Bath Placement vs King's
I'm very sorry for the repeated posts but I'd just like to make a new post since finding a course at Bath which includes an industrial placement.
King's:
1. Prefer the location, and can commute from home saving £21k over the course of the degree.
2. Internationally well-known - better international reputation/rankings. Though I see myself staying in London for at least 15-20 years.
3. Three year course - can always apply for a masters at a better uni/have another shot at getting internships.
Bath:
1. Prefer the course
2. Includes Industrial Placement Year - helpful in case I can't secure any spring/summer internships.
3. Higher student satisfaction? From what I've heard about KCL, it seems the contact hours are very low (2 hours per week) and they are heavily dependent on independent study. Personally, I was expecting more contact hours - not only because of the high fees, but I'm on a gap year, so I would prefer to have a little more guidance for at least the first year.
4. Kind of a three year course? - study for 3 years but includes 1 year placement.
I was thinking of applying to LSE again for next year, if I did get an offer I'd be better off starting at KCL to save a year of accomodation fees. However, assuming the base case, if I don't get an offer from LSE I'll have to stay at whatever uni I choose.
In addition, I'm not sure if its worth going to Bath just to experience living away from home. If I choose KCL, I can see myself having to commute from home (1 hour) and that could potentially affect my social life/how often I make the trip vs studying at home.
I'm not really sure what to do; I know from other posts that both uni's are more or less the same (semi-target) but do you think it would be worth choosing Bath and spending an extra £21k on accomodation + interest in order to secure an industrial placement?
Ok, a few things to unpack here. Take my advice with a pinch of salt because I'm still breaking into the industry myself.
Firstly, you're already on a gap year so IMO, probably don't take another gap year to apply for LSE. The UK system is not like the US, it is easier to get in from somewhere like Kings vs LSE, it is not the same as Wharton vs somewhere else. Plenty of KCL students get on spring weeks etc. Not as high as LSE but still plenty. Not worth reapplying. Better to invest that energy in being prepared
Kings > Bath for banking. I've seen more students make the jump from KCL than Bath definitely. I can't speak to the course because you haven't referenced what it is but if you want to do front office IB, a placement year is unlikely to help you. There are some courses at KCL that let you take placements so you might be able to find a way to get that into your degree if you really want it. Getting summers/springs is mostly bulk applying and being prepared and a bit of luck. Placement is not going to help with front office IB unless you maybe do off-cycles but universities aren't always keen on these as they often start in the winter instead of autumn. There are more placements for middle/back office roles, you can see this through a few LinkedIn searches.
The guy or girl at Goldman on his placement year is in audit, not IBD. The traditional route of spring/no spring -> summer -> full-time will always be your safest option.As for the commute, I'd live in halls first year regardless of whether you're in London or Bath, it's the best way to make friends and meet people and it should be £5-7k a year at Bath and around £10k at King's. If you're at King's, do halls in the first year and live at home the next two if you still want to. It'll maximise social life and if you can afford it, don't worry too much about student debt. You're looking at the career that gets rid of it fastest. As someone who went to a good non-London uni (think Edinburgh, Durham, Warwick), I wish I had gone to London. It's more expensive but it's more fun and London is clearly the best city in the UK. Might be less fun if you're not in halls first year though. PM if you have more questions.
Edit: Made some mistakes in my knowledge of Bath's placements. They're better than everywhere else.
Thanks for the response,
I suppose the main difference in terms of career prospects would be that if I went to Bath, in theory, I'd at least have some experience (placement) for future applications. I'd still need to pass firm assessments/interview so I suppose if I was good enough to get a placement (even if its not IBD) then I should be able to find something through spring weeks/summer internships without the need for a placement. I guess for the most competitive placements they will still be looking for people who've managed to secure spring weeks/experience in the years before - so i'd still need to apply for those anyway.
Thing is though, for the course in question at Bath - A quick linkedin search will show people on the same course with placements at BB's/Big 4/BoE/Civil Service. However, it seems that very few people have any experience/internships with the course I've been offered at KCL. From what I have read online, it seems that most firms don't care what you have studied but more where you have got the degree from. Also, it could be that just fewer people studying this course are interested in finance, but its still a little bit worrying.
You'd be applying to springs/summers well before placement applications. I think you need to decide whether you're more interested in whatever your placement might be vs front office IBD, S&T, AM etc.
By placements at BBs do you mean full time? or just on a year in industry? Because the year in industry people are unlikely to be front office.
If you're comfortable saying, what are the actual degree options you have?
Also, they don't care what you study... to an extent. You need to be able to demonstrate interest and although you should be showing this through experience, societies etc, it is nice if you can link it with your degree. It helps to show a pattern of interest. Personally, if I was studying English I'd find it harder to spin that I was interested in IB than if I was studying something more related or more technical.
Bath trumps KCL any day of the week. I've never known anyone say it's a better uni for banking than KCL students working overtime on here.
Look at the facts, the big banks offer EXCLUSIVE placements that lead to full time positions which KCL does not. E.g., Citi, HSBC, MS, KKR.
^ these are for FO positions by the way, such as investment banking, AM, S&T. The other poster is speaking out of his ass
@ OP
This guy is correct. I was mistaken.
I know it sounds silly, but what makes them exclusive? I thought it was just a database of places you can apply to + they help you with CV/preparation? Aren't the placements open to any university that has degrees with professional placements included?
Some placements are non-exclusive but a fair few are set up by companies which have Bath alumni. They partner with the placements team to organise opportunities which are only available to Bath.
Current second year at Bath. Just posting because the top comment is not correct at all, Bath places better in IB than King’s (check LinkedIn). Regarding placements, Bath has some great industry links (Morgan Stanley, Citi, KKR). These are typically exclusive to Bath students (see my comment above for an explanation). This means that the competition for these opportunities is limited by the number people on your course, greatly boosting your chances. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend King’s, Bath/Durham/Nottingham would be a better choice.
I'm in my placement year (from a uni that is not Bath and certainly lower ranked) and I could tell during my search last year that Bath was the elite uni for placement years. Multiple people at top banks, exclusive placements, solid network to get you set up. Even if you don't end up at the most prestigious placement of your choice, 1-year of experience will set you way ahead for grad roles + you can apply for summer internships twice (before and after)
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