University Guide

Oxford! Thats sick, is there a lot of Asians (our people LOL) there, or mainly white? And what about foreigners, and good luck with your course :)

What do you guys think of Investment Banking and Quants. I hear that Quants is the top job in the city, earning tons but you need to be a science boff. Any idea what pay you get etc?

Also I found this on some forum:

The truth about Top 5/10 unis etc
Once again on this site, everyone's wrong about what uni you need to get into IB - on one hand people like Drogue seem to think if you're not from a top 5 uni you have no way in hell, whereas other idiots seem to think uni doesn't matter, the individual counts (what a load of sh*t!).

I have seen the CV books of new graduates at several leading investment banks - it's normal for each bank to distribute a "facebook" like this, and for peers at other places to swap them for excellent networking opportunities.

For decent (ie GS, Citi, MS, ML, UBS, DB, BarCap, Lehman) banks in the FRONT OFFICE (the highest earners, the people who actually make the primary profit), easily the majority of British grads studied at either LSE or Oxbridge. Then each bank/division combo will have a small handful from places like Warwick, Imperial, UCL, Nottingham, Bristol. You will occasionally get 1 star candidate from somewhere like Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, but this is quite rare.

For the MIDDLE OFFICE, unis around the top 7-15 are a lot more prominent - namely Sheffield, Edinburgh, Loughborough, Leeds, Durham, St Andrews etc.

For the BACK OFFICE, any idiot can get in pretty much. Operations is monkey work that a 14 year old kid can do, so they accept candidates from almost any uni, including the better ex-polytechnics.
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rockykabir said:
It is the university grade given for your degree:
1st = +70%
2.1 ("Two-One") = 60%-70%
2.2 ("Two-Two") = 50%-60%
3rd = 40%-50%
Pass = 30%-40%
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Pass at 30%-40%? :shock:

Thats a straight fail over here, 40% is the minimum pass mark. Also luckily for me, I'm attending a college that has possibly the only EEng faculty in world that has a 2:1 at 63% minimum. Which is nice, considering I now have to get an average of 72% in my summer exams to get that, thanks to doing a bit shit at christmas. :(
 
ashmufc said:
What do you guys think of Investment Banking and Quants. I hear that Quants is the top job in the city, earning tons but you need to be a science boff. Any idea what pay you get etc?
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Yep...banking is where the money is at definitely - but at a cost: Your Life ;)

Most of my friends ended up in Banking pretty much for the same reasons - and also ended up hating it for the same reasons too.

But don't let me discourage anyone - there are many who enjoy the whole thrill/stress of the banking world. Working 15+ hours a day is not a prob for them (Trust me, I know a few who love it). Sounding extremely corny, but you just become to realise as your grow up that there is so much more to life. A job should really just be your job....not your life(!).

But as I said, you young whippersnappers shouldn't be listening to us oldies anyway ;)
 
ashmufc said:
Oxford! Thats sick, is there a lot of Asians (our people LOL) there, or mainly white? And what about foreigners, and good luck with your course :)

What do you guys think of Investment Banking and Quants. I hear that Quants is the top job in the city, earning tons but you need to be a science boff. Any idea what pay you get etc?

Also I found this on some forum:
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My dad's bank is Banca Intesa, largest bank in Italy, and he knows people who are in high positions with a degree from no-name universities or no degree at all. If you have a degree from Warwick or a degree from Bristol, youre still gunna start off at the very bottom of a business. It depends on yourself to get higher up.

Also depends on your connections - my dad's contract states that any of his sons get a job at his bank when they graduate :)
 
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Dar said:
Pass at 30%-40%? :shock:

Thats a straight fail over here, 40% is the minimum pass mark. Also luckily for me, I'm attending a college that has possibly the only EEng faculty in world that has a 2:1 at 63% minimum. Which is nice, considering I now have to get an average of 72% in my summer exams to get that, thanks to doing a bit shit at christmas. :(
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I think the pass mark is actually about 35-38% - the boundary classes decrease further down the classifications.

Yea man, definitely know where you are getting at. Kinda lost track in the latter part of last year which didn't put me in the best position overall. But to be frank, you just gotta do what you gotta do and not think about the end result. Hopefully we'll be surprised at the end ;)
 
rockykabir said:
Yep...banking is where the money is at definitely - but at a cost: Your Life ;)
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LOL, not another one! All my family say this, that they take your soul, and that I should do Medicine instead LOL!

I was just readiong around and it seems that you need 6xA* @ GCSE to get even looked at in LSE, because so many people apply with predicted AAA for A2s.

