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International Securities, Investment and Banking: Reading

Hi,

I have got my A-level grades and they are BBB in Biology, Chemistry and Economics. In both chem and econ I was one mark away from an A. :mad:

I hope to enter a career in finance and perhaps one day investment banking.

Reading has clearing vacancies in International Securities, Investment and Banking. Do you think this is a good course? Will it help me get a very good job?

Do you think it would be better to take a year out and convert the 2 B's in Chem/Econ into A's and end up with AAB so I can apply to better unis like Loughborough, Birmingham, RH, Lancaster and Manchester (most of the top unis require A-level maths and these are the best available for me).

Please help!

Reply 1

fonzievision

14

Wannabe Investment Banker

Hi,

I have got my A-level grades and they are BBB in Biology, Chemistry and Economics. In both chem and econ I was one mark away from an A. :mad:

I hope to enter a career in finance and perhaps one day investment banking.

Reading has clearing vacancies in International Securities, Investment and Banking. Do you think this is a good course? Will it help me get a very good job?

Do you think it would be better to take a year out and convert the 2 B's in Chem/Econ into A's and end up with AAB so I can apply to better unis like Loughborough, Birmingham, RH, Lancaster and Manchester (most of the top unis require A-level maths and these are the best available for me).

Please help!

How about retaking AND taking A-level maths?

Reply 2

freshprince

OP

fonzievision

How about retaking AND taking A-level maths?

Why? Do I need it? Taking A-level maths would take 2 years and I only wanna take 1 year out.

Reply 3

fonzievision

14

Wannabe Investment Banker

Why? Do I need it? Taking A-level maths would take 2 years and I only wanna take 1 year out.

No it wouldn't. Can be done in a year. At least I hope so. I'm taking Maths AND Physics in one year... from scratch...

Reply 4

Barny

17

How about getting a re-mark? If you're 1 mark off both its worth it, you could end up with AAB without ever having to take anothers maths/econ paper.

Worst case scenario is that you get a remark and actually get less marks - but that won't be enough to bump you down a grade.

Reply 5

BigDog04

1

Wannabe Investment Banker

Hi,

I have got my A-level grades and they are BBB in Biology, Chemistry and Economics. In both chem and econ I was one mark away from an A. :mad:

I hope to enter a career in finance and perhaps one day investment banking.

Reading has clearing vacancies in International Securities, Investment and Banking. Do you think this is a good course? Will it help me get a very good job?

Do you think it would be better to take a year out and convert the 2 B's in Chem/Econ into A's and end up with AAB so I can apply to better unis like Loughborough, Birmingham, RH, Lancaster and Manchester (most of the top unis require A-level maths and these are the best available for me).

Please help!

ISIB at Reading will be fine- seeing as its a specialist course you will get some interviews but you need to have great extracurriculars. Taking a year out is fine if you want to get into Oxbridge or LSE but I wouldnt go to all that trouble just to end up at Manchester IF you are certain you want to work as a banker. ISIB will definnitely give u an advantage especially for market roles.

Reply 6

CityMonkey

11

In my experience, banks wouldn't touch such ludicrously titled courses with a stick. The fact is, when you get an offer you are trained to give you all the relevant information to do your job sufficiently, so any knowledge you may have over none ISIB students will be diminished even before you step onto the trading floor. I would take a more reliable opinion before you make decisions about your future and university though!

Is it possible for you to get into better universities or even stay at Reading and do a more general course like economics or accounting and finance? Anyway, I just think its better to do those courses, gives you more options aswell.

Reply 7

Singh_87

15

One of my family friend's wife works in an Investment Bank, and when I was discussing possibility university options with him, he said that alot of internships were awarded to students from the ICMA centre. Im not suggesting you base your decision on this, just to show that IB's don't completely ignore this course, and it does get you to interview stage.

Reply 8

TheAP

9

LBC213

In my experience, banks wouldn't touch such ludicrously titled courses with a stick. The fact is, when you get an offer you are trained to give you all the relevant information to do your job sufficiently, so any knowledge you may have over none ISIB students will be diminished even before you step onto the trading floor. I would take a more reliable opinion before you make decisions about your future and university though!

Is it possible for you to get into better universities or even stay at Reading and do a more general course like economics or accounting and finance? Anyway, I just think its better to do those courses, gives you more options aswell.

For the same reason's that LBC has said, I decided to study Econ/Econometrics and avoid ICMA/CASS.

Reply 9

TheAP

9

Singh_87

One of my family friend's wife works in an Investment Bank, and when I was discussing possibility university options with him, he said that alot of internships were awarded to students from the ICMA centre.

And one of my family friends work in an Investment Bank and claims that Techonology is front office since it is revenue generating :wink:

The moral of this story- dont believe everything you're told!

