Breaking into London MM through tier2 MSc

3x repost, please help :| 

Hello everyone, I'm hoping somebody can help me. I have standing offers for two MSc programs: Imperial MSc finance and accounting, and Esade MSc finance. I am fully aware that my GPA (3.15) and lack of work experience make it impossible to break into a BB, even those schools are not very high on recruiting (I got accepted exclusively on accounts of my GMAT, 750). I've seen a few from Imperial MSc finance and accounting working at MM banks (william blair, nomura, rothchild..etc)
So my question is: Is it possible to break into MM banks in London through networking? 

I have a strict deadline for accepting a place in a master's program, I'd very much appreciate your help!!! 

 

You can break into london BB coming from both programs. Agree there are better programs but it is definitely doable. 

After having recruited for london summer internships this season I realized recruiting is very VERY random. I am sure you will get rejected by some MM and will get first rounds with BB. (assuming you perform well on tests). 

If you are 100% sure you wanna work in London then you cannot go wrong with Imperial. 

 
Most Helpful

Can only speak for Imperial. At undergraduate, it's a full target and is generally the third/fourth most represented uni in analyst classes right now (after LSE and usually one or both of Oxford and Cambridge), despite having a relatively low number of people interested in finance compared to LSE. University does a terrible job of cultivating its alumni network but most alums are very helpful when reaching out. 

Your problem is that, as you've said, the Business School is only a semi-target. Completely different style of university, but the Business School graduate courses living off the main university prestige thing is broadly similar to somewhere like Yale SOM in the US. That said, some banks/HR seem to treat it as pretty much equivalent to the rest of the university whereas some, probably not unfairly, treat it as a cash machine add-on to the STEM offerings. Apply and find out, although you can also get a pretty good idea from LinkedIN - though it does seem to vary a little year-on-year. You'll still be relatively competitive and the name should get you through the initial screening, providing the rest of your CV is good. Course satisfaction seems pretty good and they have some really cool events and speakers, COVID-permitting (e.g. welcome party at the Natural History Museum).

I'd also recommend converting your GPA to "2:1 equivalent" on your CV. You're in a range where some would convert it to a 2:1 and some would convert it to a 2:2, though to let you in Imperial would have had to convert it to a (very low) 2:1. The UK has pretty arbitrary cut-off ranges for classifications and on your CV, no one really cares about the actual percentage, only the classification. A 2:2 will get auto-rejected from any bank. A 2:1 is broadly equivalent to a 3.0/3.1(though potentially upto 3.3, depending on who is converting) to a 3.6 (though potentially upto 3.9) GPA. First-class Honours are 3.7/3.8+ (but occasionally 4.0). All UK 2:1 grades are basically treated identically, and most people won't distinguish between a high 2:1 and a low 2:1 - which is wrong, but is how the system works. Banks (except for Lazard and maybe GS) generally only screen at a 2:1 cut off rather than say the 3.5 GPA cut-off in the US - BB isn't impossible. 

 

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