Is anyone doing Global Humanitarian Studies at UCL?

Not doing GHS.

UCL is a target uni for IB so in that sense you should be able to access the recruiters when they come onto campus but you might struggle since IB usually prefer STEM/Economics/Finance related degrees.

I'm interested in Corporate Banking, Asset Management, Wealth Management and Equity Research. I'm not into A&T or the IBD - would you say that I'd still be able to and roles in the former areas?

Well it won't be easy, so you'll most likely have to try and see if you have transferrable skills from GHS that you could apply to IB. If you take the Digital Science route in GHS, then I'd reckon you have the best chance.
But to be honest you should try and contact someone working in one of the areas you mentioned and ask.

Well it won't be easy, so you'll most likely have to try and see if you have transferrable skills from GHS that you could apply to IB. If you take the Digital Science route in GHS, then I'd reckon you have the best chance.
But to be honest you should try and contact someone working in one of the areas you mentioned and ask.

Are you taking GHS? If so, how are you finding the course?

Yeah I'm ngl I didn't realise GHS was a thing until I saw this post - so I just went to the UCL website to see what it was. Seems like the perfect degree if you want to work for the UN/other non-profits in humanitarian area. Looks like a fun course for sure. Hope you enjoy it!

What careers can you go into with this? Could you go into IB?

Although UCL is a "target", most of its placement in IB is for its Economics and STEM (especially engineering/maths/physics) subjects. A similar trend exists at Warwick.

Unlike LSE/ICL, UCL is big enough that it's not feasible to consider all courses equally, so you'd be better off doing econ/stem for IB purposes at a place like that.

Source: Incoming IBD Analyst

The same person here. I'm confused because banks and many people here say that the course doesn't matter. There seems to be conflicting advice so I'm not sure what to do. Congrats on the offer btw.

"course doesn't matter" just means you don't need to study finance to do finance. Nonetheless, certain programs are harder than others, both in terms of workload and intellectual rigor, so these courses (such as econ, phys, maths, engineering and "traditional" non-stem like law, history etc.) are preferred to "less" taxing courses because IB is a taxing career.

Another way to look at it: Most bankers out of UCL have engineering/econ degrees and they're the ones involved in screening prospective CVs. Why would they pick someone who did a less challenging course than theirs over someone with the same experience doing something like physics? it matters.

So would it be better to do Accounting and Finance at Durham for the roles that I'm interested in despite it being a semi-target? By the way, I'm not interested in IBD, mostly asset management and corporate banking but possible S&T and ER.

- For roles like corp banking/sales it'll matter a lot less. Sales are more about personality and you see people from non-targets get sales roles at top firms all the time.

- For trading, on the other hand, it certainly matters and you will almost certainly not be picked over engineers, mathematicians, and economists with global humanitarian studies. I had an interview for sales and they told me they were surprised I wasn't applying trading because of my "hard" STEM background; that's what they look for.

- Asset management/ER, depends on the firm. AM houses like Blackrock would usually prefer people with quantitative backgrounds though.

Going to a target is still better than going to a semi. Even if the semi is Durham. Why not just do a less competitive quantitative course at UCL like BA Econ & Business or Management Science instead? There are quite a few degrees I'd prioritize over GHS tbh.

- For roles like corp banking/sales it'll matter a lot less. Sales is more about personality and you see people from non-targets get sales roles at top firms all the time.

- For trading, on the other hand, it certainly matters and you will almost certainly not be picked over engineers, mathematicians, and economists with global humanitarian studies. I had an interview for sales and they told me they were surprised I wasn't applying trading because of my "hard" STEM background; that's what they look for.

- Asset management/ER, depends on the firm. AM houses like Blackrock would usually prefer people with quantitative backgrounds though.

Going to a target is still better than going to a semi. Even if the semi is Durham. Why not just do a less competitive quantitative course at UCL like BA Econ & Business or Management Science instead? There are quite a few degrees I'd prioritize over GHS tbh.

Anyone taking GHS at UCL please don't listen to this person. You have clearly indicated that you really know nothing about IB or any finance role for that matter. GHS is a new course at UCL which has been running for less than 5 years therefore, there it is difficult to find any IB positions given for such degree. Nevertheless, GHS is one of the best and most useful courses at UCL, first of all it is a a B.Sc. and has lots of technical qualitative and quantitative aspects to it. Secondly, GHS is one of the few degrees that after uni you will be highly specialised and most probably an expert in the humanitarian field, as we can see with the current world affairs at the moment this is more needed than ever. Mark my words, the GHS course at UCL will be raising their A-Level entry requirements if not next year but definitely in the next coming years.

If we're talking about IB or Asset management, the OP that I am replying to literally does not know what they are talking about once again when talking about subject choices for IB. Like they mentioned (the only aspect they were accurate on), it does not matter what degree you take to go into IB or any finance role. Investment banks and asset management firm will grill Econ students on technicals during interviews as they are studying a degree as such furthermore, IB's and asset management firms receive so many applications for spring weeks from econ students which generally not what they want. Investment banks and asset management firms want the smartest, passionate or hardworking undergraduates from a variety of degrees raging from social sciences, economics etc. If you want to break into any finance role from GHS at UCL you are in the best position to do so as UCL is a target which indicated regardless of the degree that you are fully capable of gaining entry to a prestigious academic institution. Also, UCL have one of the best M&A societies in Europe which allow analysts to carry out industry research and gain deal experience.

Make sure you smash your pre-interview assessments, interviews and make sure your CV and cover letter is immaculate. Also there is no way you will break in to a mega funds like Blackstone out of undergraduate unless you are willing to take a gap year do a masters in finance and get extra internships on top of the IB/asset management internships you did for undergrad.

GHS is a new course at UCL which has been running for less than 5 years therefore, there it is difficult to find any IB positions given for such degree. Nevertheless, GHS is one of the best and most useful courses at UCL, first of all it is a a B.Sc. and has lots of technical qualitative and quantitative aspects to it.