Reply 10

Singh_87

15

Claiming something and seeing something with your eyes is a bit different. He was telling me that places like Warwick, LSE and Bristol would be better, but said that Reading ICMA does enter students into IB each year. Of course, he could be lying, but there would no reason for him to.

Reply 11

BigDog04

1

LBC213

In my experience, banks wouldn't touch such ludicrously titled courses with a stick.

What a stupid comment. Please make sure you know what you are talking about before making such ludicrous statements! Banks dont touch "mickey mouse" courses; ISIB isnt!

I know many front office people who did ISIB or the MSc equivalent and they now work all over in banking. Its a specialist course with its own unique trading floor so its more practical which banks like. I wouldnt say its better than LSE/Oxbridge but of course you will be invited for an interview.

ISMA enters plenty of people into banking - its better than your other options which require a year out. I personally chose to do Economics simply because i wanted to keep my options open but its churlish to imply that just because its a specialist course, it will be ignored by the banks.

Reply 12

dsch

13

BigDog04

What a stupid comment. Please make sure you know what you are talking about before making such ludicrous statements! Banks dont touch "mickey mouse" courses; ISIB isnt!

I know many front office people who did ISIB or the MSc equivalent and they now work all over in banking. Its a specialist course with its own unique trading floor so its more practical which banks like. I wouldnt say its better than LSE/Oxbridge but of course you will be invited for an interview.

ISMA enters plenty of people into banking - its better than your other options which require a year out. I personally chose to do Economics simply because i wanted to keep my options open but its churlish to imply that just because its a specialist course, it will be ignored by the banks.

I agree with LBC213. They train you on the job for 10 weeks after you start the graduate programme... that is the ISIB student's advantage destroyed after 10 weeks. The guy with the physics degree knows everything considered essential to do the job but also understands quantum mechanics (a bit), knowledge of which might help with understanding new information in the future. They want trained minds, not apprentices, as far as I'm aware.

Reply 13

fonzievision

14

BigDog04

What a stupid comment. Please make sure you know what you are talking about before making such ludicrous statements! Banks dont touch "mickey mouse" courses; ISIB isnt!

I know many front office people who did ISIB or the MSc equivalent and they now work all over in banking. Its a specialist course with its own unique trading floor so its more practical which banks like. I wouldnt say its better than LSE/Oxbridge but of course you will be invited for an interview.

ISMA enters plenty of people into banking - its better than your other options which require a year out. I personally chose to do Economics simply because i wanted to keep my options open but its churlish to imply that just because its a specialist course, it will be ignored by the banks.

ICMA enters a fair share of people into banking at the graduate level, not as much for undergrad. A prop shop or a stock broker isn't the same thing as a bank.
I think banks realise that there is importance and relevance in doing a subject that does not specically train you to be in banking. For all they know, they're not even training you as they want you to. That's why they train you. Of course some people from ICMA will get in... but these are the best of the best in the couse, who will have worked uber hard, shown off their skills in ways a plenty and will have stellar academics...

Reply 14

CityMonkey

11

Singh_87

One of my family friend's wife works in an Investment Bank, and when I was discussing possibility university options with him, he said that alot of internships were awarded to students from the ICMA centre. Im not suggesting you base your decision on this, just to show that IB's don't completely ignore this course, and it does get you to interview stage.

"A lot" compared to students from economics, physics, maths or engineering? I very very much doubt it.

Bingo.

Singh_87

Claiming something and seeing something with your eyes is a bit different. He was telling me that places like Warwick, LSE and Bristol would be better, but said that Reading ICMA does enter students into IB each year. Of course, he could be lying, but there would no reason for him to.

I don't think anyone is doubting ISMA centre sends people into banking. However, its the particular course that people are disputing here. Its not to say you can't get into banking with the ISIB or even just coming from ISMA, but that particular course isn't exactly giving the the right messages from its title.

The particular point I'm making is don't think you will be at any sort of "advantage" in getting into banking from that course, because you are taught everything you need, there is no point in favouring a ISIB student over an Econ one if you are going to have to send the ISIB to NY for 6 weeks anyway to train them, when that training will be an absolute waste of money because they should already have the knowledge required to do the job. The fact that everyone goes means the ISIB holds no particular advantage, and there is nothing stopping an econ student from a better university outperforming you in performance subsequently in your job. On top of this, from what I've heard, these course titles give off the wrong message.

What a stupid comment. Please make sure you know what you are talking about before making such ludicrous statements! Banks dont touch "mickey mouse" courses; ISIB isnt!

I do know what I'm talking about, well atleast more than you seem to be demonstrating on this thread, and nowhere in my posts have said or suggested ISIB is a "mickey mouse" course. From that you're just showing you haven't even read what I said properly and just making comments on impulse.

I know many front office people who did ISIB or the MSc equivalent and they now work all over in banking. Its a specialist course with its own unique trading floor so its more practical which banks like. I wouldnt say its better than LSE/Oxbridge but of course you will be invited for an interview.

