Community College to IB?
My path:
Community college -> Average State School -> MM IB -> F500 Corp Dev
For readers in a similar position - just wanted to say that its possible. Most of this occurred pre-covid, when the hiring market was much softer. It’s probably even more possible today.
The diminished desirability of IB jobs relative to areas like tech has opened up a lot of opportunity for kids without extremely prestigious backgrounds. I’m from an immigrant family and and had a middle-class upbringing in the most low-to-average suburb you could think of. I was a top performer in MM IB and have performed really well in Corp Dev. I chose Corp Dev for the lifestyle and never recruited for PE.
Other notes:
- Never took the SAT or any aptitude exam
- High school GPA of 2.5 at best
- Worked 5 jobs throughout college
- College GPA of 3.65
Anyone else have a similar story? Want to see how many of us there actually are nowadays.
Community College --> Average State School --> BB IB --> MF PE
I'm also from an immigrant family with no connection to finance and had a middle-class upbringing in a middle-to-high income suburb. I graduated high school with a <2.0 GPA, so I didn't even bother applying to any 4-year programs. Almost immediately after starting at community college, I realized that I did not want to work at Burger King, so I started taking school seriously for the first time in my life. After two years, I received a transfer scholarship to a nearby state school, hustled with networking as soon as I arrived on campus, and landed an internship and full-time offer at a BB. As a first-year, I was a middling performer and then got top bucket my second year. Then I recruited with the blessing of my IB team and landed a PE seat.
I know of about a dozen community college grads who have ended up in IB. It is not as rare as you might think.
Wow congrats! Way to hustle and be the underdog to conquering!
nah not possible
community college in CA > utilized in state transfer program to get into UCB > credit analyst for 3 yrs > restructuring
Was not sure what I wanted to do even after transferring, though know a handful of people who were able to nab IB positions as a transfer (typically at a disadvantage to continuing students but these people were determined, hard working, and knew the path they wanted to take). I was pretty naive about FT recruiting (only learned about IB about 2 months into junior year) and also wasn’t dead set on the typical paths as a business undergrad, whether it was consulting or IB. Worked random minimum wage jobs throughout CC, and then worked various jobs while completing the degree requirements at Cal (three various startups). Loved the tech sales scene and almost accepted a position for after graduation, but was fortunate enough to get an offer to move to NYC (think rating agency type stuff).
Do think I got lucky with timing my eventual break into IB - finally decided to pursue some positions towards the end of last year and spent about 6 months prepping/interviewing before landing my current gig.
Brought up typical middle class, financial crisis completely overwhelmed my parents, moved 4 times, and my dad eventually had to live out of a storage facility/office. Parents split mid-way through HS, mom took my sister in and I was not able to live with them, so instead of moving into a place without a shower, I was fortunate enough to have a friend whom I lived with for the next 5 years (stayed with his parents even after we graduated and he went off to college). Unique situation and overcame some obstacles, but I’m still surprised by a lot of others’ stories on here.
How did you end up at a MM? Did you cold email MD's asking for off cycle internships also would u recommend a non paid internship in IB?
Met two people who have done it.
Awful HS GPA (may not have even hit 2.5) --> construction job --> JUCO --> non-target --> MM IB
Second generation American family, worked throughout college, took academics seriously once I got to JUCO and had a near perfect GPA in JUCO & Uni. Can certainly be done, but would recommend not fucking around in HS like I did - added another 2 years to my path.
I watched community, if that counts.
In all seriousness though, I do know one guy who transferred from CC to a top state school.
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