UK /Aus/ China/ Malaysian uni for IB
Hi there! May I ask for any advice if I want to break into IB (eventually PE) in HK or SG? I am a Malaysian and currently have the following options:
Tsinghua University (in China)- B Econs and Finance
University of Melbourne - BCommerce(Econs)
UNSW- BCommerce (major in business economics)
UNSW - BSc Math
University of Sydney-Bachelor of Commerce
Monash university Malaysia (and maybe transfer to Monash Australia - BSc Applied Math and Computing)- Bachelor of Computer Science (maybe double degree with B Commerce with major in Econs)
Californian Community College—> UCB/UCLA Applied math
University of Malaya - Economics (but I reckon this would be redundant if I have Monash Malaysia?)
——
Durham PPE
Manchester PPE
University of Nottingham Malaysia- B Economics// BSc Math and Data Science
——
I can speak English, Chinese, Cantonese, and Malay.
My parents want me to work in Malaysia because they have network in Malaysian tech (the big international ones). Suppose I’ll be able to land an internship in a local brokerage firm ( at least) in my first year, what would be my best option ?
based on my research on LinkedIn, a Nottingham malaysia B Econs graduate, and one Monash University Malaysia B Commerce graduate, and a USYD grad managed to join JPM Asia Analyst Development Program (iirc its open to Southeast Asian citizens only). The two Malaysian campus grads here have a considerable number of strong internships. Not much data since the sample size is small.
I considered math degrees because double degrees in australia (4 years in total but will graduate without honors so it’ll be difficult to apply to top masters program in the future). 4 years in Australia would be overly expensive for me so I will be doing either BSc math or B Commerce (3y in total).
Also, apparently if I’m not from a top target school, a STEM degree will be better than an economics degree.
I know I can’t get into HF because I won’t be going to a top STEM university too.
I know it’s very difficult to get internships and placements in Australia (apparently it’s more competitive than the US and UK because there just aren’t many spots) especially for an international student, so I am a bit concerned of securing an internship in australia / job after graduating from an Australian uni.
Low chance of getting HK uni offers, so I know my chances of getting into HK IB is slim, my only hope is Tsinghua University(but still it’ll be hard to be the top in this Chinese university as I’m more accustomed to learning in English. My Tsinghua friend told me classes in Tsinghua are in Chinese, and even those “English-taught” classes are just English teaching materials + Chinese lectures.)
im also not sure of the lateral transfer opportunities from local banks in Malaysia to SG/HK. Thus I’m in a quandary at the moment. Would appreciate if anyone can enlighten me.
Thank you so much!!
Since u speak mandarin go tsinghua
May I know how much will it help me? My concern for Tsinghua is that my grades in uni. Studying math and quantitative subjects(eg physics and CS courses) in Chinese would be much tougher than in English for me as entire secondary education is in English.
Will the low GPA hurt me a lot ( to the extent where my prospects are worse than the other options? )?
Which means that your mandarin is not proficient enough, than avoid china/hk, take ccc->berkely(has to be UCB) route or Manchester route, and recruit in singapore. Berkely is more prestigous depite of CCC transferring however breaking into US banks as a transfer intl student is immensely hard.
chinese international student that did undergrad in US and master in oxbridge and I have interned/ recruited for both beijing/ new york/ hk/ london and got offers in all except beijing. So i will share with you some of my insights and the whereabouts of people that went to some of the schools you mentioned.
China: THU, great school, gaining a lot of traction internationally these days in terms of its academics. I know a lot of friends (international both US and SEA) that went to the SEM, placement in China is almost 0, some opportunities in HK. Almost all of them decided to pursue a masters in US/UK then re-recruit. The program itself can get you to top masters in this world but i don't see how it is helpful in terms of recruiting.
Californian Community College—> UCB/UCLA Applied math: not a good route if you are applying for IB in the US since recruiting starts on the spring of your second year. By that time you are 1) still at CC, on the process of transferring; 2) just transferred to UCB/UCLA and trying to settle in with academic, social life. Would be a challenge in terms of recruiting
UK unis: I have multiple friends that went to manchester and got pretty good placement in the UK (asian female and male), so I would say that is doable. I know of people at Durham but not really sure the recruitment situation.
Not really familiar with the whole australian thing maybe someone else can help.
If i were you i would choose from manchester and THU depending on your family situation. manchester also opens another door of recruiting (ie uk) on top of HK and SEA which you already have no matter where you go. At the end of the day, app is a lot of luck so the more places you apply the higher possibility you can get in.
Hi! Thank you so much for your insights!
