<p>Hello all, I just finished freshman year at the University of Rochester with a 3.8 GPA. I was wondering if I have the grades to study economics/math abroad during sophomore year and get an internship at a regular bank (finance internship) in London (or in England). Which schools should I be looking at? My dream is UCL, but I have also considered Edinburgh, St.Andrews, Warwick - the school doesn't have to be in London, I'd just prefer it. </p>
<p>It seems like you are asking 3 different questions.</p>
<p>1) **Will a GPA of 3.8 be good enough to get into a study abroad program in England? **<br>
The answer is yes, in that many programs if you can pay, you’re in. As to whether you will get into a specific program, who knows. You will have to ask the program director/your study abroad office. Or if you are planning to enrol directly, the UK univeristy involved.</p>
<p>2) ** Will a 3.8 GPA be enough to get an internship in a UK bank? **
Maybe. Internships and studying are two separate things. You probably need a visa to work in the UK. If you have a student visa already you are (usually, assuming you are a US citizen) allowed to work up to 20 weeks in term time and full time in the vacations. However, if you are not studying in the UK you would need to apply for a visa separately. Note the timing of UK internships is likely to be different to US ones. Probably July to September. Will this fit in with your US school? Have you looked up any internship programs? What are their requirements? Do you need to contact them to ask for their requirements for US students? The applications for summer 2015 will open in the autumn of 2014 so you need to know soon.</p>
<p>3)** Which UK schools (“unis” as they are known here) should you consider?**
If you really want to be in London you will hate St Andrews. It is very small and in the middle of nowhere. I am not an expert on finance but there are lots of unis in London.</p>
<p>Here is a UK league table for economics.
<a href=“University guide 2014: league table for economics | Education | theguardian.com”>http://www.theguardian.com/education/table/2013/jun/04/university-guide-economics</a></p>
<p>Bear in mind if you attend a US program you very likely will be taught with all other Americans by teachers from your US school. In that case it doesn’t matter which is your host uni.</p>
<p>If you like big cities, Birmingham and Leeds are high on that list. Heriot Watt Univeristy is also in Edinburgh and seems highly rated for Economics.</p>
<p>Good luck with your application.</p>
<p>Thank you for your very informative reply. </p>
<p>With regards to (1, 2) I am an international student holding a EU country passport, so I would not need a work visa (at least I do not think so).
Also, is a 3.8 good enough to apply to the economics departments at these schools? I will have completed 5 advanced economics courses and 4 advanced mathematics courses by Spring 2015 (I am predicting > 3.7 hopefully, but at the time of submission I will have 3.8). I don’t see payment being an issue My top choices are University College London, King’s College London, Edinburgh and Bristol. I don’t have a clue how study abroad applications work 
</p>
<p>That’s right, with an EU passport you can work in the UK with no problems. Sorry, can’t help with the specifics of study abroad - if this is a program via your home university someone there should be able to advise you; if you need to apply direct to the UK institution, have a look on their websites.</p>
<p>Don’t you need a National Insurance number to work in UK? I thought cupcake wrote you would get fines otherwise. </p>