Received an offer for BSc UCL Economics starting September 2023. Acceptance rate according to their website is around 7% which makes me think that I should go. If I achieve 4 A*s at AL, could reapply for LSE/Camb Econ but not sure if this is worth the time.
Does UCL Econ place well for FO IB? Similarly, how does UCL Econ fare for MBB? Appreciate any thoughts on the topic; thank you!
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Targeted by all investment banks, not as much as LSE/Camb but it's marginal really. MBB is primarily just Oxbridge with a little LSE/Imperial so not much of a target there, but not impossible.
Thanks. Is it worth reapplying next year for LSE/Camb for the marginal benefit?
Not true for MBB:
Thanks for this. Does this hold for IB also?
what exactly is this? is this the guide used by HR to accept or reject applications?
pre-screen: no = directly rejected?
This is 6 years old
The UCL brand name is good enough to get interviews at all BBs / EBs as well as MBB. Econ is definitely seen as one of the most prestigious and competitive courses at UCL (alongside Medicine and Law) which helps to elevate you slightly above applicants from other courses.
I graduated from UCL Econ a few years back. There is a massive IB culture and you are targeted by all the IBs from year 1 (constant events on campus etc.). The culture is almost an obsession and can get quite intense (during freshers week people are already talking about spring week applications) but it definitely pushes you to get in. My older sibling went to Oxbridge so I have the comparison and there's definitely less of an IB culture there so you have to do more homework yourself.
Anecdotally all of my friends who wanted to get into front office IB did so successfully. It was pretty similar on the consulting side with many successful MBB candidates from my class as well.
In my opinion there is absolutely no "need" for a masters from LSE/Oxbridge unless you're doing it because you have a passion for academia in that subject. In my opinion if you can't get into BB / EB IB or MBB consulting from UCL its because you are not good enough as a candidate - the university would have nothing to do with it.
Thank you so much. Could I PM you?
Hey man - also considering UCL!
I was wondering (based off of your experience) was there a large difference between "prestigious course" (Med/Law/pure Econ) students who applied for front office IB/MBB roles & less competitive courses (perhaps degrees such as Geography, double/triple honours Econ with politics/history etc...)?
Or did you feel you all had an equal chance as you were all under the UCL brand name, and those who tried (across all disciplines) got in.
Its not a large difference. If you are still strong in other areas of your application you'll be fine.
Would you say this is similar for economics + stats at UCL as well or is straight econ much better ‘wise’ when it comes to IB/MBB?
do you recon I could break in with an Archaeology Bsc at UCL?
Short answer - With a minimum 2:1 you have the 'prestige screen' out of the way (they won't throw out your application based on that). The rest comes down to real competence.
Godspeed brother
The added gain of going to LSE/Oxbridge over a place like UCL is very marginal. I would firm UCL; it's a solid target and has a very strong IB culture. Societies like EFS, M&A Group and Investment Fund consistently place into the FO roles you desire in IB. Seen a few people from UCL get McKinsey for sure as well as some Bain/BCG offers. Overall, don't overcomplicate it, UCL is a very good school for IB. I would only suggest to target LSE/Cambs PURELY if you think the course structure, learning and intellectual fields will be very different there (I suspect not but there may be some niche differences that attract you to LSE/Cambs). IB and MBB placement, all 3 Unis are fairly indistinguishable. LSE is just a smaller UCL in terms of IB culture, other comments are right in saying there isn't really too much IB culture at Oxbridge compared to LSE/Warwick/UCL, even though Oxbridge undoubtedly places well.
Currently a student here, many friends had Springs/Summer offers.
If you do Econ at any of UCL, LSE, Warwick, Oxbridge you will be fine. Econ courses at these unis are all full of really clever students with top grades and ability. Firms know that. After that it’s just about how you interview imo.
Congratulations on Warwick
Warwick a far better course than UCL matey
Tbh Warwick and UCL are about the same in terms of placements. If at either university you can’t land an offer, it’s frankly a skill issue
Just curious (not from UK) what makes pure econs more competitive to get into / desired than literally any other finance/management–related course?
You need to be good in math
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