U Edinburgh and HKUST, which one is a better study abroad option?
Hello everyone, this is my first post on Wallstreetoasis. In fact, I just joined several days ago. Right now, I am having trouble deciding which school is my best option for studying abroad. Please first let me describe my situation.
I am a Taiwanese student who is currently studying in Japan as an undergraduate student. I go to a semi-target school in Tokyo. It's one of the few schools in Japan that has a faculty that teaches college level classes in English. My major is international business and economics. I am now in my sophomore year and will have the opportunity to study abroad next year as an exchange student.
As I have just mentioned, my major is international business and economics, and I want to become an investment banking analyst after graduation. I have spoken to alumni of my school and others who are in the industry. I have since then learned that it is almost impossible for non-native speakers of Japanese to get a job in investment banking (and I believe such situations have been discussed on this forum as well). After all, there are tons of college graduates returning from top overseas universities every year who can speak better English than I than I do in Japanese. I have come to the conclusion that unless you can speak Japanese at a native level, being able to speak at business level makes no difference from not being able to speak Japanese at all. Having said that, my chances of securing an investment banking summer internship next year when I am a junior is extremely low. Therefore, I must start considering a career path in other countries.
Then I thought of the one-year studying abroad program as one way to re-position myself. Judging from various factors, I have narrowed down my options to two schools, University of Edinburgh in the UK and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong.
I have heard that some banks recruit at Edinburgh and if I get lucky, I may be able to do a summer internship in the UK. If I do a summer internship in the UK, that can increase my chance of getting into investment banking in the future. And even if I don't having experiences outside Asia can also make me a more attractive candidate when I am apply for full time jobs in banking in the future.
On the other hand, HKUST is the real target school in Greater China region. And many bulge brackets recruit at HKUST. I will also have the opportunity to be able to do a lot of networking in Hong Kong and the name of the school is also a plus on my resume.
So I guess my question is -- Which school is the one that can best help me getting a summer internship next year? And which school will bring me closer to a full time offer?
I really thank you for taking your time reading this really really long post! Any opinions or advice is much appreciated.
Corrupti praesentium velit omnis rerum magnam aliquam quidem. Omnis est culpa nesciunt dolor voluptatem.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...