Yes well done, but what proportions are we talking relative to courses like economics? I can probably sight an example of a person in banking from a wide range of universities/courses in the UK, but what we are talking about is the general trend. In the general trend, ISIB doesn't feature.

ISMA enters plenty of people into banking - its better than your other options which require a year out. I personally chose to do Economics simply because i wanted to keep my options open but its churlish to imply that just because its a specialist course, it will be ignored by the banks.

Yes again, we're talking proportionalities, in which case ISIB is negligible. Being better than course which require a year out is hardly an acheivement, as courses which require a year out are usually trying to say something: the academic reputation of their course is not good enough to get people noticed without the 1 year experience.

I didn't say ISIB would get you ignored, read again what I wrote.

We just have too many loose cannons on this forum... :rolleyes:

The guy with the physics degree knows everything considered essential to do the job but also understands quantum mechanics (a bit), knowledge of which might help with understanding new information in the future. They want trained minds, not apprentices, as far as I'm aware.

A guy with a physics degree understands a bit more than "a bit" of quantum mechanics. :wink:

Reply 15

Singh_87

15

Im not sure of actual numbers, but I think he meant that there were quite a few from the ICMA centre. How many compared to Econ, Maths, Physics students, I have no idea, but I am in no way saying that the number was greater in ICMA.
About the course, if people are wishing to study the content which is present in the ISIB course, then that's fine. It's like saying that someone wishes to study Physics due to their natural curiousity of the subject, or Maths because of their love for numbers. These people may just wish to spend longer studying the material than they would in the 10-week training programmes. Of course, the advantages may start to lose their value, but I'm sure someone who has studied something for 3 years is more likely to be more confident than a person who hasn't even reached 3 months.

Reply 16

stupanico

2

I've read the ICMA brochure and it shows testaments of students saying why they love working in Equities at GS and other top houses.

http://www.icmacentre.rdg.ac.uk/nav2/default.asp?link=PlacementInfo&linkid=39&menutitle=tblCareersMenu&Level=2&data=Careers&crumb=Placement%20Information&type=MENU

Reply 17

dsch

13

LBC213

A guy with a physics degree understands a bit more than "a bit" of quantum mechanics. :wink:

Actually I was paying tribute to the enormity of the subject. Surely you don't expect to have mastered QM by the time you finish your BSc, do you? How big is a bit?

Reply 18

fonzievision

14

stupanico

I've read the ICMA brochure and it shows testaments of students saying why they love working in Equities at GS and other top houses.

http://www.icmacentre.rdg.ac.uk/nav2/default.asp?link=PlacementInfo&linkid=39&menutitle=tblCareersMenu&Level=2&data=Careers&crumb=Placement%20Information&type=MENU

Those numbers don't really mean a lot, unless they specify companies. It's not hard to get into a propshop and that'd be considered trading. Or a boiler house, considered sales...

Reply 19

CityMonkey

11

Singh_87

About the course, if people are wishing to study the content which is present in the ISIB course, then that's fine. It's like saying that someone wishes to study Physics due to their natural curiousity of the subject, or Maths because of their love for numbers. These people may just wish to spend longer studying the material than they would in the 10-week training programmes. Of course, the advantages may start to lose their value, but I'm sure someone who has studied something for 3 years is more likely to be more confident than a person who hasn't even reached 3 months.

To the 1st highlighted comment: why would you want to spend 3 years learning something that you can do it 6-10 weeks? More specifically, why would you want to spend 3 years learning something that gives you little, if any, advantage after the banks' initial grad training programme?

To the 2nd highlighted comment: Banking isn't rocket science. Try to teach a Cambridge mathmo everything in that securities portion of ISIB and s/he will devour it in no time. Thats similar to any of the mathmos/physicists/engineering/econ students coming from any of the top universities. The point is those students have a greater capacity than ISIB students, they can do what an ISIB can student very easily (and with only 6 weeks of teaching, apparently).

Anyway, I'm not putting ISIB people down, but I'm merely saying that the above named subjects are simply better recruits than people from courses grandly titled as "International securities, investment and banking". Hence, I believe it is better to be doing those courses than this one, despite the relevance of the latter.

I've read the ICMA brochure and it shows testaments of students saying why they love working in Equities at GS and other top houses.

LOL don't believe everything a prospectus says, they are marketing tools and you are a customer, and they are designed with that in mind. I'm not saying they are lying but picking out a few students, who are ISMA grads rather than ISIB grads, is a bit cheeky.

Actually I was paying tribute to the enormity of the subject. Surely you don't expect to have mastered QM by the time you finish your BSc, do you? How big is a bit?

A-ha, I see what you mean. In which case, yeh, it is only a bit. :wink:

International Securities, Investment and Banking: Reading

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