Prospects as a Bachelors in Economics and Social Sciences after Bocconi
Hello,
I'm a high school senior who got into the Bachelor's in Economics and Social Sciences at Bocconi with the Merit Award. It's their most rigorous program. I don't hold European citizenship nor do I speak any European languages. However, I intend on becoming proficient in Italian and French granted Bocconi's language courses will suffice.
Assuming I get a 28+/30 GPA, what's next? Do BB/EB banks in the UK recruit right out of bachelor's? Am I significantly disadvantaged for not being Italian? What about other roles like product management and T2 consulting firms in the UK?
How's Bocconi's OCR for other regions in the world like MENA for top consulting firms?
If those roles are difficult to achieve, what would my chances be of getting into a top Master's program (think LSE MFin, Oxford MFE)?
Thanks a lot!
Paki-Chimp6161, bummer your thread hasn't had a response yet. Sometimes bots are smarter than humans anyways:
More suggestions...
I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
Congrats on the admission!
Going in order:
I am giving you an honest opinion. Bocconi is no doubt a great uni but recruitment at bocconi is lot favored to italians and to an certain extent to EU people. If you're international student (non-EU) want to work in London go to UK uni even if it's semi-target and you can afford. If you cannot afford then definitely you can pick bocconi. 3+2 at bocconi will come handy. But my advice still stand if you want to work in UK go to university there. You will have much better opportunities in UK if you study there than in Italy.
Congratz! I am also a non-EU bocconi bachelors (finance) student, and would like to chime in.
On the most rigorous program, its a toss between the Social Sciences and Computer Science program. Both are super hardcore. To be honest, I actually would recommend you to switch to an easier course like the management or finance major. BESS is super tough, which means you have to study triply hard to get a decent grade (TBH 28/30 for BESS is pretty darned hard). The workload at Bocconi isn't anything to scoff at either. This, + job apps means that usually, you will have to sacrifice one or the other. You should take an (relatively) easier major so you can lessen your workload for a great GPA and focus more on the app season.
Also, if you're targeting a 28/30 for BESS and intending on being proficient in both Italian and French by graduation, I feel that you're biting more than you can chew. IMO, it's very very very hard to do these + actively recruit for jobs during the app season. Also, for the roles that you're interested in like PM/consulting/finance, you don't even need BESS. As long as dont major in arts/culture, you're golden for recruitment in the business fields.
BB/EB banks in London do recruit at Bocconi definitely. There's OCR every early Sep from all major IBs. Since you're recruiting for London, you not speaking/being Italian is of no issue.
The best thing about Bocconi is its outsized reputation in finance in the City. As for the other career paths, it's not as ideal. Rather than saying it's due to bad placement opportunities, it might be due to Bocconi students' single-minded focus in finance/consulting. Most of the consultancies recruit on a local level; so breaking into London as a non-UK student/national is pretty tough. It's not impossible however; my best friend (non-EU bachelors) broke into MBB in London, but he was a rockstar.
As to MENA, there's is a decent presence, but much much weaker than London. Both IBs/MBB do recruit at Bocconi, however. BCG Dubai for one, flies in every year for their OCR.
It really depends on your grit and the atmosphere. What @JustBrowsingWSO said was true for Italians, but is very much different for internationals. We internationals at Bocconi (specifically the finance bunch; another great reason to transfer) are pretty damn on top of their game for recruitment. In my class alone, we internationals make a sizeable chunk of people breaking into IB London from the undergrad. And this really helps for recruitment on so many parts. As for Italians, the proportion is much lower, just because of the different (masters) focus as mentioned above.
On the academic path, if your GPA is decent enough, then there is no issue. Bocconi routinely sends hordes of students to top programs. I have friends at LSE MFin/PE, Oxford MFE, MIT MFin, HEC, etc.
Its not the easiest path to break into IB in London, but it's definitely the cheapest (for non-EU). Let me know if you have any questions!
Good post, thanks for the better perspective, I only did MSc in Finance at Bocconi so I'm not perfectly looped in the BSc life/opps. Definitely agree with what you said and that the more "informed" cohort of BSc students is in the BIEF course
Hey mate, I'm also a second year Bsc student at Bocconi and I'd like to ask you a couple of things. Could you please PM me when you have time? Thank you!
Thank you so much for writing this well thought out response. I really appreciate it. I understand that BESS is very difficult but affording Bocconi without the merit award is impossible for me and Bocconi have explicitly stated to me that I will only receive the award if I study BESS.
Are there any disadvantages in recruiting because I am not taking BIEF? Will employers target BIEF over BESS students or is it an even playing field between all the quantitative majors?
Another thing I wanted to ask is are club meetings at Bocconi held in English? Will I be at a disadvantage socially if I'm not fluent in Italian?
Once again, thank you so much!
You can also accept the offer and try to transfer after the 1st year. There is also the ISU which gives out financial aid to internationals thought the process is quite cumbersome, to say the least.
There are no hard disadvantages per se. It's just being not as informed, which makes for a larger difference than you might expect. Being informed about networking events/spring weeks/case studies make a huge difference you see. The largest disadvantage to BESS is as I outlined above. You have to put in alot of effort to actually maintain your grades, which impedes the job apps during the hiring season.
Yea English is fine. There are some Italian-only clubs but you can ignore them. They only focus on Italy anyways so we don't really need them. Finding a job in Italy is pretty tough if you're not a native speaker.
Feel free to PM me if you need more details
I would not completely take this perspective by heart. If I am correct you're Pakistani, I would suggest you reach out to fellow Pakistani who studied at Bocconi (they're a couple of them) as that will give you a comprehensive view how things will look for you at Bocconi along with this because the people he mentioned are rich kids which I don't think applies to you. Also, taking into account affordability is a factor then you definitely need a better perspective but Bocconi is a good choice.
May I ask where are you from and also your friend who broke into MBB London being non-EU bachelors? I think networking stuff is missing here. If I am correct the person you're talking about is Turkish/American. Your friend must have networked his way into MBB or already has international experience. I bet some info is missing here as I know way more experienced folks from France (non-EU) who could not break into MBB London
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My friend goes to Bocconi for their BSc in Economics & Finance. One of his older classmates told him that when he went into the career centre for help on his resume before he submitted it to a BB, the staff member just looked at him and said, "you're at Bocconi, you''ll get the job."
Do with that information what you will.
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