Graduating semester LATE
Hi, guys!
I am currently a sophomore going into my junior year, and I am wondering how it would look if I graduate in December instead of May. Here is the situation: I received an internship offer at a VERY WELL KNOWN (government) place. However, this internship is in the fall, not summer. Since the internship is in another state/district (D.C.), I won't be able to attend school in the fall semester. Since I would be graduating in December 2016 instead of May 2016, in terms of IBD recruiting, it classifies me as a sophomore, even though I will be a junior.
I really want to take the internship, but if it hurts me in terms of recruiting, I won't do it. What are your thoughts? Should I do it? Any repercussions? Any other insight you may have, I greatly appreciate it.
This should be pretty easy. I assume you will put this on your resume. I would make sure to highlight that when talking to recruiters. It also wouldn't hurt to talk this over with one of the career counselors or recruiting counselors at your school.
Thanks for your response, Acctnerd.
Put what on my resume? The internship? Most definitely.
Any other insight or input is greatly appreciated.
I may be off base on this, but if it's a full-time internship there might be a way to get academic credit for it, especially if it's unpaid. Either way, I just can't possibly imagine taking a semester off to get real-world experience would really HURT you in terms of attractiveness as a candidate.
The only major issue I could foresee is a timeline issue with regards to on-campus recruiting (if it's in the Spring, I'm not actually sure when they do IBD OCR). To that end, I'd talk to your career services counselor about whether or not you can participate in Spring OCR your "super-senior" year even though you will have technically graduated already. If IBD recruiting is in the Fall anyway, then it's a total non-issue and you'd just get the benefit of a very long break between graduation and working.
Not sure how relevant this is, but I've postponed graduation for non-academic reasons (volunteer work etc) at university in Australia and it hasn't affected my IB recruiting negatively
Keep in mind this is only one perspective, but I would probably not take the internship. If you are keen on IBD recruiting, I'm not sure how relevent this internship would be. Time is one of the most important (and expensive) elements of shaping one's career and I find it difficult to sacrifice a year in this particular case. As an interviewer, I would have a hard time wrapping my head around the choice of delaying your graduation to pursue a government internship. If others share the same point of view then it's possible that taking this internship could actually hurt you in an interview.
However, it's all about how you spin your story. If you are able to make your point in a way that makes sense and doesn't raise questions, then you can choose as you see fit and hopefully still end up in the same position.
Some other thoughts: What is the next best option to this internship? Is there something else you can do to increase your candidacy that is not so expensive (i.e. time)? Where do you currently stand in recruiting (networking, grades, etc.) and what is the biggest gap that you need to improve upon ahead of recruiting?
Thanks for your responses, overandout, notthehospitalER, and MD8. Just to clarify: this would be an internship during the fall semester of 2014, it would be unpaid, and yes, overandout, you're right; I could try and get academic credit for the internship. I would only be classified as a sophomore by investment banks is because I would have two summers before I would graduate in December of 2016.
notthehospitalER: thank you for your input.
MD8:This internship is relevant to finance. Actually, a current GS IBD analyst did this exact internship, so they have been a great resource. Currently, in my opinion, the only "gap" or issue with my resume is my school. I go to a non-target, state school, so there is no OCR. I do have a great network. I've had Super Days at 3 BB's (GS/MS/CS), but, unfortunately, I have not received an offer. Not sure what else I could do, but in terms of name brand recognition, this place can't be beat. I might sound like a douchebag here, but everybody in the WORLD knows what this place is.
Good stuff. I think you can take it as long as you have a story that makes sense from the perspective of the banker sitting across from you. Right now, I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around losing a year for a non-IBD internship. But as long as you feel comfortable getting this message across then go for it :)
On another note, I wouldn't worry about not having received an offer at those 3 banks if you were a sophomore (no one gets those offers until junior year unless they are a client or MD referral).
My senior year, during the financial crisis, many of my richer friends who struck out in recruiting took a fifth year so they could take part in the 2010 recruiting cycle. They all got nice jobs, This shouldn't hurt you.
bump
bump
It's fine to do another year
You should be fine, but I want to hear other people's opinion as well.
Extending graduation for a semester (Originally Posted: 06/01/2017)
Hello Everyone,
So I had an unlucky recruiting season for this summer and did not land any internship in IB but I do have an internship in a small firm finance's division. I figured that I was not networking aggressively when I should have been but now I am networking with alumni, recruiters and pretty much any banker I can get a contact of.
