Am I smart enough for finance/ER?
I'm an unemployed recent econ grad with a 2.7 GPA from a semi-target. Although I was capable of doing much better in school, I was unfocused and had some difficulty with depression. I recently graduated with little idea of what I wanted to do with my life. After weeks of anxious self-reflection, I've come to the tentative conclusion that a career in ER would suit my interests and ambitions.
However, after doing so poorly in school, I've begun to doubt my own intelligence and ability to succeed as a professional. I know that my intellectual abilities are at least in the "high average" range, but I don't know if I'm smart enough. After 5 weeks of intensive preparation, I was only able to score a 690 on the GMAT with a relatively low Quant score in the 75th percentile. My baseline score without prep was 600. My SAT scores were also pretty low (1350, although I've scored around 1400 on practice tests).
My personality quirks also contribute to my self-doubt. I am easily distracted and people think I have ADD. In many situations, I have a tendency to jump from topic to topic, although I am usually able to recognize when I digress. I am also a very, very slow writer. I think I've spent 20 minutes writing this post.
I am still in the early stages of learning about finance, so I haven't developed a "passion" for financial markets or investing yet. I plan to educate myself by preparing for the June CFA level 1 exam, but I am worried that I will waste my time preparing for a career that I am not suited for. Compared to the general population, I know that I can consider myself "smart," but am I smart enough for such a competitive field?
I may be 100% off base and if so, I apologize, but do you live a relatively unhealthy lifestyle? (i.e. Play a lot of video games/spend a lot of time watching tv, eat unhealthy, drink/smoke, rarely exercise, ...)
If so, you may be amazed at how many of those symptoms go away if you stop the above completely for a month or so.
Dude I have basically the same stats as you--same GMAT range, had a 1350 SAT in high school, 33 ACT, 2.8 UG GPA, econ major)--except for I went to a target. Now I wasn't really depressed in college (actually, quite the opposite, I had too much fun, and that's why my GPA was low), but I still thought of myself when I read your post.
You do not have to be uber-smart to work in finance. Don't get me wrong, I definitely consider myself smarter than the general population by a long shot, but that's because the general population is largely pathetic. I am definitely not the smartest person in my group at work, but I bust my ass, rarely make mistakes, keep my head down, and no matter how much shit gets dumped on me I still get it done well, with a smile on my face. Like you said at the end of your post, it's a competitive field. But I'd take a guy that has above average intelligence and works hard and has a good personality over a genius with bad social skills who thinks his shit doesn't stink.
I had a bit of a rocky start in my analyst stint when I first started in August, but once I got my head on straight and started to really buckle down at work I have been getting nothing but positive feedback for the past few months.
If you are really considering trying to make a move into finance, whatever you do, DO NOT get discouraged because you had a rough GPA or you don't think you're smart enough. That is a horse shit excuse. If this is what you want to do, pick your head up, quit being negative, and start networking and learning and make it happen. Good luck.
Alright - plenty of people here are either going to rain shit on your head for being a halfwit, or butter you up with talk about how you're fine and finance is such an easy field that everyone can do it. I'm going to try to walk somewhere in between.
You say you want to do ER. Well, first things first - ER involves writing. Lots of writing. You're not gonna have to be JRR Tolkien, but you're going to have to do a sizeable amount of writing about all sorts of faffery. If you're a poor writer, you may not just perform poorly - you may also end up having to spend shitloads of time at a job that most people here think possesses the upside of not having to work killer hours.
690 on the GMAT and a SAT of 1350/1600? You might not be a Pat McInally, and good ole Asian Dad would probably point at you and laugh, but those are perfectly respectable scores. That's good enough for this field - it's not rocket science, and most people could probably perform adequately given enough training. Plenty of guys - myself included - aren't some combination of smart/hardworking/lucky enough to be at GS/KKR/BX, but there are enough shops out there for most of us to get into the industry if we really want to. That 2.7 GPA might make things a little hard, but if you head back to school for a Master's you might be able to swing a job coming out of that.
Finally, about the whole "passion" thing - personally, I think that in 90% of cases it's bullshit. There are plenty of people I've met who really do have a raging hard-on for DCFs and MACDs, but I think most people these days are really just in it for the money/prestige. It's just that (almost) nobody will tell you that to your face, and instead have to come up with half-arsed excuses like "having a passion for finance". Don't get me wrong; it's a damned sight more interesting - or less boring, perhaps - than accounting or HR. But do you honestly think that half the people on this site would be here if it weren't for the fact that it pays so relatively well?
TL;DR: Aim for ER if you want to, but know that it'll be an uphill battle given your current situation. Spend some time thinking about whether you REALLY want to work in this field, or have just been swayed by peers/the news/the money.
I've met a couple of people who weren't smart enough to do finance, but I've never met anyone that didn't think they were smart enough. You'll never get through any interviews with that attitude, so work on building up your self-confidence if you want a reasonable shot at finance or really for anything good in life. Good luck.
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