Should I redo first year?

As the title suggests, I'm seriously considering redoing first year, and I need some advice. Here's some context and my reasons:
1) Currently doing econ in a 'target' uni (just finished first year)
2) Hoping to break into finance. However, I've only secured 1 Spring Week, and even that was at a 'lesser' firm. My CV-writing and interview skills were also shite so I was pretty much rejected from all my applications for leadership roles in student clubs, so my CV screams lack of involvement atm. Other people are now snowballing their experiences and I'm still stuck in the loop.
3) My grades aren't that great this year

Therefore I'm thinking of redoing first year econ to have another shot at Spring Weeks and student clubs. My CV and interviewing skills HAVE improved over the year so I think I have a decent chance for these opportunities if I tried again. I just think it'll be a real uphill battle to apply for summer internships with my current sub-par CV.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And hopefully any seniors in finance could give me more industry-specific advice.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 1

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Most universities will not allow you to repeat a year unless you have failed.

Reply 2

anonuser99

1. You probably can't as mentioned above
2. No I wouldn't advise it. Plenty of people never even realise they want to go into finance until second year and still make it. You'll be fine.
You'll have plenty of time to get involved in second year. If you don't get a great summer next year then you can always apply for internships in your final year. Check the stickies for more.
3. I really don't think it's worth spending an extra basically 15-20 grand just to get another spring or a leadership position at a club. Put it in perspective.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

BenRyan99

Careers Forum Helper

To put it bluntly, no you should not retake first year.

I'm not quite sure how you can justify spending £20k+ extra just to have another crack and spring weeks? Just try to maximize the impact of the spring week you got. Obviously SW's help but they are very far from the be all end all of IB recruiting. I know lots of people who didn't get a spring week and went to semi or non-targets who got into BB IB front office summer internships. Coming from an Econ target I feel like you still have very strong chances at getting summers.

Besides this, I know at my uni (a target), they don't let you retake a year unless you failed anyway so in practice you probably can't retake even if you wanted to. Plus it'll look like you failed 1st yr on your CV if you did retake it even if you actually passed. It would just be such a waste of a year paying £20k+ to go through the same content.

The solution is apply for summers in 2nd yr, grad roles in 3rd and then if you're really struggling then use that £20k+ and put it towards a target master's. This way you still have at least 3 years of applications to go and you only need to get lucky once. Redoing first year for whatever reason just gives the signal that you're a lemon 🍋