So the real question is that I was supposed to graduate in spring 2018 but now I am thinking of graduate in fall 2018 and try land an IB internship for summer '18. Do I have a shot to land an SA next summer or bank will consider me for SA knowing that I am graduating in fall?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
I've seen that happen before. Your best bet would be to leverage your internship experience somehow if you decide to extend your graduation/try working for a "no-name" boutique part-time
Thanks, I am actually trying to get a fall IB internship in a boutique. I am gonna start cold e-mailing and cold calling in early July for the fall internship.
Graduating winter instead of summer? (Originally Posted: 12/04/2016)
Hi,
Will graduating winter instead of summer hurts your chances of getting an internship at a major international bank? It's quite common to prolong your studies where I live and therefore not difficult to get a job in my current country of residence, but I'm not sure how it works in London for example.
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From experience, summer internships usually require for you to be a part-time student which depends on your school in units.
If you finish in say Winter 2017, it will be more difficult to find summer internships for Summer 2018 if they require you to be a part-time student to intern there.
There are A LOT of internships that do not require you to be a currently enrolled student, as long as you barely graduated, so it's not like you don't have a chance at any summer internships.
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December Graduation (Originally Posted: 07/13/2016)
I will be graduating in 5 months and I wonder should I be reaching out now to banks or when the open applications in 2-3 months? I know that a lot of banks pull analyst from there summer internship programs so I know i need to be on it now. But it's a little difficult reaching out because almost no banks have their 2017 USA jobs open.
reply.
Graduating in December as well. Would appreciate color from anyone who has gone this route
Business School - Graduating in December from a non-target (Originally Posted: 09/30/2012)
To be brief, I am about to graduate in December of this year from a non-non-non-target. I have a couple BS offers, and I say BS, because they are for Financial Adviser positions when I have been pursuing analyst roles in IB or research.
Now the plan is to ride my bike across the country for a cause (Breast Cancer) directly after graduation. My thought process is as follows:
1)Coming from a non-target: I knew it would be hard to break in. I have a OK GPA (3.3) and two internships on my resume (private wealth management w/some research and a renewable energy start up).
2) Before going all-in for my career: Whether I start as an adviser or am lucky enough to break into a field I actually desire, I want to either travel or gain perspective - College didn't do it for me. It was a small school in the south (which sucks BTW - no Diversity), far from my home right outside NYC, with poor academics (IMO) and 95% of my time was dedicated to playing Lacrosse. I don't have the money to travel without taking out a loan (which I'm considering), so riding my bike cross country to re-focus seems like the most plausible decision.
3) Post Bike Ride: Utilizing the advantage of my "home" being strategically located in relation to NYC and some of the connections I have made I plan to network my ass off while working part-time and applying to jobs in NYC and beyond.
Best Case Scenario: I get an analyst role in banking or research Could Be Better/Could Be Worse Scenario: Land a Prop-Trading/Adviser Position Worst Case Scenario: I'm a loser and get no offers.
Ultimately what will happen is up to me and the "luck" that comes my way.
MY QUESTION IS:
With all the talk about the marketplace for employment, is it smart to just cut losses, take the GMAT and apply for Business School?
In my situation, and from what I have heard, getting into a good business school and really making the most out of it requires that you have had some legitimate work experience beforehand?
No, either go for a traditional research master's degree or go into industry.
Do not go to b-school.
Why aren't you considering corporate finance positions? You don't seem particularly deadset on a particular career path and you might actually have a chance at getting an offer.
Even if you do manage to get into an mba program, you still won't have anywhere near the experience required for an associate position.
You won't get into a bschool worth going to with your profile as it stands. Go ahead and take the GMAT now, but don't apply until you have at least 2 years of work experience under your belt.
B-school is the cap on your academic career.
You will never get a PhD afterwards.
You will never get an MS afterwards.
Once you get an MBA, you're done. (Except maybe a JD)
It is the last reset button you can hit.
I would much rather see you do an MSFM at UChicago.
Transferred to a Target, but Graduating Off-Cycle. Advice? (Originally Posted: 07/12/2016)
So I'm transferring to Columbia as (almost) a junior. The way my credits work out, if I don't take summer classes I will be stuck graduating in Fall '18 instead of Spring. Should I bother taking summer classes next year or just pretend I'm a regular junior and try to land a Summer Analyst role somewhere? What should I do with that awkward senior year summer in 2018? Would any firms be willing to give me FT offers knowing that I couldn't join them until the fall?
