Does anybody still really regret not going to a target school or did things end up working out for you?
I'm sorry I keep whining and I promise to God this will be my last thread. After this 'll go back into lurk mode and you guys will never hear from me again. I guess I'm just trying to find some comfort and a little peace of mind. I just don't know what to do.
I'm in high school and can't get into a target school. Maybe I could transfer into a semitarget in college but for now no. I won't go into detail but a series of really awful events happened last year that I'm still mentally recovering from. It threw me off my game and I didn't do well. My rank and GPA are dead. Plus I wasn't in many honors classes because I wasn't really planning to go to a top school. I'd never even heard of the ivy league until last year. I only knew a little about Harvard. Most kids at my high school just shoot for local state/ private schools. I guess my parents always figured I'd go to one of their schools(Tulane/LSU).
When I did finally read about all these schools on collegeconfidential I felt horrible. Then people talked about banking and how you wouldn't be succesful unless you went to a top school and I felt even worse. Then I read that some firms won't even hire you if you don't go a top school. I feel like I missed out on a big opportunity and I'll regret it for life. I've actually cried and lost sleep over this It really sucks to think that at age 14 I hurt my future. I'm scared I always wonder if I would be making more money if I'd went to a top school. People in my family do that a lot. They always talk about what their dreams were and what life would be like if they'd pursued them. I don't want to be like that.
Does it get better eventually? Did everything work out for you?
I just wanted to get the most high paying job I could ever possibly get. If I did that I think I would finally have a happy life. Now I've screwed that up/
not to be sexist BUT you're a girl...from the south. just marry a rich dude. then you'll have your happy life.
Lol thanks esbanker that made me smile. The chances of me ever even meeting a rich man much less marrying him look pretty slim.
Your 14 enjoy life a little and stop worrying so much. I'm new around here, so I can't give any rock solid advice about schools. I just want to give you some general advice, as long as your alive its never too late to chase your dreams. Colonel Sanders didn't start frachising KFC until he was 65, that turned out ok. Never fall into the mentality that your life would have been different if you had done xyz, get off your ass and make it different.
Go read the sucess storys on this forum, lots of people break in from non-targets.
Oh and if you just looking at salary numbers, look at nursing school and then becoming a CRNA. Easier to get into college and you will make 180k per year working 40 hour weeks.
But seriously, you're young, you can recover from the bad grades/rough year and talk about it in an entrance essay. Also, be glad that you know what you want to do. Plus with this forum, you get to understand the hustle it takes to get into banking. I had no idea about what I wanted to do until I had three semesters left of college and I just signed up for a light accounting internship for summer. Nopt particularly helpful to get into IB/HF industry. And the industry part about having to network and work your @ss off to get a coveted job like IB, I had no idea until just recently finding this forum. My post baccalaureate experience is as follows: Graduated Dec 09 w/3.75 GPA. Unemployment was at/near peak. I got 1 number crunching position interview for which I did not get. Took a phone rep job talking to the public about 401(k)s at top global firm, now working BO for same company. If pay is what you're after, then nursing would definitely be easier. But also consider, I made 33K/year at the call center in a southwest/midwest city, roomed with my brother in a cheap apt and I had more than enough $ to buy what I wanted. And on top of all that, I'm really quite happy. I would like a more challenging job, but still happy.
Knowledge is power in this case. Use it.
this guy hit gold. Finance wont be very lucrative when you graduate.
That's why everyone says to go into a field that you enjoy. Most college (let alone highschool) students don't have a clue about the earning potential of other industries (see: threads about engineering jobs, Facebook starting salary, etc.). I have a friend that works at New York Life and he easily clears $150K and barely works 9-5pm.
Kids get too caught up in prestige and end up doing something because of the way it's perceived by their peers. An enjoyable job and a high-paying job aren't mutually exclusive, regardless of what your prestige-whore friends think.
Please stop asking this question and do some research on your own.
There are plenty of non-targets on here that understand their position and got it done.
The formula is easy: 1. Get a PWM internship Freshman Summer 2. Leverage that into Ops/Low Level Finance internship Sophomore Summer 3. Leverage the previous into critical BB or MM internship in Finance City (NYC, Chicago, etc.) 4. Return to Senior year with offer and party your ass off or no offer and pound the networking road
Note: Constantly be pounding that networking road from Freshman year till retirement at least.
I used to naive like you, just don't annoy people on here by constantly posting the same topic over and over again. They will jump on your case quickly.
