[Kentish Man]

(Original post by Barzini)
AAB is not bad, but its definitely not great. Physics is a subject which requires analytical skills and if you dont do well on it, it doesnt speak very well...even in comparison with others (who mostly get 3As+) when offers range from AAB through till AAAA for economics over here. It might also indicate that you slacked off and didnt work hard enough - worked just to satisfy the conditions. All these points could possibly come up in an app/cv screening stage for spring internships, however it should not weigh you down for getting a second year internship (as they care more about your first year marks).

Really? How impressive is a 1st in your first year? I don't know what its like at other universities, but hardly anyone gets one in their first year at mine.

To the OP- That B won't make much of a difference. You'll still get the interviews IMO and then its up to you.

[Bleached]

Well done Kentish man, did you manage to get a first :O,

[ba_ba1]

(Original post by Barzini)
AAB is not bad, but its definitely not great. Physics is a subject which requires analytical skills and if you dont do well on it, it doesnt speak very well...even in comparison with others (who mostly get 3As+) when offers range from AAB through till AAAA for economics over here. It might also indicate that you slacked off and didnt work hard enough - worked just to satisfy the conditions. All these points could possibly come up in an app/cv screening stage for spring internships, however it should not weigh you down for getting a second year internship (as they care more about your first year marks).

Slightly OTT. Its not that hard to get on a spring programme (theres some really crap students who get on them) so i doubt getting AAB will hinder his progress that much.

[veni, vidi, vici]

thanks for the replies so far guys, barzini, when you say that the B will be significant, is that just FO 1st tier banks, or even further down the list?

[Barzini]

I dont know tbh, but im talking from a general point of view. All banks I presume will be looking for similar characteristics, and they all might notice the deficiencies. It all depends on how much they "see" into them and if they consider them significant. It will most probably vary from bank to bank, and often the cv screening might be a tad lighter for Mid/Back office...but then again, as I said, these grades might play little or no difference when you apply for your second year internship. It will definitely play a role when you (if you) apply for Goldman's FICC/Equities Spring Internship in the first year, or some very competitive spring program (and tbh, the one I did, Barcap, may not have been as rigorous, although the applicants success rate was just over 10%).

[sequence123]

I'm doing a non finance degree, and so am going to do an open unit in a finance related unit. The 4 units that the finance department offer are as follows:

Intro to accounting
Into to management
Subsidiary Microeconomics
Globalisation and Development

I assume Subsidiary Microeconomics is the most relevant unit?

[ba_ba1]

(Original post by Barzini)
I dont know tbh, but im talking from a general point of view. All banks I presume will be looking for similar characteristics, and they all might notice the deficiencies. It all depends on how much they "see" into them and if they consider them significant. It will most probably vary from bank to bank, and often the cv screening might be a tad lighter for Mid/Back office...but then again, as I said, these grades might play little or no difference when you apply for your second year internship. It will definitely play a role when you (if you) apply for Goldman's FICC/Equities Spring Internship in the first year, or some very competitive spring program (and tbh, the one I did, Barcap, may not have been as rigorous, although the applicants success rate was just over 10%).

I heard Barcaps SP is really good. Did you apply for their summer insight programme?

Anyway, i still doubt it will play much of a role in spring programmes (apart from UBS maybe since theres no interview for that). Like i said, some really crap students got on to Spring Programmes (even GS) and alot of people were getting 3/4 offers.

[Barzini]

(Original post by ba_ba1)
I heard Barcaps SP is really good. Did you apply for their summer insight programme?

Anyway, i still doubt it will play much of a role in spring programmes (apart from UBS maybe since theres no interview for that). Like i said, some really crap students got on to Spring Programmes (even GS) and alot of people were getting 3/4 offers.

Barcaps was excellent in terms of prospects for next year's summer internship and some other stuff we have...but im not sure about the competition level. it was intense, there were some geniuses around, and a fair number of intelligent people - maybe i underestimated it, but I still think the several interviews (incl. a technical one, at GS) made GS probably a better week than barcaps. I would say tho that barcaps was on par with MS/JPM,,

When u say 3/4 offers...are u talking abt spring programmes?

