Oxbridge
I personally chose to study economics at Cambridge over H,P and Wharton with my main reason being that I want to work in London ibanking after graduation.
But now having made this decision, it bothers me when I read articles/comments that Oxbridge do not stack up to top US unis -- they claim that oxbridge are not selective enough, not well endowed and poorly networked.
I know Oxbridge are both targets when US investment banks like GS, MS recruit in London and my question is: are Oxford and Cambridge regarded at the same level as HYPSM&Wharton in New York and other international financial centres, e.g. Hong Kong?
Any comments about London vs NYC ibanking working environment, Ivy vs Oxbridge job prospects would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Evian
Dude you are already at Cambridge so complaining or wondering how this compares to Harvard and the rest is useless at this point; you need to work with what you have and move on.... stop bickering about HYPW and the rest unless you are willing to transfer
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In my experiences, it's very hard to get an offer in another country from the one you're studying in. I am American and study in the UK, I only got one interview for positions in the US, but got lots in the UK and am staying here to work in i-banking.
In the US, they care about the US universities first (as you can imagine), and most of the recruiting is done on campus so it is a bit harder for anyone outside the target schools (including great schools abroad) to get in.
However yes, if you want to stay in the UK, you are fine. I don't see why you care if Cambridge meets the standards of the top US universities, as you're going to be competing against kids from British universities for jobs anyway.
Finally, I don't know if this helps, but every American I know who came to the UK for undergrad (Oxbridge and LSE) has stayed in the UK. Don't know if that's because they couldn't get a job back in the States or because they just don't want to go back.
Cambridge is heavily recruited from, when GS came here to talk to applicants they expressly stated that they want 70% of their analyst UK intake to come from the university. I dont know one economist here who applied to banks and didnt come away with at least an offer.
So staying in the UK wont be a problem at all.
Compared to other Americans, you will be better educated in terms of the specific focus of your degree, i.e. after an econ degree here, if transfering to harvard for postgrad, the next step would be PHD as opposed to their MA as you have already covered their material as an undergrad - whether that would help you get a job is another question.
That's how Harvard takes all of its PhD students, there is no separate MA.
(sorry I'm a grad student, sometimes undergrads get confused about these things).
Sure, I was just using harvard as an e.g. dont know of particular programmes/colleges.
In HK Oxbridge is perceived differently depending on whether you are dealing with Mainland Chinese or HK Chinese (and whether they work in high finance or comparable fields). For Mainland Chinese who work in high finance, Oxbridge UG is perceived similarly to Cornell UG. For HK Chinese, Oxbridge is probably viewed at the Dartmouth / Brown / Penn (ex. Wharton) level. For lay Chinese ppl, I think the general perception is somewhere between Columbia and HYP.
To add, perception of Oxbridge by HK Chinese professionals in high finance is probably converging to the Mainland Chinese view. I know at least 5 HK Chinese MDs at BBs/PE who are themselves Oxbridge UG alums send their kids to Cornell / Northwestern. Those kids are probably competitive for Trinity / Balliol. Don't know a single MD in HK who graduated from a top US college sending kids to Oxbridge.
I’m sorry I fail to understand what you mean by “sending kids to Oxbridge”? Both Oxford and Cambridge are incredibly difficult to get into, are you sure those kids even got the requisite grades? Both Universities often have quotas to fill which could make it difficult for rich/privately educated kids nowadays and you can only apply to one of both Oxford or Cambridge which again makes your chances of getting in a lot slimmer.
And Cornell and Northwestern are easy to get? Top US private colleges are notoriously difficult for East Asian kids, much more so than Oxbridge (which everyone knows are still very good schools).
Oxford / Cambridge each admit more kids from multiple elite high schools in China than Harvard admits from the whole country (Princeton's class is even smaller). Rightly or wrongly there is no denying that top-tier US colleges (for UG at least) are much much harder to get for Chinese ppl than any UG program (including Oxbridge) in the UK. You can debate whether Oxbridge are better institutions versus Cornell all you want but from the lens of undergrad admissions difficulty for Chinese passport holders, Cornell-tier schools in the US are more selective.
interesting perspective - thanks.
I suspect the surpisingly low regard for Oxbridge is due to the ease of getting into Oxbridge for masters study which has seriously diluted the brand
as networking is basically irrelevant in UK recruitment, there is little practical benefit of going to Oxbirdge over e.g., LSE or Imperial - whereas the US places more emphasis on practical networking benefits via your college
accurate
It's not about prestige as it is about logic...why would US-based banks recruit from Oxbridge/elsewhere in the world when they fill their seats via HYPSwhatever? Like literally you don't need to look elsewhere? Plus, the US is more network based with a stronger Alumni connection system.
Same logic of course applies to London/Europe - you can easily fill your grad and intern positions with Oxbridge/LSE/Imperial + all the other Tier 1 continental European unis. Of course Harvard is amazing in Europe etc. but is it needed and "more prestigious" in the sense it gets your foot in the door easier? Not really.
Gotta stop thinking about these uni rankings and "prestige" when you're in such a world-class institution. Oxbridge are S+ tier universities. Generally, speaking, they are the definition of "prestige" when it comes to education. This isn't Formula 1 where 0.0001 of a second determines pole position. It's more about logistics than anything else...
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London is a failed city. Sadiq Khan has to go! I hated my time in London.
Thanks all!
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