Essentially the title, I’m 1st year at LSE, my course isn’t STEM/Econ/management etc, and it’s also not one of the better humanities, history/philosophy etc, so what should I be doing to break in. Would I have a better shot at consulting over IB, are there summer courses I can do to show I’m mathematically capable? All advice is appreciated. Thank you.
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A few thoughts, and honestly your course doesn't matter that much, but your attitude and actions at university do. With a name like LSE, if you do the right things you should be targeting a BB IB role (if we wind back the clock 12 months). I did not, to be clear, go to LSE.
1) Be involved in finance / economics-related societies and attend their events, particularly career-related
2) Sounds like you didn't do a Spring Week which you should have (unless you have a 4-year course - I presume you would've mentioned it otherwise). Don't make the same mistake with internships. Apply early and apply broadly
3) Get a role / leadership position in a society, or found one
4) Network A LOT - try to find people who you have something in common with (same hometown, university, course, etc.) and be personal
5) As far as summer courses go maybe look at WSO or BIWS - not a formal course as such, but something to educate and prepare you for assessment centres, and indicate some interest in the sector
6) Find some extra-curricular (ideally, relevant) activities for yor CV
7) Some of the societies I mentioned above run investment or stock-pitching programs. It's been a while since I graduated so, honestly, I don't know how these work, but I see them increasingly on CVs
8) You probably stand a good chance with Consulting so do explore this too.
I probably forgot some things so hopefully others add.
Best of luck.
Firstly, thank you very much for the detailed response. When it comes to extracurriculars, what do you suggest, because all I can think of would be what’s already mentioned (relevant societies and internships).
Thanks again
I wouldn't write off activities like sports, or anything which demonstrates ability to commit and work hard, or alternatively lead a team. Other ideas could be if you have some form of sandbox stock portfolio, or even if you've shown entrepreneurship like starting your own business (even if it's importing bow ties from Temu and selling them on campus, or starting a YouTube channel reviewing bow tiesm or whatever). Or maybe contributing a financial / commercial piece to a university paper. Broad choice set here if you use a bit of imagination
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