University Location for Best IB Chances (Australia)

G’day Aussie monkeys!

I have recently finished high school and currently in the stage of picking my university. With my results I am able to get into the big four schools (UNSW, USYD, UniMelb, Monash) that are recruited from (in Aus).

I have heard that Sydney has a larger investment banking scene than Melbourne. Is the investment banking scene much larger in Sydney in comparison to Melbourne? If so how much larger? Will studying in Sydney positively impact my chances of getting into investment banking (greater no. of internships, network opportunities, etc.)?

For context I am an aspiring I-Banker who has a preference for studying at a Melbourne University. Thanks for taking the time to read and answer this post! 
 

P.S If you are an Aussie investment banker and have time for a chat I would love some insight. Coming from a public school in Tasmania I have had next to no exposure to high finance and would appreciate it a lot! 
 

 
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Sydney is your best bet - what are you going to be studying? If you meet the entry reqs and can handle it, Commerce/Law at USyd is probably the best feeder into IBD here

Generally speaking still better to be in Sydney - intern class sizes are around 2-4x larger while the relative competition is still similar across Syd/Melb

Try studying something alongside your finance major (it’s a weird unspoken requirement to do one even though you 100% don’t need it for the job, but I guess it’s signalling) - you can have a fallback + something that differentiates you a bit, esp if you do something in STEM

Not to dissuade you but just so you understand it will still be an uphill battle - across the board intern classes this year had some pretty crazy profiles - multiple competition rankings, HD WAM’s in tough degrees, bunch of different work exp that all signals positively, and those I have met have been really easy to chat to. Counter point to this is that IBD may not be as “in favour” of people in Uni but I wouldn’t expect this to materially help someone gunning for IBD (yet); just a general pulse

My rec to you regardless of where you study is to really think about why you want to do IBD. Anecdotally I was on the back foot when I started uni and figured out what I liked through trial and error with different experiences - my suggestion off this would be to view Uni as the time where your opportunity cost for exploring different things is the lowest. Definitely get involved in things  related to finance, but also drill down into what it is you enjoy - and most of all have fun with it because it’s honestly a great experience! Don’t get too caught up in career stuff and become so 1-dimensional that you can’t chat about anything

 

Cheers for the detailed and candid response!

Looks like the intern classes had quiet competitive applicants this year. I too hope to build up a profile that is similar to these (much easier to say then to do!). I just have a couple of questions that I would appreciate if you could answer:

Is it popular/viable for interns to come accross interstate for internship roles (e.g. Melbourne to Sydney)?

Is there a distinct disadvantage from doing a straight commerce degree vs something with stem or Comm/Law? - this may be prevalent with UniMelb's straight degree structure? - I guess it is just "signalling" what proportion of succesful applicants have this?

Comm/Law at USyd was/is one of the degrees I am looking into but I have (dissapointingly) just missed the guaranteed ATAR for this course (acceptance into the course may still be possible). I was a little put off by the 5 year structure vs the 3 year structure of a straight commerce degree. I also understand the difficulty of (and getting into) IBD and the need to confirm my desire of working in that area through university (and to expand my horizons). It is hard to not get too caught up in career stuff when in such a competitive space and I will have to make sure I make time to explore other interests and enjoy myself throughout my uni experience.

This has given me a bit to think about including the prospects of moving to Sydney. I apprecate that you took the time to respond to my post in the manner that you did and hope you have a merry Christmas and happy new year!

 

Not the above anon but my thoughts below

  1. Comm/Law or STEM vs single Commerce:

Do a long degree 4-5 years as you want the time to build up your resume. The extent to which single commerce is valued vs double degrees is unknown - I’ve seen both but with more people from double degrees. I didn’t do USYD Law because I was a maths guy but if I was good at writing I would do it because 1) Lot of people go for banking in USYD which means more information flow for you and 2) longer degree.

TLDR: do double degree for longer length

Would recommend UNSW or USYD: latter is more financy / intense / private school like but places more people to banking because more people are interested in finance at USYD vs UNSW. All in all not a big deal where you go banks don’t really care.

 

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