US Student Interested in London IB

Currently a rising junior at a semi-target for NYC IB looking to break into London IB. I'm a UK and US citizen, but did not recruit for NYC as I wasn't ready to fully commit to it with the recruiting process being so far in advance so I did not send in any applications. Does anyone have any advice for me if this is even possible? What are some things I can do to make it past the resume rounds given my very different background? As of right now I've sent in applications to the few shops that have opened up the analyst positions.

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It's a weird situation, not a common one. Rare to see UK citizens apply to London IB from outside of the UK and not from UK unis. That said, shouldn't be much different to an European citizen applying for London IB - i.e. there's not much extra you can do. The few Americans you see over here tend to come from targets. Same applies for Europeans. But semi targets sometimes make it through. And maybe you'll get some leniency since no sponsorship required.

Anyway UK recruiting is pretty similar to US recruiting in terms of what they look for in candidates, only difference is there's virtually no networking component. Submit your application and pray.

 

How hard would it be to make it as an international in the UK at a target MFin program like LSE, LBS, or Imperial? 
For context: have 1 internship experience (summer 2023) as a credit analyst intern at a CLO manager and would graduate from the MFin in 2027.

 

In case you haven't noticed, the world in general is pretty close to recessionary territory so the job market anywhere isn't that good. That said, no one can know what the UK/US job market will be like in 2-3 years time... There's no point considering it unless there's anything structural which there isn't, last time I checked.

Yes visa situation in UK is easier for intls and the masters pipeline is much better established than in the US. LSE/LBS are great schools for MFin.

 

SA 2025 Positions are just beginning to open for London, so you’re not late or anything.

In terms of success, UK has its own target schools and the brand name/reputation of US schools doesn’t always transfer over (top targets excepted), and networking isn’t so helpful either.

Best of luck though!

 

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