Chances of IB with Natural sciences from Birmingham

Be as honest as possible please.

I have 3A*s at A level, 5 A*s 2As 3Bs at GCSE, lots of extra curricular in sport and music. Currently on gap year.

Reply 1

mizzsnazzter

18

Original post by Sycopation

Be as honest as possible please.

I have 3A*s at A level, 5 A*s 2As 3Bs at GCSE, lots of extra curricular in sport and music. Currently on gap year.

Why did you choose Birmingham?? With those grades you could go to a top 5 university :/

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Reply 2

miniteen

2

Mh, it might be a little hard, but not impossible. Look for any extra job opportunities and whatnot. Any chance you could transfer uni though?

Reply 3

username738914

21

Original post by Sycopation

Be as honest as possible please.

I have 3A*s at A level, 5 A*s 2As 3Bs at GCSE, lots of extra curricular in sport and music. Currently on gap year.

It'll be difficult but very doable. Try to amass an array of ECs and work experience to better position yourself. If people doing Music at Leeds can make it, you can too!

Reply 4

Sycopation

OP

6

Original post by mizzsnazzter

Why did you choose Birmingham?? With those grades you could go to a top 5 university :/

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I applied for medicine twice, got my 8th rejection last night. Convinced I'm not the right person to be a doctor.

Reply 5

Firestartc

3

Original post by Sycopation

I applied for medicine twice, got my 8th rejection last night. Convinced I'm not the right person to be a doctor.

Hey man,
If you are interested in becoming a doctor, which is the most noble profession out there with massive career prospects and salary potential, then you should try applying for a biomedical sciences degree then do graduate medicine from there. Trust me, investment banking is a choice for money, we all realise that, but in my opinion you will be throwing away a far more purposeful and satisfying lifestyle. Doctors in the US and Asian countries like Abu Dhabi and Singapore are minted :smile:

Reply 6

Sycopation

OP

6

Original post by Firestartc

Hey man,
If you are interested in becoming a doctor, which is the most noble profession out there with massive career prospects and salary potential, then you should try applying for a biomedical sciences degree then do graduate medicine from there. Trust me, investment banking is a choice for money, we all realise that, but in my opinion you will be throwing away a far more purposeful and satisfying lifestyle. Doctors in the US and Asian countries like Abu Dhabi and Singapore are minted :smile:

People often talk about going biomed sciences and applying for graduate like its all cute and rosy, but its probably twice as hard. 5 times as many graduates, most applicants will have years of experience in healthcare/volunteering under their belt. furthermore I don't see myself living outside the UK. I love it too much, so going to foreign countries and praciticing there is out of the question. Plus working in the NHS isnt ideal from a doctor's perspective.

What I learnt despite getting 8 interviews, meaning I was academically viable, and getting rejected from ALL of them was that there was something about my personality that wasn't suitable for a doctor. I've got a good heart, but that isnt enough to become a doctor.

Reply 7

Firestartc

3

Original post by Sycopation

People often talk about going biomed sciences and applying for graduate like its all cute and rosy, but its probably twice as hard. 5 times as many graduates, most applicants will have years of experience in healthcare/volunteering under their belt. furthermore I don't see myself living outside the UK. I love it too much, so going to foreign countries and praciticing there is out of the question. Plus working in the NHS isnt ideal from a doctor's perspective.

What I learnt despite getting 8 interviews, meaning I was academically viable, and getting rejected from ALL of them was that there was something about my personality that wasn't suitable for a doctor. I've got a good heart, but that isnt enough to become a doctor.

Seems like you have a great personality, I guess you will succeed whatever path you go down :biggrin:

Reply 8

Classical Liberal

19

Original post by Sycopation

People often talk about going biomed sciences and applying for graduate like its all cute and rosy, but its probably twice as hard. 5 times as many graduates, most applicants will have years of experience in healthcare/volunteering under their belt. furthermore I don't see myself living outside the UK. I love it too much, so going to foreign countries and praciticing there is out of the question. Plus working in the NHS isnt ideal from a doctor's perspective.