[Kentish Man]

(Original post by Barzini)
Barcaps was excellent in terms of prospects for next year's summer internship and some other stuff we have...but im not sure about the competition level. it was intense, there were some geniuses around, and a fair number of intelligent people - maybe i underestimated it, but I still think the several interviews (incl. a technical one, at GS) made GS probably a better week than barcaps. I would say tho that barcaps was on par with MS/JPM,,

When u say 3/4 offers...are u talking abt spring programmes?

Better prospects than JPM but MS fast-tracked a number of interns to the final round assessment centre next year.

Also Barcap was not competitive. The form was probably the easiest one I have ever filled in, with only two tiny "short answer" questions. My interview lasted about 8 minutes. 3 questions - Why Barcap? Which Division? Why Spring Programme? The next day I was rung up with an offer.

Saying that, MS wasn't much harder.

[simon123]

(Original post by Kentish Man)
Better prospects than JPM but MS fast-tracked a number of interns to the final round assessment centre next year.

Also Barcap was not competitive. The form was probably the easiest one I have ever filled in, with only two tiny "short answer" questions. My interview lasted about 8 minutes. 3 questions - Why Barcap? Which Division? Why Spring Programme? The next day I was rung up with an offer.

Saying that, MS wasn't much harder.

So am I right in thinking that its not actually that hard to get on a Spring Internship if you apply to a few? I mean im going to York which is not at the top of the targets, but I have worked as an equity analyist for 7 months at a small asset management firm in my gap year and will hopefully be getting 6 weeks experience at a much larger firm in corporate finance.

[Barzini]

10% acceptance rate is not competitive, Kentish Man? news to me...

[Kentish Man]

(Original post by simon123)
So am I right in thinking that its not actually that hard to get on a Spring Internship if you apply to a few? I mean im going to York which is not at the top of the targets, but I have worked as an equity analyist for 7 months at a small asset management firm in my gap year and will hopefully be getting 6 weeks experience at a much larger firm in corporate finance.

Haha. You'll walk onto Spring Programmes. Try and get on GS or MS. York should be OK although there was only 1 person from York at either of mine.

[Kentish Man]

(Original post by Barzini)
10% acceptance rate is not competitive, Kentish Man? news to me...

Define acceptance. I'm guessing that 10% of people actually went. Probably between 30 and 50 perecent got offers.

I'm not saying it was bad. If I'd have known what you got out of them, I definitely would have taken Barcap over JPM.

[JrW]

Kentish Man, was the form of application mostly CV and cover letter?

[Barzini]

4 people declined offers. 37 people were given offers out of c. 280. 70 or so were eliminated after numerical & verbal together ( 45 or so after the numerical, and c. 25 after verbal)...most were cut after the application/cv screening...and somewhere around 30 or so were cut after the interview. 33 attended.

[sequence123]

Are spring internships suitable for people on their penultimate year?
When is the best time to apply for a spring internship?
Do banks normally advertise these internships on their websites?

[Barzini]

[QUOTE=Kentish Man]Really? How impressive is a 1st in your first year? I don't know what its like at other universities, but hardly anyone gets one in their first year at mine./QUOTE]

About 10-15% get 1sts in the first year in economics here at Warwick. So if you are in that category, and have excellent ECs, you should pass the CV/application stage at many, if not most banks.

[Kentish Man]

(Original post by AlphaX)
Kentish Man, was the form of application mostly CV and cover letter?

Well it was CV and short application form. Was not too bad. Then JPM, MS, GS and CS usually interview. Barcap does a phone interview and UBS, DB, CG don't interview but they only do 2/3 day programmes.

[Kentish Man]

(Original post by Barzini)
4 people declined offers. 37 people were given offers out of c. 280. 70 or so were eliminated after numerical & verbal together ( 45 or so after the numerical, and c. 25 after verbal)...most were cut after the application/cv screening...and somewhere around 30 or so were cut after the interview. 33 attended.

Haha no way. I know 3 who turned down offers from Durham, surely there must be more than four overall but I'm not going to argue with you. I don't see how you can expect it to be as competitive as the well established programmes when the week long programme only started this year.

[Kentish Man]

(Original post by Barzini)
Really? How impressive is a 1st in your first year? I don't know what its like at other universities, but hardly anyone gets one in their first year at mine./QUOTE]

About 10-15% get 1sts in the first year in economics here at Warwick. So if you are in that category, and have excellent ECs, you should pass the CV/application stage at many, if not most banks.

Oh ok. I thought it would be less than that. It definitely is here. Just out of interest, what would you classify as an 'exceptional' first year averge?