<p>I am a European international student, and will have spent two years at an American community college next spring. Almost as an afterthought, I decided to apply to some UK schools in addition to American ones, and I recently found out that I have been accepted to read Econ at the University of St. Andrews. Ultimately, I would like to work in i-banking (or consulting).</p>
<p>Will attending St. Andrews give me a good shot at landing a i-banking job in London? Moreover, given that I can't transfer in as a junior in the UK as in the US (and thus will have to start from scratch), will it look strange to employers that I have essentially wasted two years of my life at a community college?</p>
<p>Obviously, I'll wait to see which US schools I get into before making a decision...</p>
<p>I am aware of the fact that St. Andrews is not a target. However, my understanding is that UK banks do not actually recruit directly on campus, but rather give information sessions and such. Am I right on that?</p>
<p>It just strikes me as strange that a university that is usually ranked within the top 5 in the UK shouldn’t at least be a semi-target (despite of its remote location)…</p>
<p>In the UK, most top recruiters provide pre-recruitment on campus. They visit those universities where they think they can scout talents. </p>
<p>The semi targets are Bath, King’s, Manchester, Bristol and Durham. Exeter and Nottingham are getting there. It would be very hard for you to break into i-banking coming out of St.A. It’s possible, but it’s going to be very, very hard. </p>
<p>If you want I-Banking in the UK, go for Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, Warwick, Imperial or UCL. Their grads are often getting FO positions, not back office positions.</p>