Am I completely screwed?

Not that I am any expert on the matter, but coming from Columbia I would assume that you could make it into a BB for full time recruiting regardless of where you interned. Yeah, it might not be in NYC, but look into Chicago, LA, etc. Do not limit yourself to one location, or else you might screw yourself over. Also, use your alumni network. They are there to help you, and coming from Columbia you have a large network to work off of. You have to prove that you want the job, thats the key. Just because your resume says 'Columbia' on it does not entitle you to anything. Network, pull the grades, do NOT limit your options (look into MM banks and presitgious boutiques), and all will fall into place. And from what I have gathered, a degree in engineering is actually highely regarded (as long as you didnt get less than a 3.0). You are in a good spot, just go above and beyond. Best of luck.

You are not screwed at all. There are lots of people who get jobs without relevant summer experience, you at least will have worked at a bank. Ok, so you aren't going to get a job offer at the end of the summer, but my prediction is that lots of summer hires (even those who got top notch internships) won't. Are you in the best possible position to land a FT job, no, but you are still in a good spot. You are correct in that next year BBs are going to hire primarily from their summer class, but keep in mind that BBs are generally feeling the market conditions more than some of the smaller boutiques. I would suggest working the boutique circuit hard come recruiting time, they will be hiring and lots of them don't have summer programs so they will look for people like you! Also, try to network you ass off with any bankers you deal with in other firms this summer.

"Partially my own fault, partially the school's, partially the shitty year"

??? It's your own fault, if you really wanted it you should have got it. Don't blame external factors.

Also, you are an arrogant prick too, looking down at jobs of other people..I don't think you have a personality fit with BB.

"I will have 110K in student loans and simply can not afford taking on some crappy corporate job that would pay 80K base plus 10K bonus."

2 graduate24:

Who the hell do you think you're to judge my personality. I gues I hit the nerve, but I suggest that you put your degree to work and crunch the numbers, genius. 80K is roughly $4,500 per month, 110K in loans is roughly $1,500 per month (not tax deductible if you make more than 70K), how's anybody supposed to live on 3K in a city where 1Br rent is 2900? Besides I was making MORE before I went to school, so you're damn right, I do look down to those salaries.

From my experience (and some of my class mates as well), the engineering degree is a good thing if you have it but never actually worked as an engineer (i.e. went to consulting or finance right away). People like me, who actually worked in tech, were having hell of a time selling themselves. Think about it - what does this background give you other than superior quantitative skills? Nothing. And you don't even need those skills, banking is not a rocket science, everybody can be trained to do the spreadsheet.
People with prior exposure to financial services industry have much better chances.
And yes, my GPA was 4.0

I completely agree. Dont settle for what you don't want, especially if you are at Columbia. I would go look for BB opportunities in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, LA, SFran, and even Toronto.

I will definitely focus on boutique banks. I am concerned though because I really don't understand where people go from there, what are the exit opps? I think what you do early in your early years will ultimately define your entire career. Somebody who started in Morgan will get a shot at a multi bn hedge fund later down the road, for instance, versus somebody who started in a no-name bank and will never be even considered for such a position.
I am just reaking out a lot that if I don't play it right this year, I will end up having shitty career for the rest ofmy life.

"I would go look for BB opportunities in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, LA, SFran, and even Toronto."

Even Toronto..what were not good enough for you?

That's a big crock of sh!t. How about Marc Lasry? He didn't start at a BB, he didn't go to a top law school (New York Law School), he didn't practice law at a prestigious firm. He started his own brokerage firm (Amroc) and then Amroc got seeded by the Bass Brothers (through Acadia Partners, LP) to manage a distressed fund.

You're being irrational.

Agree with above, look at other big cities + use your alumni network. It can be done.

