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

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I know loads of people who didn't land a Spring Week or only one Spring Week and were absolutely fine landing lots of interviews for Summer.
Original post by ImTooSmart
Hello guys,I'm a year 13 student (and new to TSR here :smile: ) and was wondering if any of you lot could help me decide which course was best for getting into a top IB. I have recieved offers from:Cambridge: MathematicsLSE: Mathematics and EconomicsImperial: Mathematics and Statistics for FinanceUCL : Economics with a year abroadBristol: Economics and Mathematics.I've already got an A* in Maths and also achieved another 6A's at AS-level (Further Maths (99%), Physics (94%), Economics (100%), English Literature (88%), Music (91%), History (90%). I am dropping English Lit and so will be predicted 5A*s on top of Maths. I was just wondering would IB's reject me if I don't come from a specific uni (reading on here some people seem to think that if you don't go to one of the target schools you've got a slim chance). This is because Bristol have offered me a full scholarship (of tuition fees ) for all three years of study!Would love to hear you're guys thoughts X.


If you mention the scholarship in your application for banking internships and you have great a levels I'm sure the banks won't mind that you go to Bristol. I know a guy from my school who went to Bristol and now works in sales at Goldman Sachs.

Btw, how did you apply for both maths and economics at lse and maths and statistics for finance at imperial? I mean How did you mention both maths and economics in your personal statement and get an offer for mathematics and statistics from imperial? The courses aren't very similar so I was wondering how you adapted your personal statement to fit both of them.
Original post by Trapz99
If you mention the scholarship in your application for banking internships and you have great a levels I'm sure the banks won't mind that you go to Bristol. I know a guy from my school who went to Bristol and now works in sales at Goldman Sachs.

Btw, how did you apply for both maths and economics at lse and maths and statistics for finance at imperial? I mean How did you mention both maths and economics in your personal statement and get an offer for mathematics and statistics from imperial? The courses aren't very similar so I was wondering how you adapted your personal statement to fit both of them.


Hello mate,

I have decided to go to Cambridge as they have also offered me financial aid which will be enough for me to not have a part-time job alongside my studying (which is great)!

As for my personal statement, I don't really think it was all that impressive, but I think my academic achievements showed my potential to succeed in any of the fields I applied to (hence my application was a bit of a special case). I had no help from my teachers in my personal statement and I don't know anyone else from my school that has applied to straight maths courses so I wouldn't want to recommend anything to you that may be incorrect, however what I will say is that I wouldn't try to encompass all the topics/modules that you've applied to into one big paragraph, as they will be able to tell it's been artificially crafted to suit them.

Just go with the flow with your statement and you'll be fine!
Original post by ImTooSmart
Hello mate,

I have decided to go to Cambridge as they have also offered me financial aid which will be enough for me to not have a part-time job alongside my studying (which is great)!

As for my personal statement, I don't really think it was all that impressive, but I think my academic achievements showed my potential to succeed in any of the fields I applied to (hence my application was a bit of a special case). I had no help from my teachers in my personal statement and I don't know anyone else from my school that has applied to straight maths courses so I wouldn't want to recommend anything to you that may be incorrect, however what I will say is that I wouldn't try to encompass all the topics/modules that you've applied to into one big paragraph, as they will be able to tell it's been artificially crafted to suit them.

Just go with the flow with your statement and you'll be fine!


Thanks for your answer!
Original post by natsciballer
Didn't manage to get a spring week despite doing JP Morgan A Level insight and being at Warwick- applied late and made some stupid spelling mistakes in quite a few of my applications. Study law and have managed to secure places on Slaughter & May (MC), Linklaters (MC) and Herbert Smith Freehills (SC) spring insight schemes. Do u guys think i'll still stand a chance of getting a Internship in IBD? Got decent extra curriculars and 1 exec position already but get the feeling no spring week is really going to hinder my chances. Basiclt my options are:
Stay on course and apply to IBD internships
Change to the year abroad version of my course (4 years) and reapply to spring weeks
Change to Economics or PPE and reapply to spring weeks

Any opinions would be really appreciated. Just really interested if anyone has any stats with regards to the likelihood to securing an internship without a spring week.


did you get through to interview?

if yes: u ****ed up but can improve

if no: will your cv improve very dramatically between now and next application cycle?

there are plenty of warwick econ or math happy to take your place for you, warwick law isn't even a selling point. are your applications even ibd caliber? I know semi target engineers who got ibd sw's
Original post by wasteman shoes
did you get through to interview?

if yes: u ****ed up but can improve

if no: will your cv improve very dramatically between now and next application cycle?

there are plenty of warwick econ or math happy to take your place for you, warwick law isn't even a selling point. are your applications even ibd caliber? I know semi target engineers who got ibd sw's


Allow this grilling mate, there's really no need to start acting like a dick with comments like that.

