Typical student outgoings

impy78

Yes, never underestimate the importance of the humble kebab

[Deleted User]

Or cheesy chips!

My tip for kebab money saving and healthy eating - just ask for salad in a pitta bread, with sauce. You get the post-drinking carb boost, they're a lot cheaper AND you don't have kebab breath in the morning.

lethal_2

Hey, I am just a bit scared at the moment as I curently live in the midlands (leicester to be exact) but I am determind to go uni in London, is that wise? Ths cost of rent? How much would that aprox be?

lethal

[Deleted User]

I'd avoid uni in london at all costs.. it's too damn expensive.

Rent will be somewhere near 400 - 500 a month. I've only got private renting experience, you might be able to chip that down to 300 a month.
Transport will set you back a fair bit
The night life is a hell of a lot better in the big 'provincial cities' e.g. manchester, liverpool, newcastle, birminngham.

You can always move to London after you graduate - lots of firms (like mine did) give you relocation money if you move into london, but nothing if you already live here

melancholly

lethal wrote:

Hey, I am just a bit scared at the moment as I curently live in the midlands (leicester to be exact) but I am determind to go uni in London, is that wise? Ths cost of rent? How much would that aprox be?

lethal

if the course you want happens to be at a london uni which looks like you'd really enjoy it, then go - but don't just go and do any course at any place just to be in london.

if you're prepared to live further out from central london and travel in, you can get more reasonably priced accommodation - ensuite rooms in halls of residence are often the most expensive way to go. you should be able to get an idea of how much halls cost from individual university websites (although they can be expensive, it is a great way to meet lots of people and is usually the centre of the first year social scene!)

lethal_2

its not the fact that its a better course in London as there are other courses elsewhere which I would prefer however I feel that there will be more career opurtunity in LOndon as there will have more companies in the area for a graduate position, as I want to do business econmics with marketing in order to become possibly a stockbroker/investment banker/fund manger but can only do business economics in London

I wanted to take a placement year also so if for example I went uni elsewhere would it be more dificult to find a placement in LOndon if i lived there or not?

lethal

magyar

lethal wrote:

its not the fact that its a better course in London as there are other courses elsewhere which I would prefer however I feel that there will be more career opurtunity in LOndon as there will have more companies in the area for a graduate position, as I want to do business econmics with marketing in order to become possibly a stockbroker/investment banker/fund manger but can only do business economics in London

I wanted to take a placement year also so if for example I went uni elsewhere would it be more dificult to find a placement in LOndon if i lived there or not?

lethal

My experience (from several years of being involved in graduate recruitment) is that the more 'general' degrees are no less highly sought than the 'specific' ones.

When looking at a graduate CV/application I would look at, in order:

(1) The overall impression given by the document; spelling mistakes, poor layout etc., will put it straight to the bottom of the pile
(2) The "why do you want this job" section, which differentiates you from the hundreds of others with similar/identical degrees
(3) The grade of degree expected - generally a 2.i is the minimum for our company but others will vary
(4) The content of the degree
(5) The University

The content of the degree is of course important, but unless it's a very technical job requiring very specific skills, then you will learn as you go along. What a degree shows is your mind is capable of being trained, hence why the grade is more important than the content.

In answer to the second part of your post, then I wouldn't expect it to make a difference. When I did my degree, my placement was in a different city and I enjoyed the variety. Certainly it's unlikely any large employer will say "he's not from London, we're not interested". The only advantage is that London is a pretty daunting place if you're going there alone, but again a large company will usually help you find accommodation and put you in touch with the other trainees in your year.

melancholly

lethal wrote:

its not the fact that its a better course in London as there are other courses elsewhere which I would prefer however I feel that there will be more career opurtunity in LOndon as there will have more companies in the area for a graduate position, as I want to do business econmics with marketing in order to become possibly a stockbroker/investment banker/fund manger but can only do business economics in London

I wanted to take a placement year also so if for example I went uni elsewhere would it be more dificult to find a placement in LOndon if i lived there or not?

lethal

i have friends who have gone into fund management from psychology, materials science and english degrees!! while one particular degree may help, it's not going to be the clincher for getting a job. city firms have a ajor recruitment presence at all top unis - they probably recruit equally or more from oxbridge, bristol, st andrews, edinburgh, warwick etc than from london! getting a job in london is not contingent on getting a degree there!

for particularly high flying city jobs you will need a good 2:1 or first from a good uni to get in easily (there are exceptions but on the whole, it helps a lot so that you get to the interview stage). my advice is to pick a course you want to do - if you enjoy it, you're much more likely to get a high mark. (and as my outlook on careers changed a great deal while i was at uni, i personally would have regretted doing something completely specialised which i wouldn't have used afterwards - but if you've looked into it and are sure, that's great - i think i had very unrealistic ideas about it all at 18!)

as far as placements go, contact the unis you're thinking of applying to and ask specifically how they help with the placement process and ask for examples of some of the companies other people have gone to. get to as many open days as you can to get a feel for places and to see what they have to say!

magyar

Totally agree with everything Melancholly says above. The things I look for in a graduate are the 'extras', things that demonstrate you can do something OTHER than maths/economics/art etc. If you get a 2.i in Art History from Cambridge it more or less goes without saying you know about Art History.

What I'd be interested in is could you confidently chair a meeting, or lead a project, or compose a letter, or be sent on a foreign assignment. (I'm not saying you need to have all of these from Day 1!) These are the skills that are hard to teach.

My advice is go to University to a city you like, doing a course you know you will enjoy and make the most of the experience (join clubs you're interested in etc). Companies are looking for rounded people.

lethal_2

I really do apricate the advise given to me (I am sorry to the orignal poster of the thread as its drifted into a diffrent su1bject)

I find the advise very useful and it has made me really think about it, and I feel if I go out of London I will be more finacialy stable than going into London as long as I do the course that I want and get the grade that I need: after all I can always do a placement year in London and then go back after I finnish




thanks again!

lethal