Retake poor alevels or go to uni?
I have an offer to study politics and economics at Nottingham university despite my grades being subpar, BBB. My end goal is to break into a front office role at a BB, and I’ve heard that the minimum entry requirement is AAB during screening processes. I could take a gap year and retake in order to improve my alevels and get into a slightly better uni next year, but I fear repeating a year will not be very productive, especially when considering that Nottingham has a good track record for IB placement. However, I’m worried that BBB will hold me back during spring weeks. Should I retake or nah?
First of all you are already at a disadvantage compared to the competitive playing field by studying a non-quant subject at a semi-target. I have seen students from Notts get some good roles, but they all had perfect academic track records and good internship experience.
If you are serious about front office roles at BBs, then retake - its only one year and you have a long career.
If you don't care about FO roles at BBs, then stick with Notts, opportunity cost of taking a gap year is high, and non high finance careers (Civil Service, Big 4 etc.) aren't that anal about a-levels
Hey thanks for your response. I took your advice and ended up with AAA in Math, Chem, Econ, and I'll now be studying at King's College London. For now I'll be keeping my options open to both Machine Learning engineering and IB. I also recently got selected to attend an insight day at a BB so it seems like my resit was overlooked. Thanks again for the advice!
Congrats on the a levels, AI and Phil is an insane course though
This might be one of the most wholesome exchanges I’ve seen on this site - congrats OP
No worries pal. Appreciate the follow-up. Always nice to see this site having some impact.
You are in a good position. Keep grinding and pass it forward.
I mean being honest with those grades getting an FO role even at an MM firm will be extremely difficult as 99% of places are going to screen you out based on your a level grades.
I just got a final round rejection from a BB (think DB/UBS/Barclays) for their spring week. So close but so far. Made it past screening at least haha.
Tbh the AAB thing is more of a bare minimum anyways. Most ppl who get FO roles will have like A*AA+ and will be from your target unis: Oxbridge/LSE/Imperial/UCL/Warwick business or maths. If you are really set on an FO IB role then resit. Say you acheive A*AA, you should be able to get into most places.
Most A*A*A* students at Oxford are not getting into BB/EBs. Given that you literally got a BBB (probably equivalent to a 2.0 gpa in the US?) I think you have way bigger things to worry about than recruiting for front-office BB. You're on the wrong end of the bell curve and we're talking about a job that takes the top 0.1%.
I dont want to sound like a dickhead but if you are getting a BBB how much realistically can you improve. Given the state of the current economy in the UK you will likely be unemployed. Have you thought about becoming a tradesman? There is a lot of money to be made if you are willing to grind it out there.
Hey hope you’re well. This was an old post of mine from last year lol. I retook and got AAA. I’m at KCL now. Not the strongest set of grades but hopefully they’re sufficient for most places.
Dolore dolores commodi est et nesciunt aut aut. Sapiente ut et blanditiis pariatur beatae officia. Dolorem eligendi dolor ea atque velit sed. Velit et adipisci quam maxime aut fugiat. Vel nesciunt inventore excepturi sunt cum tempora. Nihil et natus recusandae consequatur animi ullam.
Doloremque aut sed eius ad nam vel autem. Quibusdam veritatis nostrum aperiam culpa accusantium. Et inventore velit et animi. Cumque repellendus qui nulla est tenetur. Neque maiores provident odit voluptates et voluptas sed in.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...