Made some mistakes, questions about my future?
Hey WSO I was hoping you guys could help me out here with a few questions I have.
Right now I just completed my sophomore year at UC Berkeley, although my sophomore year was kind of a wash.
In high school I was dedicated and worked my ass off in order to get into a good school and I'm lucky that my school is highly rated in all the programs I am interested in (business, econ, stats) but to be honest I kind of fell in the freshman trap and partied a lot of freshman year, rushed a frat, etc. At this point I hadn't really thought about my career other than I wanted to do 'business' and I was just excited to be in college for the first time. Still ended up with a 3.8 although I didn't join any extracurriculars of substance or leadership positions (spring admit so only spent spring semester at Cal.)
My sophomore year I got really sick during fall semester though (contracted a weird virus) and missed a lot of time. It got to the point where I had missed so much class due to sickness that I had to waive the semester, and due to a school policy I had to spend my last semester at community college.
So my first semester was a complete waste even though it doesn't affect my record and my second semester wasn't much better taking easy transfer breadths at the JC and working a retail job on the side.
At this point though my sickness has improved and I spent a good amount of this past semester thinking about my future for the first time. After doing some initial research I know that I want to pursue a finance job, but I'm pretty clueless as how to start working for one or even what specific field of finance interests me most.
At this point I know that I am already behind the ball on a lot of people but the challenge doesn't intimidate me. I'm hoping this past year doesn't jeopardize my future since it was a health issue. I do have the option to forgo this year and stay a fifth year (essentially repeating sophomore year) even though I have enough credits to graduate in four if I want to.
Can someone help me with the best course of action to take at this point considering my circumstances? I will be applying to Haas in the fall and I intend to get a major from Haas and either a minor or double major in stats. First off what are the best books and resources to start with in order to learn more about the industry, specifically a broader overview so I can focus my concentration in the finance field? I have a decent summer job lined up already but what kind of things should I be focussing on at this point? Leadership positions? Networking such as reaching out to professors or fraternity alumni in similar fields? Extracurriculars? Part time jobs? I know my next summer internship is crucial. Really any information would be much appreciated.
Personal opinion here: You're not behind; you're ahead of the vast majority of people on here. You're an underclassman at a target with a 3.8 if I'm reading this correctly... I would retake sophomore year in a heartbeat. An extra year of college is something I'd give almost anything for (finishing my first year at a BB right now), so I'd take that and run (unless it will put you in serious debt). Keep your gpa up, get into one of the Berkeley business fraternities (I know those are cultish but seem to have a huge effect on your ability to get jobs. Outsiders perspective, I didn't go to Berkeley). Get a good finance internship next summer, and you'll be in great shape for junior year and beyond. No one will care about this last year and it will virtually never come up... I can't imagine an interview situation in which it would...
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