Universities

Hello all, 

Just for some background information, I'm a year 13 student currently going through the UCAS process and I hope to go into investment banking. Here are the universities I am planning on applying to:

-Bath

-Bristol

-Nottingham

-Exeter

-Possibly St. Andrews or Manchester

Of all these universities, which one would you say would give me the best shot at a front-office role within an investment bank?

I have recently made a post similar to this one, however, I asked my centre to return my application so that I could change the universities.

Thanks for the help!

15 Comments
 

Without knowing the subject it’s difficult. In general:

-Bath: decent semi-target with very good year in industry schemes for some courses 

-Bristol: strong general prestige but doesn’t place that well into finance 

-Nottingham: same as Bath, without the year in industry though 

-Exeter: very good alumni, can help you network in, but Bath placement/finance focus probably better on the whole 

-Possibly St. Andrews or Manchester: St Andrews is the same as Exeter but on a smaller scale (and more prestigious to the lay person), Manchester is surprisingly a complete non target

Overall, Bath is your best bet if you’re on a placement year course. But St Andrews is probably the most reputable out of these universities generally.

 
Most Helpful

Nottingham places very well, better than Bath (which still does well). You could argue that's because Notts is more diverse and has a bigger stream of diversity candidates but we won't go there. Fact is, placement figures the past couple years from Notts have been good. 

Bristol also does decently, it's definitely a semi.

I've never understood St Andrews so I won't comment.

Manchester does surprisingly well for a non-target if you're looking for a safety.

One note on placements: speaking to people who've done them, there's always a mixed verdict. Some people regret doing them. Some people found them useful but could've done without. And some people get into MS/GS/Citi/UBS with minimal competition because placement recruiting is smaller. So it really depends. It's a nice option to have though. They can interfere with SA hiring because many placements overlap with SA timelines (e.g. ending in August). You can always do final-year SAs anyway. A lot of people I know who did placements did this. This is referring to year-long placements. I know Bath also has a BBA scheme which does 6 month placements which is completely cracked because the uni has strong links and there's like no competition apart from your classmates.

 

Already looked at the courses and the only way I could get in is if I changed my personal statement and course to something more humanities-focused like philosophy which doesn't seem to have much competition. I don't think it's worth me changing the course just to get into Warwick. 

 

This is horrible advice. They need to get GOOD A-Levels if they want IBD. Those who break IBD at top firms from the group you mentioned usually do econ or stem and have great a levels. Don't do a shit course. You won't break.

 

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