Excellent opportunity, or complete waste of money?
I'm currently a sophomore finance student at a target ivy and am interested in starting my career in investment banking. I've been referred by a number of people to check out the Swiss Finance Academy in regards to their summer program. I've heard that many finance training programs out there are scams and are just a ploy to get your money (in this case $9000).
I was wondering if any of you ibankers out there know of this particular academy and whether it is legit or not. I surely do not want to waste a valuable portion of my summer doing something that will not advance my career and severly put a damper on my parents' wallet. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.
My $0.02:
Spend that $9k and travel on your own. The stories you can tell in interviews will mean a lot more than that academy would mean to me, if I was interviewing you.
Get an internship somewhere, working for free if you have to (I did that once). People generally respect stuff like that. My feeling is nobody would be impressed with this Swiss finance thing and might just think you are some cushioned rich kid that dad packed off to Switzerland for the summer.
Sounds about as legitimate as a pyramid scheme.
One of my friends did it, and said the program itself was legit (he had BB MDs teaching some of the courses), but you could probably get a better brand name on there if you spend that money on some summer econ/finance courses at an Ivy and Dealmaven/TTS/WallStreetPrep. Of course, if you can get an IBD internship (even at a boutique), that would trump either, IMO.
You are at a Target Ivy. You can major in pottery and go into an interview just because you "want to see what business is all about" and get a job.
Do not waste 9K on this shit.
Haha pottery. Man, I only took electives in pottery. Wish I had known there was a major...
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I realize that getting an internship will serve much better purpose than wasting money on something like this. I just saw swiss alps and investment banking which is very enticing but not worth it.
As for internships, I'm extremely far behind in the game at this point for the summer in terms of the BBs. Would it be feasible for me to land an interview at a decent boutique now as we near April? Or is it too late? Unfortunately I dont think my ivy league status had any pull for me this year since I was rejected from 4 BBs in January. I didnt recieve any interviews, most likely because I'm a sophomore (many indicated this in the rejection email/phone call. But will I still have a chance at a boutique on such short notice?
http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/bridge/faqs/index.html
If it's coming from your own pocket. They do not teach you much more than things you can pick up on your own.
As a junior with no IB internship offers at the moment, should I pursue this? I have the fortune (no pun intended) of having a mommy and daddy who wouldn't mind throwing down for it. Should I do it over a no-name due diligence practice? Any advice much appreciated.
Laborum sint sed in qui debitis. Ut tempora explicabo maxime. Eligendi quia vel dolor voluptas qui. Illo esse laborum ab et ratione et illum.
Et quia assumenda quasi ut iure aliquam accusantium. Et ut eum iusto eveniet.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...