I don't really agree. You are right that with decreased prestige, landing a top exit opp is more difficult, but you really need to drop a lot in the prestige department before you get shut out completely from good exit opps. Before I worked in banking I was familiar with a couple boutiques, after a short while on the job I became familiar with many more. Things certainly aren't going to be as easy as if you were with the top group at Goldman, but those who have worked in the industry for awhile (those who would be hiring you for exit opps) will be familiar with most top boutiques. The bottom line is that the boutique spectrum is vast, with shops that rival Goldman (lazard, evercore) and places that are a couple of guys working out of their moms basement. Your best bet, is to ask BB bankers and those in PE what they think of a place before you join it. (don't just make a post here for college students to respond to) Also, look for banks that have a true niche, and in particular a niche that you think would be favorable to the type of exit opps you are interested in.

What's so wrong with a boutique bank if you state that IB has been your one and only career goal?
It's obvious that you prioritize money very highly among your goals - and (from what I can tell) little of anything else.
You are totally blowing your situation out of proportion and with such poor rationale and disregard for "crappy corporate jobs", I question whether you'll be able to achieve the success you're seeking or simply resort to a "shitty career for the rest of your life." If you can't deduce that not having an NYC BB job won't be the end of your career on your own then frankly you aren't capable enough to be there in the first place, let alone worry about the exit opps.
I'm rather disappointed that more people didn't call you out on your dumbass comment regarding corporate jobs, whether any malice was intended or not. Shame on the rest of you.

Well by IB I've always meant a bulge bracket in NYC. I have strong ties to the community here and moving is a lot of hassle. And I do not like working for the small firms - there're always more opportunitites in the larger companies.

Dude, what planet are you from? We're talking about WS jobs here, not some non-profits and YES, WS is about making money and if I didn't put money above all I wouldn't even be here.

yeah, rrright. Can you distinguish between having a career and merely having a job? How old are you? May be you just haven't seen enough of WS winners and losers or never bothered to think about different backgrounds and about how people in their late 40ies get where they get.
A career is when you start at Goldman/Morgan/Lehman/Another BB, spend 3-5 years there and then take a higher-up position in a smaller firm or go to a multi-bn hedge fund. This would be a typical winner.
A job is when you spend 10-15 years in no-name firms, often having unorthodox job descritions, and finally when you're 45 nobody wants to hire you anymore - because you either don't fit, or you seem overqualified, or you seem not exactly qualified because you were doing something similar but not exactly that, or because your rolodex doesn't have the names they're looking for, or you name it. I've seen so many of the latter that it scares me. This is why I am really very unhappy about the boutique jobs and will resort to it only when everything else fails.

Yo Alien, sounds like you need to get laid. You're being a whining baby. Get over it, dude, no one wants to hear it. Grow a sack and go get what you want instead of crying to an online forum.

It looks like you've already answered a couple of your questions.

From your posts, it seems like your definition of "completely screwed" is "working anywhere besides a BB in NYC."

You've already said "it appears that they (BB's) are not likely to hire people who were not in their summer class."

You aren't in a BB summer class. So I'd say it's likely that you're "completely screwed," by your standards.

Plenty of people have answered this: MM and boutique banks all over the country (including NYC), BBs in other cities besides NYC.

It sounds like you need to broaden your focus to more than just NYC BBs, it may not be 100% impossible to land one of those spots, but I wouldn't be banking on it without a reasonable backup plan (MM/boutiques in NYC and elsewhere, or BBs outside of NYC).

Why would you do this if you state that "My one and only career goal was to get into IB" and "by IB I've always meant a bulge bracket in NYC"

I think the best way to end up in BB IB in NYC is to start off with the other options mentioned above (MM/boutiques in NYC and elsewhere, or BBs outside of NYC).

I'm not.

and am also scared I might be f#cked for FT recruiting. I'm working at a smaller MM shop this summer and they told me from the beginning that they had no plans to make any FT offers at the end of the summer. I get along great with the top guys and they've all said they would be happy to give me great recommendations, but I'm concerned some banks won't get over the stigma of not having a FT offer in hand.

What is the best way to approach this? Am I screwed, or is it not a huge black mark considering I will have strong recs from the place I summered?