You could do that, but it seems like extra work for a similar result (if you want to work in the US, just go to university there to start with). And while NYU Stern is technically “worse” than Oxford, I’m not sure it’s any different in terms of winning finance jobs, as there are far more opportunities coming out of Stern as well.

Thanks for your speedy reply. Frankly, I don’t really like London, and couldn’t imagine living there for too long, so I think I might try and go for the US option.

However, there is one other option I had in mind, and I was wondering how viable you think it would be. What if I went to the UK university, and then used that credential to do a master’s program at a top university in the US? If that is to work, would it be worth pursuing over an undergrad opportunity in the US at a weaker school? For added context, the UK university is Oxford and the US one is NYU Stern. I’m especially concerned about “wasting” the first few years of my life, or at least not spending it optimally, whether it be due to the masters program or the work in London, and I wonder which would be a better use of time.

It is incredibly difficult to win U.S. job offers without being a citizen or green card holder unless you attend university as a student and use the OPT program to work after graduation, or you start working in another country, perform well, and then push for an internal transfer. So if your goal is to work in the U.S. initially, yes, you definitely want to attend the best U.S. university you can.

In terms of a top U.K. university vs. a lesser-known U.S. one, it just depends on how willing you are to start out in London and then transfer later on vs. start in the U.S. and probably have to put a lot more effort into the initial recruiting process (but not have to worry about changing locations later).

I’m attending university next year a top British university for Maths and Stats, but I’ve always dreamed of working and living in New York. Do you have any guidance on how to turn a British degree into an American IB job offer? If it comes to it, I’m also waitlisted on a less presitigious US university. Would switching to that help or hurt my odds at breaking into IB?

Thanks. Yes, you can win some type of real estate or PE internship at a smaller firm during the school year. But, again, the usefulness really depends on your timing because of how early IB recruiting starts these days. So these are really options you should consider for Year 1 of university and early Year 2.

Thank you for writing this article.

I’m currently studying the basics of Excel and financial accounting. Is it possible to land a real estate (brokerage, appraisal, or lease management) or private equity internship during the academic school year/semester? I am from Boston, and I am looking for an off-cycle internship (in-person or virtual) in either Boston or NYC to help me get into investment banking.

I think you are probably over-thinking this or not quite thinking about it correctly.

In London, PE recruiting (and recruiting for HFs and other fields) happens at a slower pace than in the U.S., which means it starts later and doesn’t require everyone to be ready by some arbitrary, hyper-accelerated deadline, such as 1 month after full-time jobs begin. This also means that you get more time to gain real work experience and that recruiters care more about *what you did* on the job rather than the group you were placed into.

So it is less about the specific group, especially when you’re discussing all “good” groups like LevFin, M&A, and TMT, and more about your actual experiences on the job.

If you really can’t decide, pick M&A or TMT because either one should give you good deal experience.

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/london-private-equity-recruiting/

TMT seems like a good middle ground between what is considered generally a good team and what Deutsche is good at. However, I’m worried that I won’t get to work on excel models as much (which I’ve enjoyed from past internships). I’m also aware I’ll be doing telco shit within TMT if I were to join according to the director there, but have no interest/familiarity in that.

I am quite interested in high yield debt stuff as I was originally interested in RX (didn’t get an offer for RX though). I’m worried that lev fin would limit my exit opps to just distressed kinda stuff though.

Any and all advice would be appreciated. What are some criteria you think I should consider? (exit opps, team culture, interest, etc.) Should I consider the strength of DB’s teams from league tables? Any insights abt DB (London) you can give me? What would you do in my situation and with my preferences? I’m mainly gunning for the best exit opps and don’t really care about WLB or team culture for now.