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I want to get into Consultancy or Finance. I have an offer from Bath for Politics with Economics Bsc with a years placement, and also an offer from Warwick Economics, Politics and International Studies BA. Any advice on which to choose for my career aspiration? I am predicted 3 A*'s.
Original post by sazzledazzle
I want to get into Consultancy or Finance. I have an offer from Bath for Politics with Economics Bsc with a years placement, and also an offer from Warwick Economics, Politics and International Studies BA. Any advice on which to choose for my career aspiration? I am predicted 3 A*'s.


Warwick

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do you have a specific reason for why warwick?
Original post by sazzledazzle
do you have a specific reason for why warwick?


It's a target university that is swarmed by employers constantly.

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Original post by Princepieman
It's a target university that is swarmed by employers constantly.

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so it's still better to have the BA over the Bsc, and to not have the one years work experience?
Original post by sazzledazzle
so it's still better to have the BA over the Bsc, and to not have the one years work experience?


The BA vs BSc distinction doesn't matter, and the standard process for IB/C is to do a summer internship.

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Original post by sahil112
expected grades:

maths-A*
Core science-B
additional science-B
Business studies-A*
r.e-A/B
history-A/B
french-C
d.t-C
english language-B
english language-B

do you think these are gd grades or not and isit possible for me to still perue my dream of becoming an investment banker if i work hard for my A levels? i really want to become an investment banker:biggrin:


no
Original post by sazzledazzle
I want to get into Consultancy or Finance. I have an offer from Bath for Politics with Economics Bsc with a years placement, and also an offer from Warwick Economics, Politics and International Studies BA. Any advice on which to choose for my career aspiration? I am predicted 3 A*'s.


Warwick is a target; Bath is a semi-target.
Original post by wasteman shoes
did you get through to interview?

if yes: u ****ed up but can improve

if no: will your cv improve very dramatically between now and next application cycle?

there are plenty of warwick econ or math happy to take your place for you, warwick law isn't even a selling point. are your applications even ibd caliber? I know semi target engineers who got ibd sw's


I got through to interview for UBS but know I didn't prep as heavily as I should have. I can defo improve my applications for internships as they included spelling mistakes and were sent december time aka late which I think ****ed me over. By your logic then It seems I should still be in with a shot. At the end of the day it seems spring weeks are great to have but really not the be all and end all....especially if engineers from semi targets can get them...

And i'm sorry but banks look for a range of applicants not just the obnoxiously pretentious econ and maths weirdos
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by natsciballer
I got through to interview for UBS but know I didn't prep as heavily as I should have. I can defo improve my applications for internships as they included spelling mistakes and were sent december time aka late which I think ****ed me over. By your logic then It seems I should still be in with a shot. At the end of the day it seems spring weeks are great to have but really not the be all and end all....especially if engineers from semi targets can get them...

And i'm sorry but banks look for a range of applicants not just the obnoxiously pretentious econ and maths weirdos


No one said Spring Weeks were the "be all and end all". They just improve your chances for landing a Summer internship
Asking for a friend who's applied for uni:

-Good GCSEs
-Offer from LSE (forgot what course it was but he did mathsy a levels)
- No financial work experience
- Weak extracurriculars (just plays sport in his spare time but has nothing to show for it, volunteers, has bronze DofE, is a prefect but so is half of my year)
- Doesn't know anyone in the banking industry

Does he have a chance of landing Spring weeks/summer analyst positions in S&T/IBD? Maybe at the non-BB banks?
Original post by Trapz99
Asking for a friend who's applied for uni:

-Good GCSEs
-Offer from LSE (forgot what course it was but he did mathsy a levels)
- No financial work experience
- Weak extracurriculars (just plays sport in his spare time but has nothing to show for it, volunteers, has bronze DofE, is a prefect but so is half of my year)
- Doesn't know anyone in the banking industry

Does he have a chance of landing Spring weeks/summer analyst positions in S&T/IBD? Maybe at the non-BB banks?


If he ends up at lse then hell be fine landing a BB just tell him to get his applications ready in sep to send of in oct
Original post by Trapz99
Asking for a friend who's applied for uni:

-Good GCSEs
-Offer from LSE (forgot what course it was but he did mathsy a levels)
- No financial work experience
- Weak extracurriculars (just plays sport in his spare time but has nothing to show for it, volunteers, has bronze DofE, is a prefect but so is half of my year)
- Doesn't know anyone in the banking industry

Does he have a chance of landing Spring weeks/summer analyst positions in S&T/IBD? Maybe at the non-BB banks?


He needs to get more involved at uni. The LSE brand might net him a couple spring week interviews but beyond that, it'll be down to him to stay competitive.

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Original post by Princepieman
He needs to get more involved at uni. The LSE brand might net him a couple spring week interviews but beyond that, it'll be down to him to stay competitive.

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What do you mean by more involved? Like sports/societies or in terms of financial work experience?

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