Guidance with ways of helping me break into IB, studying at a non-target.
I am a first year Economics student studying at Uni of Sheffield, 4 year course with a placement (not guaranteed). I achieved good grades at A-level (A* Economics, A* Sociology and A in Geography and an A in AS-Finance). I am aware that i attend a non-target uni but I plan to apply for a Spring Week when the 2026/2027 applications open (by then i will be in my 2nd year of uni) and then i want to try and apply for an internship in my 3rd year as a placement year, this will involve me trying to find ,both, a spring week and internship in my 2nd year. 1) is this the right way to do this? and 2) if so, what are ways that i can make myself stand out further than besides some good grades as i am aware i will be competing against target students etc.
just drop out and go to a better school? literally what i did. (2 years in btw) you are only 1.
because you are young you will think you have no time, you will be 23 regardless. it is much more likely you are 23 and in IB if you go to a target.
know loads of people who did this even with a spring.
You’re doing the right thing by planning early. I think the edge now is about how sharp you are when you actually get in front of people. One thing that’s helped me on that front is stress‑testing whether I can talk through technicals out loud under pressure, not just reading guides and feeling prepared on paper.
I’ve been using a free tool called Minerva (ask-minerva. com) alongside the usual WSO prep. You pick IB as the track and then the group you care about, and it runs a live, voice‑based mock interview where you have to walk through your answers while it acts like an interviewer and asks follow‑ups. At the end it breaks down what you did well vs. what was off and if you log in it tracks your sessions over time.
For someone from a non‑target, I’ve found this helpful because when you do convert networking into a real interview, you can’t afford to be rusty. Good luck!!
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