happypantsmcgee:
You have to give a lot more info than that dude...is it a 3.5 in Woman's Literature or what, etc.

HAHAHAHAHA

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

Getting there...quant stuff is highly sought after for a number of fields...what about extra curriculars, clubs your in, stuff you do besides study, do you have a resume yet? If so post it here and we can give you a better sense of what you're looking at. A 3.5 from your school in a quant field gives you a pretty good shot but the total picture would be more useful

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

I don't want to give away too much. I pretty much focused on two activities in college. Science research (had name on 2 publications) and another club, at which I held a pretty significant position. Nothing much other than these.

I am a non-US citizen though, which makes things harder especially with the small firms for full time positions. I don't mind getting hired here into Asian positions tho.

 

you have a solid chance at MM, BB would be a reach. sorry, but BB tends to favor 4.0s wherever they come from 4.0 math vs 4.0 econ is obviously better, but 3.5 math vs 4.0 econ is a close split because it is not as if IBD requires the skills of group theory or differential geometry. they just need you to pay close attention to detail and not fuck up any of the thousands of details that go into a pitchbook or a comps spreadsheet.

you don't need a BB SA to get into BB FT IBD though. after the SA, the question is: offer? if you have one, you are in good shape. enjoy senior year and interview well. you are made.

 
ivoteforthatguy:
you have a solid chance at MM, BB would be a reach. sorry, but BB tends to favor 4.0s wherever they come from 4.0 math vs 4.0 econ is obviously better, but 3.5 math vs 4.0 econ is a close split because it is not as if IBD requires the skills of group theory or differential geometry. they just need you to pay close attention to detail and not fuck up any of the thousands of details that go into a pitchbook or a comps spreadsheet.

you don't need a BB SA to get into BB FT IBD though. after the SA, the question is: offer? if you have one, you are in good shape. enjoy senior year and interview well. you are made.

I disagree. BB is definitely within reach. Might be difficult to break in FT without a relevant summer, but SA will be much easier, especially coming from a Top 3 LAC (at least if your Amherst or Williams). Both schools have a strong alumni network at GS/MS/BarCap/JPM/etc so alumni will help push you through. The key is to reach out to them, make sure you capitalize on every OCR opportunity, and nail the shit out of the interviews. With your stats a first round interview chance is high if you network well. Once you have the interview, it's mostly up to you.

I also just realized that this is in the consulting forum. But my advice still holds for MBB (although two factors lower your chances: 1. tiny tiny SA classes, 2. weaker recruiting from LAC). You'll have to be very proactive for 2nd tier consulting firms as well, because they don't generally have the resources to come out to small schools.

Keep in mind that nabbing an IBD internship will be much easier for you (just based on numbers) and will help you when recruiting with consulting firms for full-time if that's something you're still interested in.

 
Platform:
ivoteforthatguy:
you have a solid chance at MM, BB would be a reach. sorry, but BB tends to favor 4.0s wherever they come from 4.0 math vs 4.0 econ is obviously better, but 3.5 math vs 4.0 econ is a close split because it is not as if IBD requires the skills of group theory or differential geometry. they just need you to pay close attention to detail and not fuck up any of the thousands of details that go into a pitchbook or a comps spreadsheet.

you don't need a BB SA to get into BB FT IBD though. after the SA, the question is: offer? if you have one, you are in good shape. enjoy senior year and interview well. you are made.

I disagree. BB is definitely within reach. Might be difficult to break in FT without a relevant summer, but SA will be much easier, especially coming from a Top 3 LAC (at least if your Amherst or Williams). Both schools have a strong alumni network at GS/MS/BarCap/JPM/etc so alumni will help push you through. The key is to reach out to them, make sure you capitalize on every OCR opportunity, and nail the shit out of the interviews. With your stats a first round interview chance is high if you network well. Once you have the interview, it's mostly up to you.

I also just realized that this is in the consulting forum. But my advice still holds for MBB (although two factors lower your chances: 1. tiny tiny SA classes, 2. weaker recruiting from LAC). You'll have to be very proactive for 2nd tier consulting firms as well, because they don't generally have the resources to come out to small schools.

Keep in mind that nabbing an IBD internship will be much easier for you (just based on numbers) and will help you when recruiting with consulting firms for full-time if that's something you're still interested in.

Note that the number of IBD SA positions is much smaller than FT slots, in any given year -- at least when I was recruiting. It's purely a numbers problem that raises the bar for SA.

 

i think those stats are good enough to get you considered, but a key thing that's being left out of this thread is networking. you need to network with alumni from your school well before they hold interviews for summer analyst positions. this will be vitally important to you getting proper support through the process.

TK
 

You can still do consulting because you have pedigree and a tough major, so that will compensate for a good but not great GPA. I can understand your position, believe me. The curve is tough at a place like Amherst. Problem is that consultancies are even MORE hung up on GPA. Makes no sense to me, but from their angle, it is even more important than it is in IBD.

Focus on interships at a sub-MBB and try to trade up for FT recruiting. It is definitely possible if you get a good record as a summer. Good luck.

 

So what should I do now to get a SA? I'll keep an eye on my school's database. But other than that, should I just look up the consulting websites and apply online?

I'm pretty bad at networking.

I have the option of switching my major to physics/econ instead of physics/math. Would switching help or hurt?

 
wsib1:
So what should I do now to get a SA? I'll keep an eye on my school's database. But other than that, should I just look up the consulting websites and apply online?

I'm pretty bad at networking.

I have the option of switching my major to physics/econ instead of physics/math. Would switching help or hurt?

See my post above, Bain recruits ACI's (interns) from Amherst/Williams for APAC and US. If you aren't a citizen jump on APAC.

Networking isn't hard. People who say they are bad at it just are uncomfortable getting on the phone...don't sweat it. You'll never and never piss someone off enough that gives you an info interview that it'll hurt you. II's can only help.

 
Best Response

NETWORK.

The advantage you have going for you at a small liberal arts is your network. If you want to land an offer as an SA, you have to tap it. You're bad at networking? Suck it up and get on the horn. I guarantee you if you get on Linkedin and search for people from your school at GS, Citi, MS, JPM...where ever, you'll find a ton of alumni. Or go to your career center and ask them for a list of alumni in ibanking. If your school is like any other small liberal arts school, you'll have an alumni base who will be more than willing to answer questions and help you out.

I go to school at a liberal arts school nowhere near the top 20 and I just accepted an FT offer at a MM IB. I'm an Econ major with a 3.31....and a 2.9 major GPA. My buddy was an SA at Citi last summer and a few other guys in my class interned at other MM banks.

Don't listen to these one-dimensional finance geeks. You have a damn good chance at landing an SA gig at a BB. Banks don't shun people with a well rounded liberal arts education.

 
Dr Barnaby Fulton:
NETWORK.

The advantage you have going for you at a small liberal arts is your network. If you want to land an offer as an SA, you have to tap it. You're bad at networking? Suck it up and get on the horn. I guarantee you if you get on Linkedin and search for people from your school at GS, Citi, MS, JPM...where ever, you'll find a ton of alumni. Or go to your career center and ask them for a list of alumni in ibanking. If your school is like any other small liberal arts school, you'll have an alumni base who will be more than willing to answer questions and help you out.

I go to school at a liberal arts school nowhere near the top 20 and I just accepted an FT offer at a MM Bank. I'm an Econ major with a 3.31....and a 2.9 major GPA. My buddy was an SA at Citi last summer and a few other guys in my class interned at other MM banks.

Don't listen to these one-dimensional finance geeks. You have a damn good chance at landing an SA gig at a BB. Banks don't shun people with a well rounded liberal arts education.

 

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