This is the legit route I took from a non-target. PWM in Morgan Stanley, utilize that email address to follow up with contacts. If you are a diverse candidate, leverage that as well. The game is all hustle.
Why is PWM considered a non target track, especially at MS?
I wasn't going to respond to this but after I read a few paragraphs, I feel like I have to contribute. First off, you are in HIGH SCHOOL. You should not be worrying about this/crying about this right now. Please please please don't start freaking out yet. What you think you want to do will change by the time you're a freshmen in college, and probably change again by the time you graduate. I used to hate it when people told me that in hs, but it's been absolutely true. I didn't want to do finance, and never ever imagined I would be interested in banking. My whole life I wanted to go to law school, until freshmen year of college I randomly get involved with business organizations and find where my passion is. The thing is, as a high school student there is so much of life you haven't experienced yet. There's so much you don't know and at the same time there is SO MUCH that you have to learn ahead of you. Your situation will be whatever you make of it, don't listen to the people on this site. WSO is a great place for help and advice, but you have to have a filter on as you read these posts. You're going to learn that most people you meet in life are extremely insecure with themselves and with their accomplishments, and half of the things they say are said in an effort to boost their own self-pride. With that said, I'm not going to lie to you. Life is a lot easier for those at targets. But that doesn't mean it's the end of the world if you're not at a target. I go to a semi-target state school, and I've met people who graduated from our business program with no job and at the same time I know dozens of people doing investment banking at GS/MS/JPM/Lazard/etc. I know people working at great F100 companies, I know people working at the Big 4, and I know people working at top consulting firms. My point is, your school isn't going to define you. Though I think you really shouldn't be worrying at this age, it's really really great that you discovered cc and WSO so early on. The best thing that happened to me, I think, was deciding freshmen year I wanted to do finance, finding WSO, getting a BB pwm internship, and then taking it from there. I'm now a sophomore who knows a lot more about banking and a lot more about what I want and how to get it then most juniors at targets do. Don't listen to this "marry rich" bullshit either. Just figure out what you love, don't give a fuck about what anyone says, go after what you want, work hard, and remember to enjoy life. At the end of the day - your happiness is what's going to matter. Above all else, pursue that first.
Sorry this is so long, but I can really relate to your post. Wanting success is a double edges sword, and the path to it is going to be one of the best but still one of the most painful things you go through. Enjoy high school, and even college, while you can. It really is some of the best years of our lives.
Tulane is quite good in finance. Depending on what you want to do, recruitment is excellent. For instance, trading, especially energy, is amazing. There are several on campus classes and programs that can really help you out too. PM me if you wanna talk about Louisiana finance.
bigb laid it out pretty much how it is. There are plenty of people that make it. You need to go above and beyond and take it from me, someone that goes to a state school in NYS: one of the biggest things you'll have to get over is the non-achiever mentality that so many non-target kids have.
Trust me, A LOT of stupidity abounds in college. You don't want to be a part of it.
/wrists
Tip from UncleMilty #1: Don't bother CollegeConfidential. And by G-d, if you can, keep your mother off of it. Oy vey. And #2: As a semi-target student (hell, most of the kids where I am would be satisfied with arts administration), it's great to hear some pre-college motivation!
3: Better to dominate the s**t out of a small or moderately difficult pond than get dominated by a ridiculously tough one. I've tried to do the former, compared to buddies of mine who've done the latter, and I'm better off for it.
Best of luck. Keep your nose to the grindstone!
Facts. College Confidential is a bunch of annoying Harvard wannabes who should get off their phone and actually study.
Tulane is no slouch of a school.
I went to a community college for a couple years then transferred to UMich... easier since I'm instate, but if you do really good at whatever college you end up at, you can probably transfer to really good schools. Other people from my community college transferred to Cornell, Columbia, and some other targets so all hope is not lost if you can't make it into a target right away.
And getting the most high paying job you could possibly get alone won't make you happy.
"I just wanted to get the most high paying job I could ever possibly get. If I did that I think I would finally have a happy life. "
common please, this is OBVIOUSLY a troll
ahahahaahahahaha eat up the troll bait.....
like a fucking 14 year old girl in high school in the south is on WSO
a couple of things I have heard, although my experience is quite limited
The troll is fed for the night, leave it be
also you are a high school freshman, get off the internet and do fun stuff like blow all of your horny male friends
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