The "Am I good enough for Investment Banking/Consultancy?" Thread

Out of pure interest, how have you gone from an AS student to an expert on IB in the space of a few short months?

I am still an AS/A2 student, but have read through hundreds of threads, read through the internship threads too to see what sort of things people have to get into SWs, internships, grad schemes; and also have read through websites like M&I and Wall Street Oasis to get more info on the requirements

I'm still an A Level student, but would you really consider my suggestions to the poster to be incorrect or inaccurate?

Im doing chemistry, biology and economics at a-level. In in first year of a-level and i might drop biology and pick up business studies and complete the whole of business alevel in 1 year.Would I be able to get into economics degree? Thanks guys


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I am year 12 atm

GCSE -
Triple sciences 3A*
maths A*
Chinese A*
RE A
ICT OCR National 4 distinctions
PE B
English lang B

A level -
A2 Maths A*
A2 Further Maths perdition A*
AS Physics Economics Politics predictions 3As
Critical Thinking D or E

Am I good enough for banking?

I heard from a guy who works in the city that nowadays Economics degree is not very competitive in terms of securing financial jobs, he told me that Mathematics degree is absolutely essential in such area, he also told me that the job is really all about maths and how you use maths to earn money, also it is easier to study Economics after maths but it is difficult another way round. In Economics degree only consists of 1/3 of the maths in a Maths degree so I was thinking about maths degree instead. He also told me that a first is absolutely important, and it is very difficult to get into banking using a 2:1.
I am not sure how much it is actually true, but that is what he told me, and he works for front office for many investment banks and as part of the recruitment team.

Among the cohort (mainly working in Markets opposed to IBD) that i know, the split between Econ and Maths is fairly even. The question is what is the attrition rate for applicants with each type of degree, that is something I don't know, although one suspects it to be higher for Econ grads. As for a 1st being a "must have" then it depends. Some desks will be very choosy academically others less so and are more likely to select you based on if they think you would be good addition to the team.

Hi,

I am still not sure if my grades are good enough though, even for a good university, the whole UMS scores had made me furious.
I am now confused about what's the difference between a trader and a banker now, because he talked about them but I still now sure what they do. And I mean like if you want a career that can make plenty of money, then which desk should I be? And I was thinking about hedge funds, but he told me the banks are restricting the position for such job because they don't want bankers to gamble anymore. I am just confused.

Hey, I'm end of year 13 and wondering if this is ok at this point.
Work experience so far: none but will aim to get some spring week/internships etc
A-levels: A*A*A*A (maths, further maths, physics, classics) - assume I get this.
University: Cambridge or Durham

If Durham what are my chances like? Realistically?

Question: Why are there pictures of half naked men in your sig?

If you plan on doing a Non-Finance degree

will that put you at a disadvantage as you wont be able to answer Finance related question in Interviews ?

No F.Maths, will this effect me?

Doing a non-finance degree doesn't stop you doing your research about the industry and your particular division. It's only very technical questions, which may be problematic and that is division dependent.

If you plan on doing a Non-Finance degree

will that put you at a disadvantage as you wont be able to answer Finance related question in Interviews ?

Very few degrees teach you the technicals anyway.