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

Hi!

I have got an e-mail from CASS admissions office saing that my PS was more related to economics/business management than to "Banking and International Finance" which I applied for. In the message they told, for considering my application, they needed me to write a new PS about banking and international finance.

Firstly is this a "good sign or a bad sign", and secondly could I still pick parts from my old PS(general parts) and just change a few things so that it applies more to banking?

Thanks!

I am predicted straight As in GCSE and I expect some A*s.

I am thinking of doing Biology, chemistry, maths and history at A level could this get me onto a good economics degree preferably with management at Oxford?

Thanks

I am predicted straight As in GCSE and I expect some A*s.

I am thinking of doing Biology, chemistry, maths and history at A level could this get me onto a good economics degree preferably with management at Oxford?

Thanks

Not sure about the applicants from Durham getting into IB so i cant comment, but here is a bit about Nottingham Economics.

I go to Nottingham; we are not so great at getting people in to FO roles from what I have seen so far. We have maybe 2 or 3 a year who make it into the BB.

Having said that, this is mostly down to the calibre of students and their aims; most are more concerned about partying, drinking and impressing others with their jack wills bull**** than getting into IB, you know, like those kids at high school who put popularity over getting good grades and now they are all working in Tesco lol not so cool anymore, its the same principle at Notts largely... Where the ones who want to be cool end up if they are good at E&Y in Audit and working in a crappy 9-5 if they continue on for 3 years, and the focused group will push for the best professional roles.

* It is the other way around at LSE for example where students are very focused from the outset; as such, a lot of the students here tend to be late starters in terms of market knowledge, IB knowledge and contact building and I think that is very deterimental to their applications.

It is true that a lot of our graduates and second years go into E & Y, Deloitte bla bla those less attractive careers/internships just because you can apply from Nottingham with a bit of knowledge and get a place. But its much harder to have this approach if you want to work in IB.

It is very possible to get interviews at BB's and after that point it really is up to the individual. You need to make sure you come here with focus, market knowledge greater than the competition at better Universities', and huge drive. You can succeed this way it is definately possible. Work experience will play a massive role in gaining interviews as well as a good CV and CL so make sure you brush up on these wherever possible.

Just my two cents from what i have seen so far at Nottingham. I think its a fair representation and gives a very honest description of why I believe people dont make it relatively too often from here.

If you want to trade, read bloomberg or wsj a few times a week to pick up the main themes; if you want to be in sales, get a job in sales at the weekend whilst at school. If you want to be in IBD get work experience somewhere corporate if possible (insurance companies for example) .. Do something creative and be a self starter.

Just make sure you know that it will be hard work from Nottingham, as usually, the other kids here will bring down the relative strength of your application, with their incredibly weak and last minute botch job applications. - Here I mean, Nottingham is seen as semi target for a reason, although you can shine through the relatively bad crowd if you put your mind to it.

Good luck!

(PS, I dont want to sound so negative but its just how I see it, I couldnt understand why we dont get many into IB comapred to other Top Universities' and the lazyness theme sort of explains everything - but come here for a great social life you will love it.....)

4 people? I dont know whether that is good or not mate. My guess is, at the target schools its more like 40 a summer even more perhaps.

The fact is, there is a stigma attached to students from Nottingham; ie that for some reason or not they are sub-par compared - I experienced it when interviewing at GS myself recently. Despite the fact I still knew what was happening on the CNBC channels around River Court and they didn't, as soon as they hear that I am fron Nottingham the conversation dies slowly. Really incredible experience.

There is a reason we are still only semi-target and its not fair but its life. I have thought long and hard about this situation believe me.

In a sense it should be the driving force behind any student and it is for me. I know that next summer i will have an excellent internship place and the majority of those on my course will be rushing late applications through at firms or expecting their parents to find them something good.

PS i didnt give the negative rep either.

Can someone comment on Durham for ibanking? I know its not a target uni like Cambridge, LSE, etc. But would it be worth applying for any FO gigs at BBs? It seems like a lot of the recruitment at Durham is for MO/BO roles. What about FO roles at an MM?

The recruiting wasn't for mo/bo when I was there. Plenty of people from Durham still make it in. Not as many as others but it is still very possible.

Hi all

I'm currently at the University of Surrey studying Business Management and really looking to get into IB once my degree finishes.

I have 3 A's, 5 B's and 3 C's at GCSE and 3 B's at A Level.

I've had commercial based internships before and also work experience working in customer services and telemarketing.

I've also just secured a one year industrial placement working within Risk for Lloyds Banking Group due to start in the summer.

Do I have a chance?

360 UCAS points, DDD @ BTEC. computer science at either kcl, rhul, sussex, leicester, qmul. i know im not gonna stand out but would prepared to do other stuff.

How strong is the Economics and Econometrics degree from Nottingham, if one is looking to go into finance in the future (preferably investment banking). The Econometrics course is more mathematical than the Straight Economics course at Notts (which has a respected department).

Would there be a huge difference between the Econ and Econometrics at Notts, compared to striaght Economics @ Warwick?

Cheers