Am I screwed by doing the 4 year placement degree instead of the 3 year?
First year at Warwick, BSc Management with Placement Year (graduating 2030). Italian passport, based in Switzerland, speak four languages. Want IB, ideally Zurich or continental Europe but open to London.
Problem is the timing. Spring weeks say first year of a 3 year degree or second year of a 4 year, so mine is spring 2028. But my placement year starts summer 2028, which means applying in autumn 2027. So I'd be applying for the placement before I've done a spring week or any internship at all.
A few things I can't work out:
UBS's 12 month Global Banking placement just says on track for a 2.1. Is that actually the bar or does everyone who gets it already have a spring week behind them?
Is splitting the year into two 6 month off cycles (JPM Zurich, Rothschild, GS Frankfurt) doable with no experience, or are those really for people converting from a summer?
Would I be better off switching to the 3 year course and doing spring week into summer into a conversion, then a masters (LBS Finance or LSE A&F MSc)? Same start date in IB either way but no placement.
And is there anything worth doing summer 2027 after first year, other than emailing boutiques? Everything structured seems to be penultimate year only.
Already looked at UBS, PwC's 11 month, Glencore and the JPM Zurich off cycle windows so not after a list of firms. Just want to know from anyone who's done a placement degree whether this sequencing actually works or whether I'm setting myself up badly.
not screwed, the timing actually works in your favor. springs for year 2 of a 4 year are april 2028 and your placement starts summer 2028, so apply to both in autumn 2027 - spring deadlines run sept to nov, placement windows overlap. if you land even one spring week it sits on the cv right before your placement interviews.
on ubs: 2.1 is the formal bar, not the real one. but in zurich the real filter is language and location fit more than a prior spring week. italian passport, swiss base, four languages is exactly what zurich teams want. london cares far more about spring weeks than the continent does.
two 6 month off cycles is doable without experience - continental off cycles (rothschild, gs frankfurt, jpm zurich) regularly take people whose only line is a spring week or nothing at all, especially with language coverage. that is much harder in london where off cycles are crowded with summer conversion hopefuls.
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