University of Bath vs Durham vs Warwick

Greetings everyone,

I am currently an international student holding undergraduate econ offers for the 3 mentioned universities and would like to ask for some advice.

The tuition fee for Warwick is about 30,000£, while Bath charges 23,000£ and Durham charges 26,000£ I know these are not easy questions to answer but I will really appreciate any input:

  1. Would Warwick be "worth" the extra 6-7k compared to Bath or even Durham? 
  2. How do Bath and Durham compare? I learned that Bath has an excellent placement programme but Durham has a higher ranking.

My family has enough money to pay for the tuitions but the price difference is almost equal to the cost of housing in Bath and I don’t want to burden them unnecessarily.

Thank you very much!

33 Comments
 

Hey, 

I am also an international student - currently at Durham Univeristy. 

I would Warwick is a strong Target university for IB and is considered amongst the best (can't really justify the cost because I don't go there and don't know about the academics). 

In terms of Durham and Bath, both are pretty strong semi-targets, but Durham edges Bath out on FO IB placements - you can screen this through linkedin. 

 

Would you say that Durham is the strongest semi? Thinking about firming LSE a&f and Durham finance as a backup. Other offers I have are from Leeds, Bayes and Queen Mary.

 

How exactly do you do the LinkedIn searches? I would be more interested in getting into a HF but that most likely is the same as FO IB or worst case IB-->HF 

 

Warwick is a target, Durham is a strong semi target but tbh sends so many people into finance it might as well be one.

Bath has the best placement programme out of any university and banks (like Citi, in the past KKR also) offer exclusive 6 month placements to Bath students.

You're fine wherever you go.

 

Coming from an international student doing business, had similar choices to you and I chose Warwick ultimately. Would say it's definitely worth the extra bit if you can afford it. Lmk if you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer. 

 

Warwick is very strong in econ and there’s a clear path to BB recruiting in the city. Can’t speak to the other two but I’ve seen more Warwick econ colleagues in the city than the others, perhaps with Durham a solid 2nd

 
Most Helpful

Hey Mate,

I'm in Bath. We do have the best placement programme in the country; pretty much literally every company that does placement hires directly from Bath. All Banks that have placements, you will always see Bath people there, especially Morgan Stanley, Citi etc. Bath is an excellent university as well and is considered a semi-target for all Banks for normal recruiting (Target for Placement Programmes - not all Banks, btw do a 1-year placement program).

We are also 1 h 30 min from London, this is good as I go a lot to London for networking events, bank events etc. 

I don't know how the other person says that Durham edges FO IB for bath for placement because that's incorrect (If he is referring to summer, FT, he def is right, but not in the structured placement programme context) 

I had an offer from Durham as well when I was in your shoes; I didn't go there because I hated the place ( I looked online and saw videos and stuff, they have a lot of strikes and poor student satisfaction imo). I have no regrets; this is my 2 cents.

Warwick is a very strong uni, as the other guy said; when I went to BB spring week, lots of people from Warwick. I've heard good things as I talk a lot with people; their academics are also well-known and good. I have no idea about their placement programme, so I can't comment (you can btw reach out to people on LinkedIn)

Imo go to Warwick; all 3 unis are great and considered semi-targets (choose which city you would enjoy the most, and imo choose one that is closest to London), if your parents can afford it, go for it as do what is best.

Where are you coming from btw, I'm also an international student.

If you have more questions about Bath lmk.

Could you also clarify what do you study?

 

I know it sounds silly, but what makes Bath exclusive? I thought it was just a database of places you can apply to + they help you with CV/preparation? Aren't the placements open to any university that has degrees with professional placements included?

 

Example: 

BBA students who do 2 - 6 months placements have exclusive opportunities for Citi, Wells Fargo, Piper Sandler, AXA investments etc

Many other small corporate finance and M&A firms have exclusive placements with us. 

In terms of companies that do public placements (you will always see a bath student there)

I am currently doing transaction services at a well-known French boutique, which was only hired from Bath and top French uni (sometimes Durham due to connections with seniors) 

 

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