Philosophy, still good? (LDN)

How many times must it be repeated. Your degree doesn't matter at a target.

OP see above, if its Philosophy (or any Joint Honors) BA from either Oxford or Cambridge, you probably can't be any better set in terms of degrees. Note though you'll still need to do the work with networking, understanding technicals, etc. I'd argue someone who does Philosophy (or as mentioned above Classics) from Oxford/ Cambridge, networks well and comes to interview with a good understanding of technicals would be far more impressive than someone who's just regurgitating nonsense from their Finance/ Accounting course.

Philosophy is highly respected insofar as it tends to draw very clever/ analytical types, it trains you well in logic (helpful when it comes to things like modelling logic and understanding an investment thesis), and it makes you good at writing (also useful). Also, having deep knowledge of the ancient world is also just cool and useful to have anyway (especially if you know it on top of the technicals).

If it's Warwick (or LSE etc), it's a different matter. PPE there might be one thing, but pure Economics might be better to stick to otherwise.

I've been largely responding to other people's comments and not answered your question. Fwiw I recruited a while ago but have mentored, to a degree, some kids for spring and summer apps this year. I could put you in touch with a couple that did really well if you would like.

Philosophy at Oxbridge is just a degree, no one at a BB/EB is going to be impressed by it. Simply put, most people at these banks studied something hard at a good school so your degree isn't really adding value, its just a box for them to tick. You can leverage a non-standard degree in some interesting ways though, and that can definitely add value to an application. No one is going to reject you or move you forward to first-round interviews on the basis of your degree, even at Oxbridge. Going to a target definitely increases odds of landing something, but its still something small (like from 1% to 3% or something like that). Good luck.

Macro hedge funds in LDN probs won't look at a philosophy degree too kindly, value investing/L/S likely won't care.

To reiterate some previous points and add some of my own:

1) PPE (or other Philosophy joint honours) at Oxford / the equivalent at Cambridge will serve you well when applying to any top IB role. Unfortunately the gap between Oxbridge and other UK universities is large and you'd be better served doing something with an economics / business / finance (or at least quant) angle if you don't make it to Oxbridge. Unfortunately the reality is that in many ways the UK has an oxbridge or bust mentality and going to these universities will immensely help your personal brand, career progression and network. 

2) there has always been an appreciation for 'random' degrees in UK applicants as it provides intellectual diversity amongst the candidates they hire especially vs. European students that all do something directly related to finance. This I expect to stick around as long as London continues to be a financial hub in Europe. Also, if you're smart it takes about 2 months to catch up with your finance background colleagues in all the technical finance areas that are relevant to IB. When it comes to investing, I would argue having a different academic background can bring an edge as it allows you to approach investment opportunities from a different perspective and spot things that others might not.

3) when coming from a non finance degree, do your technical prep (although you won't be held to the same standards as a finance student) and most importantly craft a coherent story e.g. biochem undergrad wanting to go into Healthcare group

4) lastly, my biggest piece of advice is to just go for the degree that sounds most interesting to you, enjoy the academic experience and don't start thinking about careers too soon. You risk hating your university years otherwise 

Agree with the majority of the above but it also depends on your A-Levels. In my opinion, IBs in the UK definitely prefer a degree with some level of quantitative material - the most common degree I've seen in my 5 year career is economics by a mile.Saying that, I do (reasonably regularly) see people that have degrees with no quant skills - politics, philosophy, geography, but they ALL have Maths a level with an A or A*. In fact, when you apply for a lot of Ibanking graduate jobs whilst at uni they will specifically ask if you have maths A level at an A grade or higher - if you don't they will discount you.IMO philosophy at oxbridge is a good degree for banking but I'd still recommend PPE as it's more applicable.If I'm interviewing someone at my PE fund and they've done philosophy at oxbridge il be impressed by their intelligence but il also think - why didn't they choose something more applicable to finance/is it because they didn't plan to work in this field, got a generalist degree and now want to try banking cos they don't know what else to do?Also if you didn't get maths a level then do straight economics (if you can get on the course), to prove you've got some mathematical skills.FYI, I did PPE at one of the better semi targets and have never had trouble getting interviews. It does help that I got an A* in maths a level.

Any degree from Oxbridge is good for IB if you have a good GPA however don't forget that you will need to work on technicals a lot on your own time unlike Business/Econ students.

I'd argue someone who does Philosophy (or as mentioned above Classics) from Oxford/ Cambridge, networks well and comes to interview with a good understanding of technicals would be far more impressive than someone who's just regurgitating nonsense from their Finance/ Accounting course.