretty much need a relevant degree just to get in the door, and it probably won't be the front door. This includes people who not only have finance-related degrees, but also MScs as well.

That compiled list is looking accurate, i am in a somewhat decision (im crap with decisions that affect me :p:

) ok i have offers for AccFin at LSE/Warwick and one for Business Management at KCL, i know most people will probably say LSE, but is the course harder at LSE by a lot and i know for the course LSE and Warwick are at the top. Its just that i had a bad expierence with maths and chose Uni rep over course! and no i am not worried about hard work, but id like to have more fun at University lol, i went to a LSE lecture, ti seemed ok, (confusing as it was like near the end of the course).
im su[rised that KCL isnt there!

Reply 663

Ourkid

I'm quite surprised that Imperial isn't there, but whatever.

Ourkid

Reply 664

Who?

supernova2

False! more chinese students at LSE

Lol.

But come on, there is always the other half made of Iranians, Arabs, Indians, Russians, Africans and Afro-Americans of course, who statistically make up for the disadvantage that some people may impose, hahaha. Plus, Tab is full of Chinese people doing maths and all the engineering subjects inter alia, as is Oxon :wink:

so there may be a somewhat large number of them hidden away in libraries or their rooms waiting to come out to examination schools :p:

Anyway, this is quite irrelevant to the somewhat serious discussion people are trying to have here :rolleyes:

Reply 665

fonzievision

v2006

With those offers, why on EARTH would you not go to imperial?

Reply 666

v2006

Well I have an offer for computing but I do not have any interest in the subject, and even IF I did get in I would probably fail lol.

Reply 667

Bape

v2006

Well I have an offer for computing but I do not have any interest in the subject, and even IF I did get in I would probably fail lol.

Why on earth did you apply for it then?

Reply 668

v2006

I dont really know. It is confusing choosing a course you might like!

Reply 669

Bape

v2006

I dont really know. It is confusing choosing a course you might like!

Fair enough, i do see where you're coming from, before applying i wasnt 100%sure if i should go for econ, and considered maths, physics, and engineering too.
Out of your options, i personally would go for CASS as it has the only course out of them which would interest me in the slightest, but only you can make your mind up.
Perhaps you ought to think about a gap year, get some experience/earn some money/gain a couple more qualifications or something, and very importantly have more time to decide what you actually want to study at uni!

Reply 670

Aimless2007

Come here and prove it and Ill take it back...

thats just gross... I guess I'll have to live with the fact that I cant convince u then... there r certain boundaries that a guy just cant cross, ^^

Reply 671

shady lane

Ourkid

I'm quite surprised that Imperial isn't there, but whatever.

Ourkid

Please feel free to look at my comments on how scientists overestimate how desired they are for jobs in finance.

I have an update, as I got a very hilarious Facebook message from a graduate starting with me. MSc from Tanaka, going to Operations.

BTW it's not hilarious that he's going to Operations, it's for other reasons, hah.

Reply 672

Oldmannow

shady lane

he thinks its front office?

Reply 673

Johan C

You don't understand, operations is the backbone of the office :p:

Reply 674

Johan C

pearfire

lol, you better take that back, cos you have no idea wut u're talking about. Or maybe I'm just an exception, ^^

Or a confirmation ? :wink:

P.S. Lol I've had so much neg rep recently, it's like the touchy people here have gone medieval on my ass !

Reply 675

Ourkid

shady lane

Fair enough - you have the experience; would you like to make it clear exactly how desirable they are for finance?

From what everyone has said, not only in this forum, but ibtalk, and on some of the facebook groups, scientists (physicists stand out here), and engineers are quite desirable for finance because of their number-crunching ability, analytical mindset etc, especially if coupled with the appropriate interpersonal skills.

Would I be right in saying that the source of downfall of some/most IC scientists lies in the last comment?

Ourkid

Reply 676

Aimless2007

Lol Johan, did they really neg rep you? Well, you still have plenty though. But as to your question: u're not gonna get a confirmation unless u're female and hot, ^^

Reply 677

CityMonkey

Ourkid

I wouldn't worry to much about it, Shady Lane has always had a bit of a inferiorty complex towards scientists/mathmos and engineers :rolleyes:

. I can say that I think she overhypes how useful politics and social science degrees are in finance, but that doesn't really make it true. There are also a lot of MDs etc in banking whose views differ wildly; some who won't take anyone with less than maths to engineering level, some who don't really like the science types so this can be a huge factor, so I think it is important to realise that some these things are maybe out of your control.

Reply 678

City bound

There are also a lot of MDs etc in banking whose views differ wildly

Indeed. It really shouldn't be surprising. They manage to come up with completely different outlooks on the subjects they are meant to be experts about (i.e. the markets) so why should they agree on who is best to participate in them? If everyone agreed, we wouldn't have a market at all.

Reply 679

shady lane

MonteCristo

I wouldn't worry to much about it, Shady Lane has always had a bit of a inferiorty complex towards scientists/mathmos and engineers :rolleyes:

I've never said social science is particularly useful for banking. But a good degree in something like political economy, where you understand macroeconomic issues and political issues that affect markets, and you get excellent writing and communication skills, is much more desirable than you quanty-types seem to think.

And I'm not trying to downplay Imperial. I'm just putting up the schools represented. There is a place where everyone has listed where they study and there is only one from Imperial. Take from that what you will. If there were more, I would have listed them.