Apparently Durham is a higher semi-target than Manchester in the UK, so I might pick Durham over Manchester for PPE. Also, I found a program where I can do one year of studies in a local private university in Malaysia, then transfer to the University of Bristol (which places better than Manchester according to WSO posts) to finish the last 2 years in the UK. The transfer (has many past successful cases) is guaranteed as long as my GPA is above 3.25. The cost of this Bristol transfer program would be 2/3 of doing the PPE Bachelor program in Durham.
Options for the Bristol transfer program:
I’m pretty confident that I’ll meet the transfer requirement (GPA >=3.25) so my concern is whether doing the 1+2 program put me at a great disadvantage for recruiting in London(maybe recruiters will be skeptical of my first-year uni).
Also I recently discovered the HEC-Bocconi dual degree program and am planning to apply to this dual degree program and other Bocconi bachelor programs. (BIEF // BSc Econ, Management and Comp Sci// BESS// BIEM) but I wonder if it’s almost impossible to get a working visa in the UK after studying in Italy. On LinkedIn I found many Bocconi grads working in London, but I’m not very sure how things will work now and in the future (depending on EU or my Malaysian citizenship. Pro: Commonwealth country, con: Southeast Asian country?)
Another thing I’m concerned about Tsinghua is that historically, intl students of SEM don’t place really well (at least for my country, they don’t place as well as those from Uni of Nottingham Malaysia and Monash University Malaysia. Not sure if I can attribute this to the English speaking + pre-professional environment in these satellite campuses which would ultimately benefit candidates for interviews. Also I noticed that grads from Nottingham Malaysia and Monash Malaysia have stellar [in the Malaysian market] internships such as small PE/local IB/corporate finance/MBB analyst internships or programs, and usually have 3-6 of such experiences listed on their resume.) similar to what you mentioned, I’ve heard of only 1-2 Malaysians from SEM who eventually got into top IB / PE, and less than 10 getting to non-top finance firms. (Too little data to be scraped on LinkedIn)
not sure how Durham ranked vs Manchester but i think all of them are in the same tier so the differences might be marginal (personal opinion)
"I’m pretty confident that I’ll meet the transfer requirement (GPA >=3.25) .... "
doable but it will be hard for you to apply for spring weeks in Malay given time difference. Prob will also put your resume in a disadvantage since by then you have not transferred yet so the only thing on your resume will just be the Malay school
"Also I recently discovered the HEC-Bocconi dual degree program ..."
good schools , as international student you don't have the right to work in London if you study in Europe, sponsorship adds another level of diffculty to the already hard application for asian male that doesnt speak european language. Not recommended perosnally.
Re your final point.
Chinese student don't use Linkedin ( just like they don't have Instagram/ Youtube etc...) so the information is much biased than what you would imagined. THU is globally renowned (academically) not sure if some stupid HR from a shitty ass school would know but they do have strong pipline to China/ HK banking as well as American/ UK masters. Can't comment on the SEA part.
Australia options
USYD, UniMelb, UNSW all great targets.
Often the fourth year (honours) if you pursue has good scholarship opportunities, suggest researching this.
Internships/jobs in Australia have front and back doors, networking works very well, which gives locals a big advantage, and your working rights post-graduation will be considered, this will work against you to an extent but are not insurmountable.
You could try land first year internship via family connections, then leverage this subsequently for a boutique internship (maybe big 4), then a corporate finance/banking internship is a pathway for Aus IB.
Would go with Tsinghua
Tsinghua is a mega target in the region
Durham/Manchester are semi-target at best for London
CCC -> UCB/UCLA not a great route given how early recruiting is
Dont know anything about Australia
Overall would go with Tsinghua
It doesn't matter as much as you think. Just try to get an internship in one of the major PE firms during your break - creador, dymon or navis. Would not advise starting in local bank IB if you have regional aspirations.
Thank you very much! Will start looking at internship opportunities in these PE firms!
Malaysian with FT IB offer in HK here. If you’ve decided that you want to stay in Asia (HK/SG), then go Tsinghua. Many of my interviewers went to Tsinghua/Beida. Durham and UMelb/Usyd have good name rec but I’m not sure about the others.
Hi thank you v much! May I ask if you studied in HK? (Can I pm you?). Because the Malaysians working in HK finance I found (on LinkedIn) studied in HK.
May i ask if you know any Australian degree holders in HK high finance? Usually HK targets US, UK, HK, mainland (in order) unis.
What about UK low targets?
Hey bro, mind if i pm you real quick? got a FT offer in HK too and i have a couple of questions
First off, absolutely GOATED that you were admitted to UM. The malaysians and singaporeans will know what hurdles I'm talking about. Keep your head up high.