LOL I have to work my ass of now, I was going to hope for 3 A* as I can't be asked LOL!
 
rockykabir said:
Yea man, definitely know where you are getting at. Kinda lost track in the latter part of last year which didn't put me in the best position overall. But to be frank, you just gotta do what you gotta do and not think about the end result. Hopefully we'll be surprised at the end ;)
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Hopefully. I've got 4 assignments on the go at the moment and the first draft of my Thesis is due next Thursday. :applause: :shock:

God I love final year engineering....

I've now finished lab write-ups for the night, I'm going to bed!
 
The Uni suggested that I move out with friends in some shared appartment. There is the option to re-apply for accomodation.
 
ashmufc said:
In your first year do you live at "halls" right, and what about second year?
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Depends on uni....some people get full 3/4 years accommodation - but it's most likely the case that you have to stay in a house in the 2nd year.

But living in the house was prolly the best time of my student life....hence why I didn't get much work done ;) :(
 
ashmufc said:
I hear from everyone that Warwick is one (or the) best Economics/Business uni in UK(maybe the world....). Is that true? Ahead of LSE?
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damn right!! warwick is the best university excluding oxbridge for economics in the UK. Its a shame i rejected their offer....o well atleast im enjoying SOAS

btw LSE was 5th for economics in the world journal of higher education behind Cambridge, Warwick, UCL and some other weird institute with Bristol 6th, Manchester & SOAS 7th and thats all i can remember atm. From what i hear from my cousins and friends, the LSE economics course isnt really taught well and some lectures and tutorials/seminars go off onto stupid tangents. howtf do you manage to waffle from war + research and development to dance and bollywood :S
 
ive learnt from banking conferences and fairs that big businesses such as ABN AMRO, world bank, HSBC and citibank rarely look at what university you go to, most of the time they want a minimum of a 2:1 pass whereas if you want to do medicine or any sort of engineering, the institution you study at is important. (e.g. Medicine - Cambridge, UCL and KCL).
 
ooh_harry said:
ive learnt from banking conferences and fairs that big businesses such as ABN AMRO, world bank, HSBC and citibank rarely look at what university you go to, most of the time they want a minimum of a 2:1 pass whereas if you want to do medicine or any sort of engineering, the institution you study at is important. (e.g. Medicine - Cambridge, UCL and KCL).
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This is very very true - if you don't have a 2:1, you won't even get a look at - no matter what uni you go to.
 
Milanista, what is your firm and insurance?
And how much do EU residents pay, same as UK students or International prices?
 
So is it exam period under way at unis? My amtes who go uni have tons of exams on now. Good luck everyone. My GCSEs are starting on the 22nd, but tomorrow I have French Speaking!
 
Rk propably knows this but this is someone from Oxford doing engineering from another forum:

Shouldn't be too hard to climb up in the beginning (am pretty much guaranteed a job at around 50k when I graduate) as engineers from Oxford generally stay in Engineering for less than four years before moving into management, or so the stats say, people on my specific course usually are engineers for less than half a year after graduating.

If money was all that mattered I'd go for something like IB, though the job I'm planning on is probably the job of my dreams and the pay doesn't seem to lag too far behind IB if at all.
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I'm definitely not going into engineering(!) - glad it'll be over. Uni will teach you a lotta things...you'll get a better understanding of what u wanna do in the future once you had the uni life.

I was planning to go into IB prior to uni. My mind kinda changed since - but for many, the desire becomes stronger. Mine is a bit of a copout reasoning, but the family life of IB-ers ain't that good. I guess going to uni made me appreciate family life more(!).

But yea, it's good to have ambition - but don't let it cloud the real job ahead: getting the exams done. But it definitely does help to think about those things to motivate you though
 
ooh_harry said:
hows revision you guys? just to tell you guys especially those who are doing A2's, just try and stay calm and try and not do anything the day before exams!!

good luck ppl!
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A bit hard with the WC starting!!!:(

ashmufc are you talking about IB as in International Baccalaurea? If so, I did the first year of it before moving to Italy, then starting A levels.
 
rockykabir said:
I'm definitely not going into engineering(!) - glad it'll be over. Uni will teach you a lotta things...you'll get a better understanding of what u wanna do in the future once you had the uni life.

I was planning to go into IB prior to uni. My mind kinda changed since - but for many, the desire becomes stronger. Mine is a bit of a copout reasoning, but the family life of IB-ers ain't that good. I guess going to uni made me appreciate family life more(!).

But yea, it's good to have ambition - but don't let it cloud the real job ahead: getting the exams done. But it definitely does help to think about those things to motivate you though
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So what are you planning to do? Work for Konami.........

Mr. Milan, IB= Investment Banking 8)
 
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