About to enter the real world and kind of worried

study for the gmat so you can escape the working life and go back to school

I suggest you party like a fucking animal. Its over! It took me probably a year to get over being in college and my happiness level has never reached the levels it was at in college... not even close. And when you go back for a visit you will have matured and been away for so long that you no longer fit in. The experience will never be duplicated.

Idk, so far my junior year is pretty miserable: keeping GPA near 4.0 while taking real classes (real = upper-devision related to major), studying for GRE/GMAT, interning every single quarter, working real part-time job, attending club meetings, reading finance books so I could answer any tech question for FT recruiting. But then again, I am non-target, that's what I deserve.

P.S.: I do agree freshman year was by far the most fun year of my life. Living in dorms right next to best friends, playing Madden 07, staying up late talking about life, saying good night to roommate, eating at the dinning commons. I definitely miss that year a lot...

pathus, come on down to the old stomping grounds for a certain event coming up...see if we can't get that happiness level of yours back..haha

Good thread - I know the feeling, and am in the same position. Wrapping up the last semester, and moving to NYC for FT.

I would say I was somewhat apprehensive in August, when I was finishing up my SA, largely bc I was in a total sweatshop group, and had a fun but still brutal workwise summer.

Part of it that makes me excited to start, is having a strong interest in the culture and people of the firm I'm going to (not where I did my SA). It helps knowing that my new firm has a pretty good lifestyle and great exit ops, but more importantly, I know that I won't be at the mercy of some serious a-hole MDs/Ds like I was this past summer.

With regards to spending your last semester, I would plan some trips or something. I'm heading to FL with a crew of good buddies for spring break in a few days, and going to Europe with 3 of my best college friends after graduation for 4 weeks. Small things to look forward too, but IMO, don't look at it like you're entering hell when you start working. Anyone whose done 10 wks on the job knows it's not a bowl of cherries, but your attitude toward it can make a big difference (for you and your coworkers).

Honestly, they are the best years of your life, hands down. You may think you understand just how heavy that statement is now but just wait until you're driving away from campus for that last time after graduation. It was like someone took a wrench to my heart.

I was naive enough to think that landing my dream job in a different city would make things easier, thinking it's my many friends going back home to their small towns w/o jobs lined up that will be the miserable ones. Not true, everyone feels it job or no job. It's hard to accept that the life you've come to know and love more than anything in the world is effectively over. The feeling is almost as if someone close to you just passed away.

But, and there's always a but, life must go on and time will heal these feelings. As for me, I'm trying my best to keep positive about the future and think about all the great things to come. Will I ever be able to relive my undergrad years; no and knowing that hurts a lot. There's just no comparison to the relatively worry free life of a college freshman and sohpomore. I think PussinBoots said it best, "Living in dorms right next to best friends, playing Madden 07, staying up late talking about life, saying good night to roommate, eating at the dinning commons."

So to answer your question more directly, I graduated in December and how am I feeling? Thrilled, gratefull and miserable all at the same time. While I want nothing more than to turn the clocks back just a year, I quickly return to the reality of the situation and am just thankful for having all my hard work pay some dividends finally. I've also worked very hard to stay in touch with as many of my friends from school. It helps a lot to keep some degree of continuity in your life amid all the changes that take place after graduating.

To all those still in high school or just starting out in college, please take this advice. You have your entire life to worry about money, your career, exit ops and "things." For now, your job is to be a student and while focusing on your career is important, I get the sense that many people tend to decide their school and what they do once they're there solely on their career aspirations.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, college isn't only about the end game, what you do on the way there, the memories and friends you make and the experiences you have, are just as important.

I loved college freshmen year. It just was an extension of an awesome final year of high school. However, soph/junior year(so far) have been tough for me. Mostly, all I do is work/study. And while I was rewarded with a good internship this summer, reading this thread is making me depressed....thinking if I worked harder than necessary the past few years.

But now that recruiting is over and grades don't matter as much, I'm definitely going to try and enjoy my remaining college days as much as possible.

To be honest, more than being afraid of being consumed by my job, I'm more afraid of kinda starting over again, socially. While I'd consider myself a pretty social and outgoing person, I'm gonna be pretty depressed to leave my college friends behind, esp knowing that most are sticking around the area.

I know NYC is a great place to meet people, but I suppose starting over is always tough...

sleep with as many chicks as you can..

The world has changed. And we must change with it.

I think one of the big things for me is just being away from an academic environment for the first time in a long time (first time ever arguably). We've spent our entire lives devoting a lot our time and energy to school work and now all of a sudden instead of learning, we're doing. That's pretty big when you think about it.

One thing that definitly helps is maintaining a strong relationship with your school. In addition to the typical alumni association bit, I plan on keeping in touch with a few professors who I became close with over the years, as well as my department and of course, going back for football games. Already have a trip planned with the guys in October for homecoming weekend/game.

Solid thread, especially as I find it relevant to my most recent thoughts.

I am originally from NY and I am a senior at a non-target. I am an accounting major and have absolutely zero interest in actually being an accountant. I majored in accounting because it is an automatic job offer, especially at my school. That being said, I now have a FT S&T at a BB to the likes of BofA/Citi/Mer and while I love trading/finance, I find myself more worried about my offer than anything else. One of the benefits I have is that since I am from NY, most of my friends will either be working in NYC or live close enough to NYC that I won't have too hard of a social transition.

When I was a freshman and sophomore, in all honesty, I probably had too much fun. I never missed a night to party, and as a result got some serious ass. I suppose sophomore year was the best year of my life...I lived in a house with my best 8 friends, including my roommate who was my best friend. I had a girlfriend who was the president of the hottest sorority on campus which made me feel like a BSD at the time lol, and quite frankly I did more outlandish shit than I can recall.

Ever since that year however, I have been looking more and more forward to graduation and making some money, especially since I landed my "dream job". Except now, finance isn't what it used to be and quite frankly BofA/Citi/Mer aren't what they used to be either. Wow this is fucking depressing.

My advice is simple-even though I haven't started working so I can't full comment on the transition, college will be the most careless fun an ambitious kid will have. For me, having fun would be getting laid, being shameless, and partying with friends but to each their own. Try and leave college with as little regret as possible because in my opinion, it is the regret that makes people want to hang on to the past. If you really enjoyed yourself and had a positive experience, I think you will know that it is time to move on...

But than again, I still have 8 weeks left...

You guys are depressing the f-uck out of me.

Pass the blunt, yeah?