I am familiar with s&t recruiting in hk/sg having worked in both places and being involved in recruitment there. I can share some observations.
The tsinghua folks have NATIVE level mandarin which means business mandarin. Some get in at the ugrad level in HK others use it as a platform for a top tier masters from the uk/us.
Generally the most desirable and well paying global markets analyst positions in tier 1 banks got to students from top US or UK undergrad programs (ivies, oxbridge, imperial lse mit stanford northwestern williams amherst etc). Some of these folks attended boarding schools in the west, can speak english and mandarin at or close to the native level , very at ease in rich people social situations...so thats your competition.
Followed by top HK/sg students in local hk and singapore schools (hku cuhk ust nus ntu smu etc). One big issue in singapore is that its very difficult for foreigners to get jobs, especially if you're junior. Every government will look after its own citizens first.
Australian and canadian schools are okay but its a bit of a crapshoot cos you're so far away and you dont really get any targeted form of career support for hk/sg roles. Youre on your own. Plus it's almost impossible for foreigners to get graduate jobs in Australia (cant speak for canada).
Seems like Imp/LSE are very well respected in sg/hk. Are UCL or Warwick good enough to cut it? Im mainly interested in AM/PB or CB.
ucl imperial yes
Warwick durham bristol , yes . theyre great schools but youre competing against oxbridge lse imperial ucl
Hi! Thank you so much for the insights! Since you’re familiar with the SG HK market, do you know how possible is it to transfer from a SEA (specifically Malaysian office) office to SG / HK office? My parents emphasized to me that it’s highly possible (by quoting successful cases of their friends, colleagues, etc) as long as my performance is tip-top in Malaysia, but to me this appears overly optimistic that it underestimates the stiff competition (due to the increased number of highly qualified grads and sluggish economy) esp in Asia. Would you be able to clarify this?:)
For UK: Apparently Durham is a higher semi-target than Manchester in the UK, so I might pick Durham over Manchester for PPE. Also, I found a program where I can do one year of studies in a local private university in Malaysia, then transfer to the University of Bristol (which is a higher semi target than Manchester according to WSO posts) to finish the last 2 years in the UK. The transfer (has many past successful cases) is guaranteed as long as my GPA is above 3.25. The cost of this Bristol transfer program would be 2/3 of doing the PPE Bachelor program in Durham.
Options for the Bristol transfer program:
BSc (Hons) Economics
BSc (Hons) Economics and Econometrics
BSc (Hons) Economics and Finance.
I’m pretty confident that I’ll meet the transfer requirement (GPA >=3.25) so my concern is whether doing the 1+2 program put me at a great disadvantage for recruiting in London(maybe recruiters will be skeptical of my first-year uni).
Also, I recently discovered the HEC-Bocconi dual degree program and am planning to apply to this dual degree program and other Bocconi bachelor programs. (BIEF // BSc Econ, Management and Comp Sci// BESS// BIEM) but I wonder if it’s almost impossible to get a working visa in the UK after studying in Italy. On LinkedIn I found many Bocconi grads working in London, but I’m not very sure how things will work now and in the future (depending on EU or my Malaysian citizenship. Pro: Commonwealth country, con: Southeast Asian country?)
For Tsinghua SEM, I reckon it’s less likely for me to top the cohort, thus harder to apply to MBA/ masters in the UK / US top business schools. Another thing I’m concerned about Tsinghua is that historically, intl students of SEM don’t place really well (at least for my country, they don’t place as well as those from Uni of Nottingham Malaysia and Monash University Malaysia. Not sure if I can attribute this to the English speaking + pre-professional environment in these satellite campuses which would ultimately benefit candidates for interviews. Also I noticed that grads from Nottingham Malaysia and Monash Malaysia have stellar [in the Malaysian market] internships such as smaller PE/local IB/corporate finance/MBB analyst internships or programs, and usually have 3-6 of such experiences listed on their resume.) I’ve heard of only about 1-3 Malaysians from SEM who eventually got into top IB / PE, and less than 10 getting to non-top finance firms. (Too little data to be scraped on LinkedIn)
It seems to me that, statistically, it’s much harder to break into HK finance as an international student from Tsinghua than break into London IB as an intl student from a semi target (Durham or Bristol). Please, please do correct me if this is a blatant misunderstanding. Therefore I’m seriously considering the option of UK unis (hopefully landing a job in London so it’s easier to move to SG HK roles in the future).
Would be really grateful if you could share some of your thoughts on this:) thank you very much!
