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Target/Non-Target Universities - The Ultimate Guide

Canary Wharfian

Administrator
Jul
47
1
Staff member
The target and non-target categories of universities are based on the relative attractiveness of their universities' reputation and more concretely, recruitment activity and networking opportunities on campus.

Targets are a really safe bet, where if you achieve the 2:1 degree classification, you can land the first internship/role rather easily. Semi-targets are an order of magnitude lower, and while opportunities are more limited, the culture towards getting on a spring week trends to be still intense and the chances pretty high of landing one.

While most of the targets are internationally recognised, across countries, and the brand value is transferable, actually getting a job offer will be much easier if you attend a university in the country where you'd like to work in. For instance, after Brexit, UK nationals can't work in the EU and vice versa without visa sponsorship, meaning employers simply will prefer a local talent pool (that's usually just as good as international, but comes at no cost).

Once established at a firm, above the Analyst level, transferring between countries is more realistic.

The EMEA region is a lot more fragmented than the North America region simply due to history and geography. It effectively means that employers prefer candidates with strong English plus local language skills for (native as well as cultural experience) regional hubs.

United Kingdom

Super Targets
  • Oxford University
  • Cambridge University
  • LSE
  • Imperial College London
Semi-Targets
  • UCL
  • King's College London
  • University of Warwick
  • University of Edinburgh
  • Durham University
  • Bristol University

Switzerland

Super Targets
  • ETH Zurich
  • University of St. Gallen (HSG)

Germany

Targets
  • Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
  • Mannheim Business School
  • WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management
  • ESMT Berlin
  • Goethe University Frankfurt (finance hub location)
Semi-Targets
  • Technical University of Munich (TUM)
  • Cologne University
  • LMU Munich

France

Super Targets (Grandes Écoles):
  • HEC Paris - top business school
  • ESSEC Business School
  • EDHEC Business School
  • École Polytechnique
  • École Normale Supérieure
Semi-Targets:
  • Sciences Po Paris
  • INSEAD (MBA)
  • Sorbonne University

Netherlands

  • University of Amsterdam

Italy

  • Bocconi University (Milan)

Spain

  • IE Business School (Madrid)
  • IESE Business School (Barcelona)
  • ESADE Business School (Barcelona)

Nordics

  • Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden)
  • Copenhagen Business School (Denmark)
  • Norwegian School of Economics
 
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