Aspiring high school kid, need some advice and guidance
Ok, so to start off, I am a kid in high school, and I feel very lucky that I was able to stumble across this website early on. It has helped me put my goals into focus, and decide on what I want to do with my life.
I've decided that I want to head into the world of Wall Street, and have developed an interest in the stock market and various economic principles in the past couple of years. Despite my dad's burning desire for me to go into medicine, I will probably steer clear of that path and do something that I actually enjoy.
Now, my question is, does it matter if I go to a target or a non-target school? Of course I would love to go to a target in New York, such as NYU Stern, and I do believe that I have a good chance of getting in. (I live in NY) But does it make sense to accumulate so much debt through student loans? Its not like non-target kids get no jobs or interviews with banks; its just that target kids already have the recruiting right there for them. I just like doing things that are practical, and this just doesn't seem practical to me (financially). Also, I am aiming to go to a target for the networking, which to me is crucial.
Finally, I'm not exactly sure about what field I want to get into in finance, but I am probably leaning more towards the trading field, where I will be able to work with the stock market and rather not investment banking. Any suggestions on which route I should take?
Thanks so much for reading if you've gotten this far, and I hope to receive some feedback!





bump?
bump?
At this point, if you want to
At this point, if you want to be on the trade floor, I'd recommend going for engineering. Most of the guys on the trade floor where I work have engineering degrees, bunch of my friends w/ engineering degrees landed spots on the floor too.
i don't really want to work
i don't really want to work as a broker; more like an investor/day trader/proprietary trader. maybe with some good networking i can create a successful startup.
jbanks718: i don't really
i don't really want to work as a broker; more like an investor/day trader/proprietary trader. maybe with some good networking i can create a successful startup.
Then you'd better avoid Wall Street like the clap. Go out and break something, kid. By the time you're old enough to be an analyst, they'll be cranking out pitchbooks in Bangladesh and 1st years will be making $35,000 all in.
thats the only thing i worry
thats the only thing i worry about. the future of the financial industry and banks as a whole is very uncertain, and dedicating great amounts of time and money in college to get a degree in finance/econ could turn out to be in vain.
I'm not quite sure why you
I'm not quite sure why you posted this in the Business School Thread. You'd have gotten a better response rate on the IB Forum or the Trading Forum. Regardless, I think you're in a good spot, simply by finding this website at such a young age. What schools are you considering, both Target and Nontarget? You can't lump all colleges into such a simple framework, i.e., Baruch and Fordham, despite being Non-Targets, give you a considerably better shot at a career in finance than an upstate SUNY school. So give us a list of the schools you're considering, just so we can analyze the pros and cons of each.
As I'm sure you read, Non-Targets have to work considerably harder for the same opportunities. But if you start networking your freshman year, keep your GPA as high as possible, and pick up appropriate internships along the way, you'll improve your odds tremendously. In terms of the future of Finance, I'm not as pessimistic as Eddie. HFT, high frequency trading, is looking like the future of prop shops, so Engineering and exposure to coding will be your best bet. I definitely agree that the days of buying Kraft stock because you like Mac & Cheese and the rest of their product line are ending.
yeah i'm aiming for a target
yeah i'm aiming for a target school like NYU Stern right in the city. if i don't get into that or any Ivy school then i guess i'm gonna have to settle for a reputable school like baruch, but i hope to god that doesn't happen.
also, i recently did research and found out that going for an engineering degree rather than finance/econ can open many more doors for you in finance and can provide a solid backup plan ($100k+ engineering job). but i feel that by the end of those four years i wont even be interested in finance as i've just spent four years doing intense work in engineering. also, i don't want to miss out on the connections i can make in business school, and i would really like that extra networking in case i decide to do a startup
bump once more?
bump once more?