Title says it all, I really wanted to go to Oxbrige to then go into IB but only got into LSE.
I did accept the LSE offer but I am really not looking forward to attending...
Should I just re-apply for next year?
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Idk if this is for undergrad or masters but LSE is still a target and will get you past the CV screener and get you the interviews. The work experience and internships matter more in the end.
I'm graduating from a semi target MSc Finance program this year and have secured a seat on the buyside. My classmate got into IB too.
On the other hand, you should also enjoy the program and college life. Think about it.
Gonna derail: I'm curious about your experience recruiting from a semi-target MFin. What was it like?
Also when you say semi are you talking Warwick/UCL level here or like Bath level?
I just saw this, sorry. I graduated from a UCL/Imperial level semi target school. I did a part time (international student) HF internship in Feb during classes.
Recruitment this year was tough but I came here with a few no-name internships and a startup FT experience (total 1 year). I studied upto the CFA level 2 exam too (Covid refund). I started getting more interviews after updating the HF internship on my CV. I recruited for AM, S&T, WM roles mainly.
I ended up securing a job on the buyside in a long only fixed income (mainly private credit) role. It was difficult but I started feeling more confident after doing around 4-5 interviews each week in June and July.
If your sole wish of going to Oxbridge was to get into IB, then you must obviously have no idea of what target unis are. LSE is the best university in the UK for getting placement into corporate finance, particularly IB. You'll be more than fine, get many more looks than others solely on reputation
Why do you want to go to Oxbridge?
Don’t be a quitter. Just go to LSE.
Lse has the best undergrad placement - won’t go into stuff like % of students applying and all that bs but the fact remains. Know multiple people who picked LSE over oxbridge because placement was a priority for them. If your post is legitimate then be assured, you have nothing to worry about re recruiting.
If you're aiming for sellside just stick with LSE. There are some sweet oxbridge only gigs out there available to undergrads but only a handful so not worth taking a year out.
Breaking into sellside isn't hard in london, if you really want to go to oxbridge i'd reapply. Career comes second; its not a tough industry to break into assuming you know your shit.
First of all, I get how you feel. I really wanted to get into Oxbridge too and spent countless hours on applications. In the end, I didn't just get rejected from Oxbridge but also LSE and UCL lmao. I was gutted and was NOT looking forward to going to the other choice uni that I randomly picked.
Now that I have studied here for a year... the number of students I have seen get internships and full-time roles at prestigious places is way higher than I expected. And that's just my semi-target where many people don't even want to get into finance. Now, LSE is literally known for loads of people getting into IB and better finance places, so you are actually in a very good position.
As for re-applying - depends on how much Oxbridge was really your dream. Depending on the course you want to re-apply to, you probably will have to prepare all over again for the tests and also the interviews for the first half of the uni year. I decided to instead focus on applying for insight programmes and try to gain work experience which gave me an introduction to IB and proved to be very useful for my next steps.
Also, at the end of the day, you can be at Oxbridge but if you don't have things like communication skills or can't articulate your interest in finance, at the interview stage they will choose someone who displays those things even if they are at a "shit" uni. Oxbridge, and uni in general, isn't everything for IB.
As an Oxford student, I would say go to LSE.
If anything, LSE is probably better than Oxbridge for IB recruiting, given the intense culture at LSE. Seems like everyone at LSE is pushing each other for IB spots but most of my friends at Oxford (even doing e&m) didn't apply for spring weeks. It helps a great deal to be surrounded by people going through the same application process - something LSE will 100% provide.
VP who selects CVs here.
LSE Vs Oxbridge is a non-debate, really
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