It it were me I would go to Tsingshua. The UK unis you mentioned are not top tier (good luck getting into IB from Manchester), don’t see how Australia would help, and dont think that Malaysian unis carry much international prestige.
Tsingshua is top tier, I would go there, try and get a job, and if you can’t do a masters in the UK or US.
Second best option is Durham. Otherwise the US school, although I’m not sure how this transfer thing works and seems a bit risky jf Berkeley isn’t guaranteed.
Hi tqvm! Transferring to Berkeley applied math has an acceptance rate of 68% (about 41% for UCLA applied math, 47% for UCLA math for computation, 32% for UCLA Math/Econ major, 38% for UCLA Math/ Applied Science major) , but I reckon it’s hard to join investment clubs and land US-based internships because my first two years weren’t in UCB or UCLA. I think UCB can help me land internships /jobs in SG/HK (at least it’ll pass resume screening).
For UK: Apparently Durham is a higher semi-target than Manchester in the UK, so I might pick Durham over Manchester for PPE. Also, I found a program where I can do one year of studies in a local private university in Malaysia, then transfer to the University of Bristol (which places better than Manchester according to WSO posts) to finish the last 2 years in the UK. The transfer (has many past successful cases) is guaranteed as long as my GPA is above 3.25. The cost of this Bristol transfer program would be 2/3 of doing the PPE Bachelor program in Durham.
Options for the Bristol transfer program:
BSc (Hons) Economics
BSc (Hons) Economics and Econometrics
BSc (Hons) Economics and Finance.
I’m pretty confident that I’ll meet the transfer requirement (GPA >=3.25) so my concern is whether doing the 1+2 program put me at a great disadvantage for recruiting in London(maybe recruiters will be skeptical of my first-year uni).
Also I recently discovered the HEC-Bocconi dual degree program and am planning to apply to this dual degree program and other Bocconi bachelor programs. (BIEF // BSc Econ, Management and Comp Sci// BESS// BIEM) but I wonder if it’s almost impossible to get a working visa in the UK after studying in Italy. On LinkedIn I found many Bocconi grads working in London, but I’m not very sure how things will work now and in the future (depending on EU or my Malaysian citizenship. Pro: Commonwealth country, con: Southeast Asian country?)
For Tsinghua SEM, it’s less likely for me to top the cohort, thus harder to apply to MBA/ masters in the UK / US top business schools. Another thing I’m concerned about Tsinghua is that historically, intl students of SEM don’t place really well (at least for my country, they don’t place as well as those from Uni of Nottingham Malaysia and Monash University Malaysia. Not sure if I can attribute this to the English speaking + pre-professional environment in these satellite campuses which would ultimately benefit candidates for interviews. Also I noticed that grads from Nottingham Malaysia and Monash Malaysia have stellar [in the Malaysian market] internships such as small PE/local IB/corporate finance/MBB analyst internships or programs, and usually have 3-6 of such experiences listed on their resume.) I’ve heard of only about 1-3 Malaysians from SEM who eventually got into top IB / PE, and less than 10 getting to non-top finance firms. (Too little data to be scraped on LinkedIn)
It seems to me that, statistically, it’s much harder to break into HK finance as an international student from Tsinghua than break into London IB as an intl student from a semi target (Durham or Bristol). Please, please do correct me if this is a blatant misunderstanding.
Would be really grateful if you could share some of your thoughts on this:) thank you very much!
Congrats on the offers, I imagine the costs for the schools you mentioned may vary a lot so maybe you want to start off by narrowing your options from there.
From my personal experience, I’ve seen many people pivot from working in the US/UK to APAC region but not much of the reverse, so this might be something to consider if you want to keep your options entirely open.
Currently studying in the UK so I’m able to shed some light on the recruitment process here. PPE Manchester and Durham are semi-targets for London IB. Just be on top of the recruitment process from first year (spring weeks etc.) and you’re sorted. I believe it’s very difficult to get summer internships in SG as a foreigner due to complicated visa restrictions (correct me if I’m wrong). Subsequently, odds won’t be in your favour for FT recruiting in SG. Can’t speak for HK recruitment as I have no experience recruiting there for summers, but I did get a FT role in big4 M&A (so I’m assuming BBs are willing to sponsor foreigners if you have stellar experience, but rare)
I noticed there’s very little comments on this but you should also consider what course and uni experience you prefer, since your options are in vastly different locations. Of course the end goal is to break into IB and PE, but there’s more to life than slaving away and earning big bucks.
Happy to chat in pm if you have any questions
Hi thank you so much for your advice! Would love to pm you (but I don’t think I can because your username isn’t on public) :)
Hopefully you're able to now, mb I'm not sure how pm works on here haha
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