19 Comments
 

I've met plenty of Brits who went to Imperial. No idea if it gives you a "leg up" but it certainly won't hurt!

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

STEM at Imperial shows that you are clearly smart, very strong degree, just need to prepare for the finance stuff since you won't learn it directly. You won't be able to waltz into a role 

 
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Background: I have hired a number of people through the years into London IB roles, from Imperial as well as other UK unis. I think the key point is that the degree includes "Science .. and Engineering" (having kept an eye on Imperial the last few years I even think not too long ago the degree was just called Materials Science, without the Engineering, so helpful for you!). This clearly says STEM so that is great. The other thing that is great, if I understand your post correctly is that you have not yet started your degree yet. This will give you plenty of time to do lots of relevant stuff outside your degree, like societies etc. Two other recommendations: make sure you can code well (at least Python, with Numpy, Pandas etc Data Science and Machine Learning stuff) and take full advantage of the fact that you are in London! Imperial organises lots of stuff and lots of companies come to give talks so use this to your advantage. In summary: the degree is fine just add lots of relevant stuff on your CV to give yourself the best chance

 

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