What I learnt despite getting 8 interviews, meaning I was academically viable, and getting rejected from ALL of them was that there was something about my personality that wasn't suitable for a doctor. I've got a good heart, but that isnt enough to become a doctor.

You didn't say that in an interview did you?

Reply 9

gr8wizard10

21

You can do it. Believe in yourself and work hard.

I have worse grades and have a penultimate year offer at a bb, and I'm first year.

Reply 10

Firestartc

3

Original post by Abdul-Karim

You can do it. Believe in yourself and work hard.

I have worse grades and have a penultimate year offer at a bb, and I'm first year.

What's bb ? And btw, what are you studying at uni and where?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 11

gr8wizard10

21

Original post by Firestartc

What's bb ? And btw, what are you studying at uni and

Bulge Bracket Investment Bank. BSc Investment & Financial Risk Management.

Reply 12

Econight

14

Original post by Sycopation

Be as honest as possible please.

I have 3A*s at A level, 5 A*s 2As 3Bs at GCSE, lots of extra curricular in sport and music. Currently on gap year.

Know a person from Birmingham at Barclays Investment Bank, another who is at Goldman Sachs, both in front office roles, you literally just have to network your arse off and show how interested you are in banking. It is going to be tough, but if you want it you will make it into IB.

Reply 13

Sun_Bear

12

Original post by Sycopation

Be as honest as possible please.

I have 3A*s at A level, 5 A*s 2As 3Bs at GCSE, lots of extra curricular in sport and music. Currently on gap year.

Ultimately the ideal way/ easiest (if there is an easy way) into IB FO would be: A level insight days -> econ/business/maths/engineering/ related degree -> Spring weeks -> obtaining society leadership roles/networking/ ECs whilst in first year -> summer intern -> FT offer.

Each step you miss out leads to the process being significantly harder.

I see 2 options:

1. Carry on with NS at Birmingham but you have to make sure that from day 1 you start building your CV towards the final goal of FT like mentioned above. This would be pretty high risk i feel as you will be grilled during interviews as to why you wish to do finance and your commitment will be questioned. Also, bear in mind that you will have to read a huge amount around your degree about finance in addition to your current degree. And hey, if you don't get IB then Post grad medicine is still a shout.

2. Take another gap year and reapply to target schools such as LSE, Warwick for slightly less competitive but still respectable courses such as accounting and finance. I have no doubt you will get into one especially since you will already have the grades and well above the req (i got offer for Warwick A+F with AAA pred).

Ultimately, there is no mathematical formula we can use to work out what your chances are since so much depends upon you and luck. The only thing you can do is try and swing the odds in your favor as much as possible by ticking as many of their boxes as possible.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 14

fuuji

6

Original post by Abdul-Karim

You can do it. Believe in yourself and work hard.

I have worse grades and have a penultimate year offer at a bb, and I'm first year.

Aren't you doing credit risk though?

To answer the question you easily have good enough grades to go to LSE for something like accounting with finance or management, possibly not oxford or cambridge. Whilst it is possible to get in from Birmingham it won't be as easy as from a target university and with your grades why wouldn't you go to a target? You're going to have a hard time convincing a bank that you're that interested in finance coming from Birmingham with a degree that has nothing to do with finance. I had a friend from Birmingham Econ had to fight ridiculously hard to get even interviews at investment banks, in the end he got RBS and then his desk got closed down before he started, then he did an Msc at LSE after. If you're that interested in working in IB just make it easier for yourself, take another year out and go to a target. I've never had to do any networking, didn't have to cold call bankers asking for "informational sessions" or brown nose ones at campus recruiting and neither did my friends who just applied online and most of them placed well in IBD, S&T and strategy consulting. Obviously you still have to work hard, apply and interview well, but at least you'll be guaranteed to interview at a lot of banks. I'm sure people from other universities will hate this post and give examples of people from their unis who went into FO roles, I met an MD at moelis who didn't even have a degree, but you'll just have an easier time at a target.