Are Scottish Universities Targeted?
I live in Scotland and here we get free tuition. I will have the grades to get into any UK target school. The only universities worthy of mention here are St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Glasgow. Strathclyde seems pretty grim and I will probably develop depression if I lived at St. Andrews (nothing there and full of Americans). Glasgow seems to be the obvious choice in my situation but it isn't targeted. People on here say Edinburgh is semi-targeted but I find that hard to believe. It looks like I may need to bite the bullet and apply down in England but I will never be able to justify the decision to my parents and it seems financially irresponsible for me to do so. I could do an undergraduate Economics degree here and do a masters at a more targeted school, but undergraduate courses take 4 years here instead of 3 years in England so by the time I leave university I will be two years behind my English peers. Really struggling here and would appreciate any input. Thanks.
Edinburgh and St Andrews are your best choices, but London/Oxbridge targets + strong semi targets tend to be favoured more. If you really want to stay in Scotland, go for Edinburgh if you hate the small city life. Its a great city and your opportunities are promising even if its lower than the ones I mentioned above. You'll work slightly harder than your English peers but you'll be saving a shit ton in return. Worth it in my book.
The 4 year course thing isn't that relevant, most people still do 4 year degrees in the UK + the Europeans always do a masters + something else so you're not really left out. I've seen 27 year old first year analysts so you'll be fine.
Its not as black and white to be honest. A lot of people break in from non-targets these days in London, especially for spring weeks. Edinburgh would be a good choice imo, ik someone who got 4+ offers at Glasgow too.
The spring week thing is a non-point in 2022. Banks give springs to every protected group nowadays to virtue signal. You need to be looking at actual converted FT analysts, which you find very few of from non-targets in ldn.
Agree with above, Edinburgh is good enough providing you can get into the spring week system.
Would also consider splashing out for a one year MSc at an English target afterwards if you fail in recruiting first time round. Will still be cheaper than attending UG in England, although there’s obviously the opportunity cost of an extra year.
You might as well apply to Oxford or Cambridge and LSE. If they both reject you that's your problem sorted.
And to be frank, if you know you want to be in front office finance for the long haul, student loans will not be a big deal. Most people have them. Increasing your odds of breaking into the industry is worth taking on loans, imo.
Uni isn’t that expensive in the uk compared to the states though - it’s approx. half a years base?
I went to St. Andrews myself and ended up in s&t but only know a handful of others that did. It is doable for sure, but you’ll most likely not meet as many people who share the same goals as you in comparison to Warwick/LSE/oxbridge etc.
Would take any of the UK targets over top Scottish unis.
They're not "targeted" because:
- They're not particularly hard to get into if you're an A-Level student for any course except medicine (which is hard to get into everywhere)
- They don't have the brand cache/alumni of Oxbridge and the London targets or the business school/quant rep of Warwick
- They're too far away. Nobody cares enough to take the train to convince Edinburgh students to join London IBD.
Warwick is by far the easiest target to get into. Multiple courses in clearing. If I were you, I'd look for something there.
Looking at Edinburgh. MA Economics and Statistics seems to be the sexiest option. Or will just MA Economics on its own suffice? Or perhaps MA Economics with Finance? I think the first option is the best.
If you don't mind me asking, what did you end up pursuing? I'm currently in S6 Scottish state school, applied to LSE and Cam, but will realistically have to choose between Edinburgh and St. Andrews.
As a target school student, I can tell you in the uk it doesn’t really matter whether you went to a target/semi-target/non-target. As long as you meet the minimum AAB/ABB, you’re fine. Then, what matters is how well you do in the ACs. ACs are everything and essentially can make or break your entire app. The only reason you see more top-tier uni kids break into IB and get springs/summers is that we have good EQ and are can effectively sell ourselves to the recruiter.
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