What sets WBS apart from other Business Schools?

BSc Accounting & Finance student Hassan recently graduated from WBS; in this blog he shares the highlights throughout his time at Warwick as well as discussing what makes WBS stand out amongst other Business Schools within the UK.

Hello everyone, my name is Hassan and I graduated from Warwick Business School (WBS) in 2020 where I studied BSc Accounting & Finance. I was born in Karachi but grew up in Singapore so moving to the UK to join the University of Warwick didn’t seem too daunting for me since it was something most of my friends planned on doing as well. I had decided very early on that I wanted to build a career in the finance industry, inspired by my family members and the awe with which people mentioned names like Goldman Sachs and PwC. Hence, deciding to study BSc Accounting & Finance at university was a no-brainer. However, the big question that remained was which university should I go to.

To answer this question, I began by researching the best universities for this course. The usual universities popped up, but it was one of my teachers who recommended WBS as an option as well. Having heard stories about the competitive environment at other Russell Group universities, I was looking to find a university that had the same pursuit of excellence but without the continuous competition and the University of Warwick seemed like the perfect fit. I spoke to the careers team at my school to get their advice, as well as some of my alumni friends, all of whom praised Warwick tremendously. I did my own research too and found that WBS was one of the top business schools in the UK with one of the highest employment rates and, with this, my decision was confirmed.

My first couple of days at WBS were pretty daunting because even though we all want to have complete freedom to make our decisions, actually having to do that is quite scary. However, if you're really worried about that, let me calm your nerves; as soon as you find your group of friends and settle into a schedule, those worries will definitely fade away! I was pretty lucky to have really nice flatmates who were extremely friendly and some of them are definitely the closest friends that I have made during my time at university.

My first couple of days at WBS were pretty daunting because even though we all want to have complete freedom to make our decisions, actually having to do that is quite scary. However, if you're really worried about that, let me calm your nerves; as soon as you find your group of friends and settle into a schedule, those worries will definitely fade away! I was pretty lucky to have really nice flatmates who were extremely friendly and some of them are definitely the closest friends that I have made during my time at university.

However, just having good flatmates will not make your university experience a memorable one; having great teachers and finding like-minded people who are just as interested in developing their learning as you is equally important. My three years at WBS have taught me that this is exactly the case here. Before beginning my course, I was mainly interested in accounting, and therefore, I was overjoyed to discover that the lecturers at WBS were even more passionate about the subject than me. The professors have an amazing grasp of the concepts in accounting and the memories that they share from their personal experiences always make the content more relatable and the lectures more enjoyable. However, the big surprise for me was the finance modules and the module leaders. Finance as a topic has always intimidated me a little bit because of its reputation of being more mathematical. While these tags are true to a certain extent, the finance professors at WBS have a way of making even the most difficult concept seem simple and the real-life applications that they use in their lectures have made me overcome my ‘fears’ and take a genuine interest in the field. I believe this is what sets WBS apart from the other business schools in the UK and what has made my time at WBS a fantastic learning experience.

If, at this point, you're thinking that I'm one of those over-achieving students who only knows how to praise his teachers and you should stop reading now, I promise that I will no longer be talking about studies. Instead, I want to introduce all of you to the Student Staff Liaison Committee, or SSLC for short. The SSLC is made up of two representatives from each group of all courses and brings together these representatives with members of staff, serving as a platform for students to voice their concerns or suggestions for improvements. I was part of the SSLC throughout my time at WBS and served as its Vice-Chair in my final year. During my three years as a member of the SSLC, our major achievements have been increasing the study spaces in WBS, improving the way the Module Fair is organised and advertising the expected date of assignment results. If you are interested in improving your experience at WBS as well as your course-mates’ experience, I would highly encourage you to join the SSLC and make a real difference!

The last thing I would like to share with all of you about what sets WBS apart is its careers team. The WBS CareersPlus team are highly experienced, be it with regards to applications for spring weeks or for further studies. They hold drop-in clinics twice a week and you can book individual appointments with them as well if you would like to discuss something in detail. They also organise various employer events exclusively for WBS students, which gives you a unique opportunity to network with those employers and understand what they are looking for in their future employees. Personally, the advice from the careers team was instrumental in me securing my dream graduate job with PwC, one of the Big 4 professional firms as they gave me a great idea of what to expect during my assessment centre and what qualities to display while there.

If you have made it this far, thank you for you taking the time to read about my experience. I would like to leave you with one crucial advice as you begin your time at WBS. Never be scared to try out something new! Your time at university is your opportunity to discover what you are passionate about and if that means trying out different things, so be it. I wish you all the best for your time here and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Do you have a passion for Accounting or Finance or a mix of both subjects? Discover more about our BSc Accounting & Finance course.