Just curious as for engineering courses Bristol is often regarded above Durham/ Warwick and even UCL. So given that would a Bristol mech eng student be favoured as for that course Bristol reputation is far ahead of its overall reputation and would place a Bristol engineering student in terms of calibre alongside strong targets? Also engineering is a more rigorous degree than economics
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I might be ignorant, but I guess the top banks are not interested in too many nuances about how each specific non-financial course has it's most competitive university at a non-target. My guess is that even medicine at random schools (which, in most parts of the world, is often harder to get into than most Oxbridge / Ivy league disciplines/courses) could often get classified as non-target if it's not within the common IB target university names. My guess is that HR isn't pedantically interested in getting the brightest possible students academically—as IB doesn't require an IQ (just practicing Ms Office with a sprinkle of basic corporate finance & acct)—they're just concerned with the "lazy" shorthand of bucketing everything based on university name. Engineering is not a financial course—so they couldn't care less if Bristol is the most competitive engineering course. Tentative impressions – I might be wrong
I think Bristol is a decent semi target anyways but thanks for the insight
Studied engineering at an at-best semi target so can confirm most places don't care that you studied engineering at a uni with a better-ranked engineering degree than other unis that are, on the whole, higher targets
Thought Bristol is a firm semi target but interesting - sort of unfair imo
Just got to grind harder
Bristol is a semi, the above comment didn't say anything contrary to that. He just said the banks don't care if engineers think it's the best (and he's right).
Can you get into IB at Bristol? Of course you can! In the UK, if you realistically apply yourself correctly from the first year of university (and make sure your resume, cover letter, and story are pristine), diversity can help as well. You honestly can break in from any school and course via the spring week process, regardless of what people tell you.
However, when it comes to breaking into BBs (especially top ones) and EBs for summer analyst positions, that's a different story. HR, especially in tough years, will be extremely stringent on who they allow through the process. They honestly couldn't care less about what degree you study or whether it's ranked higher on some Guardian school ranking. HR literally gets a list of schools to target before each recruitment cycle. They are less stringent on this when recruiting for the spring week process because it is meant to give opportunities to people from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.
At my BB, and I know at a lot of others, HR will disregard your application for summers if you're not at Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick, Imperial, UCL, or a European Target school. By no means am I saying that if you go to these schools you will get through to the next round; you still need great experience and a good overall profile. Therefore, even if you do go to these schools, it's still extremely hard.
A strong semi-target like Bristol will still get looks from MMs or LMMs. However, so will an LSE geography student, a UCL politics student, or a Cambridge modern languages student (who might have even got looks from top BBs or EBs). Do you see the point I'm trying to make? HR's job is to bring in the perceived best talent, and according to them, this talent comes from schools such as the ones mentioned above.
Spring weeks at the right firms with a good convertibility pipeline are a golden gift for all candidates within the UK, especially non-target and semi-target students. The truth is, if you miss this window, it becomes increasingly harder (nearly impossible in some cases) to break into BBs and EBs unless you pursue a finance/management master's degree at a top target school. Again, though, I've seen many of my friends do finance master's at top targets and still not break in.
What I've learned about this industry is that everything is about taking your opportunity when you get it. You gotta be like Marcus Rashford on his pro debut: TAKE YOUR OPPORTUNITY! Springs are a great way to do this.
d
Stemtard arrogance. Just because you are good at numeracy does not mean you would have the skills to be good at many other subjects.
Atque libero occaecati perspiciatis velit. Veritatis quia reiciendis quia. Id perspiciatis minima omnis. Est debitis vero itaque consectetur soluta ad similique.
Qui rerum qui sequi saepe quia et earum. Suscipit cum sapiente atque occaecati saepe asperiores sint.
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