Investment banking from studying economics and maths at leeds

Just wondering, given I’ve got offers studying maths and economics at Leeds or Durham, would I be able to pursue a career in a top investment banking firm given I’m not attending oxbridge LSE or Warwick

Reply 1

kash22030

4

Durham is a semi target so you’d have a chance ofc. I’d say defo pick it over leeds

Reply 2

harsh-drawer

OP

5

Original post by kash22030

Durham is a semi target so you’d have a chance ofc. I’d say defo pick it over leeds

It’s ranked higher than Durham for economics, I assume academic prestige is therefore more important than course then ?

Reply 3

username6870829

0

5

Original post by harsh-drawer

It’s ranked higher than Durham for economics, I assume academic prestige is therefore more important than course then ?

Durham is a semi target, leeds is a non-target, go to durham 1000%. Rankings change every year, also theyre inaccurate, loughborough is not a top 10 uni for example

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 4

BenRyan99

Careers Forum Helper

17

Original post by harsh-drawer

It’s ranked higher than Durham for economics, I assume academic prestige is therefore more important than course then ?

As the above poster suggests, the rankings mean very little, they're so incredibly flawed that 6th formers are the only people who use them. For example, the guardian has the University of Brighton as the 4th best econ course this year, above Durham, LSE, Kings, Warwick, UCL..... Need I say more? The Times has Strathclyde as the 7th best econ course, above the likes of Durham, Notts, Exeter, Edinburgh, Bristol... The Complete University Guide's econ rankings this year are the only one of the big3 that are more sensible this year, even so, Leeds are probably 4-5 spaces above where they should be.

There a couple of key points to think about. The first is do you think these rankings actually provide a tonne of signal rather than noise as to whether Leeds>Durham? The answer should be no. The second is that even if yes, if you're applying for finance/banking/consulting careers (essentially anything other than to be a specific kind of economist), why would they even care about the econ course quality? But even if the answer was that they did, these rankings are very volatile year-to-year, do you honestly think Bank XYZ is thinking "ah uni A has moved slightly above uni Y in one set of externally compiled rankings this year, we should hire more from them this year"? Again, the answer is obviously no.

Essentially all econ/finance/consulting/etc firms will have a general idea of which unis are the best and hire more from them, they don't use external rankings. But the bigger point is that you have to sit a tonne of each firm's numerical/verbal reasons/psychometric/etc tests and at least one assessment centre when applying to each internship/grad job, so it's really just based on performance in those vs whether one uni is better than the other. Therefore, some unis having stronger career prospects simply reflects the fact that if admissions is more competitive and there's a slightly higher quality of student, these students will do better in a company's recruitment process, so it's not so much based on a uni's rep nowadays. In some very small firms, there is often more of a uni reputation factor (normally skewed towards the founder's uni), but given there's so many tests involved in applications for medium and larger firms nowadays, the idea that firms consider the times/guardian/complete uni guide rankings in their hiring process is laughable. And I'm not saying this to dunk on you at all, it's merely to reflect the reality and to try to get you to think about internship/grad recruitment from a firm's pov vs a 6th formers pov.

To answer your original question, Durham will likely have some advantages over Leeds if you're considering the sort of careers many econ students are typically interested in (e.g. finance, trading, banking, consulting, economics, etc). Whether these possible career advantages are enough to outweigh your thoughts on other aspects (e.g. overall uni rep, modules, location, campus, cost, etc), that's for you to decide.

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 5

Alexoi98

1

Echoing the sentiments of the previous commenter, the reliability of these rankings is highly questionable, to say the least. They're so flawed that only sixth form students seem to take them seriously. Take, for instance, the Guardian ranking the University of Brighton as the fourth-best economics course this year, placing it above esteemed institutions like Durham, LSE, King's College London, Warwick, and UCL. It's certainly food for thought. Similarly, The Times ranks Strathclyde as the seventh-best economics course, outranking reputable universities such as Durham, Nottingham, Exeter, Edinburgh, and Bristol. It's evident that these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, and aspiring students should conduct thorough research beyond these rankings when considering their educational options.

Reply 6

BenRyan99

Careers Forum Helper

17

Original post by Alexoi98

Echoing the sentiments of the previous commenter, the reliability of these rankings is highly questionable, to say the least. They're so flawed that only sixth form students seem to take them seriously. Take, for instance, the Guardian ranking the University of Brighton as the fourth-best economics course this year, placing it above esteemed institutions like Durham, LSE, King's College London, Warwick, and UCL. It's certainly food for thought. Similarly, The Times ranks Strathclyde as the seventh-best economics course, outranking reputable universities such as Durham, Nottingham, Exeter, Edinburgh, and Bristol. It's evident that these rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, and aspiring students should conduct thorough research beyond these rankings when considering their educational options.

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Investment banking from studying economics and maths at leeds

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