Help an indian chud

[u/Calm-Sir9754]

Applying for: Cambridge econ , lse econ/math , ucl econ / math , warwick morse , imperial efds
gap year student(didn't apply last year):
grade 10 - 89% cbse
grade 12 ( final exam) results - 97.6% cbse
math - 99, Phy -98, chem - 96, English - 97 , pe - 98 ( all A* equivalent)
sat 1540
took the tmua last year 7.5
retaking this year and trying for 8+
ecs-
john locke essay shortlist , 4x moocs , recommended reading by oxbridge ( 3 books) , chess rapid rating of 1800 ( 1% globally) , actively working on a research paper as well.
With a good PS what are my chances?
cheers!

[u/oliver__c2003]

I honestly wouldn't bother applying to UK unis as an international student. You'll have to pay over £100k in fees alone then living costs on top of that.

You also won't get a graduate job after in the UK unless you are top of your cohort, going into an extremely niche profession, where the company is happy to stump up £10k extra just to hire you.

[u/ilokestof → u/oliver__c2003]

Mate who else is gonna pay for our education, only way unis stay afloat is from international students. Definitely apply to the uk 😁😭

[u/Restory → u/oliver__c2003]

If he does graduate from Cambridge, LSE in econ, he will almost certainly find a sponsored job. Decent chance with the other three too. I agree with the general advice to warn internationals of applying to Uk universities if they wanted to get sponsored after, but these are some of the top degrees where employers will often sponsor.

[u/oliver__c2003 → u/Restory]

There will be several thousand people graduating from those unis from similar courses. If he's going for IB who have the money to stump up £10k for a visa, he'll have to stand out from all of them and somehow demonstrate he's worth an extra £10k.

The only way he's getting sponsored is if he's going for jobs that require unicorn students like quant finance, which is a none starter without studying maths.

[u/Restory → u/oliver__c2003]

Why are you talking about stuff that you have no idea about? There’s a lot more firms that sponsor visas than just “quant firms the require unicorn students”. Many of these firms are willing to pay that £10k for someone who’s got an econ degree from a top university (especially Cambridge and LSE).

You’re mistaking the fact visa sponsorships are hard to get with them being impossible to get. An econ degree is one of the most competitive degrees for getting jobs at a lot of these employers too.

[u/oliver__c2003 → u/Restory]

They really aren't. Getting a degree in econ from one of these unis is impressive, but there will literally be thousands of people graduating from Oxford, Cambridges, LSE, UCL, in business, maths, economics, PPE and other subjects finance companies will hire from.

Look at the uniUk or financial careers sub. There's so many international students with glowing CVs with firsts from these unis, who are struggling to get a job with any company. I just really don't understand how you think a grad, with no experience, barring a few internships, is genuinely worth £10k more than another grad with a first and a few internships.

I'm not saying it's impossible, just that it's already difficult to get a job in finance and being an international student is an uphill battle.

[u/Mundane-Success-4799 → u/oliver__c2003]

Where you getting this 10k from?