Also, any general advice for when I get there? What's the best way to hit the ground running and secure a Summer Analyst gig for next year?
Thanks guys!
Congrats, you now have an extra summer to apply as a summer analyst. This should work in your favor, and you can often negotiate to start earlier if you prefer, but who would want to do that? Enjoy the extra time off.
Extra Semester Recruiting Timeline? (Originally Posted: 07/18/2016)
Right now, if I want to graduate in 4 years I would have to take a very high course load (6 classes for 3 semesters straight) and it will definitely be a grind (might potentially fail if not careful). I was thinking of taking an extra semester where my last semester will be on exchange to space things out. How would this affect my recruiting? I am a going into SA recruiting this fall.
Don't ask don't tell.
If you do get an SA and return offer then bust your ass to get senior year done on schedule.
So you would list expected graduation as 2018, but if "somehow" it didn't work out, just let them know afterward?
Don't list it?
Extra semester after accepting FT (Originally Posted: 11/14/2016)
Hey guys, so I am in a weird situation. I accepted a ft offer at a top BB where I interned this past summer. I am slated to graduate in May, but due to some ridiculous medical problems, I just recently had to drop 3 courses from my fall schedule. One of the courses that I dropped is a prerequisite for two classes that I need to take this spring in order to fulfill my major requirements - so I will not be able to complete my degree by May. I will more than likely have to push graduation to December 2017.
Given that the ft offer I accepted has an anticipated start date of June, this whole ordeal obviously threw a massive curveball into the mix. How should I go about explaining this to HR? You think there's any chance they can push my start date back a year/winter 2018? Any advice on handling this would be much appreciated.
If you wanna know what happened:
I was in a 3rd world country in early october. I got sick the last day I was there (~8 hours before my flight home). It was declared a medical emergency and I was deemed unfit to fly. I had to undergo a total of three surgeries at a dump of a hospital (on internal organs). The initial surgery revealed that I was completely misdiagnosed, and that the real problem was more serious than anticipated. The second surgery was performed entirely incorrectly and the problem intensified/I almost went into septic shock overnight. The third surgery went alright, but the anesthesia wore off as I was being sewed back up, so I woke up in a delirious state and freaked the fuck out/ripped open the stitches from the first surgery. Basically everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, and I essentially had to be smuggled out of the country by a US military emergency evacuation team. A nasty MRSA infection, sepsis, and 2 weeks on a feeding tube in a south florida ICU later - I was finally cleared to fly home. Was able to return to school about a week and a half ago.
Also: this course needs to be taken at my school so I can't take it over winter break. And i go to a LAC, so I can potentially still graduate with a "BA in liberal arts" or some bullshit, but that pretty much means flushing $250k down the drain
Seeing as how you almost died I would talk to hr
If you can graduate with a different degree, I would consider that since you have a full time job lined up. That is not akin to throwing money down the drain as you still got an awesome job.
Lets say i end up graduating with the degree in 'liberal arts' instead of economics.. you think hr would get all pissy that my internship --> ft offer were both conditional on me attaining an economics degree? i obviously have a valid explanation, but a degree in econ is vastly different than one in LA.. also i doubt I will be with this company forever, so settling on the latter degree may come back to bite me down the road
First off, sorry to hear man that sucks but glad you're ok it seems now. To me if you have a job lined up already delaying graduation doesn't seem the best bet. I agree with talking to HR.
Would you do another semester for $25,000 for another shot at banking? (Originally Posted: 10/26/2010)
So as it stands I'm a senior about to graduate in the spring. Despite making it to a few super day interviews I've ended up with no investment banking offers.
Do you think it would be worth it to stay in school an extra semester? This will give another shot to take part in summer analyst recruiting in the next few months as well as full time recruiting (if SA doesn't pan out) next fall. I figure with the experience I have thus far as well as the contacts that I've already generated I would have a better shot.
The way I see it, if I got an SA position the money made that summer will pay for the extra tuition cost.
I have only 2 concerns....
1) That it will reflect poorly to employers that I'm doing an extra semester 2) Somehow I won't be eligible to interview for SA and FT again since I have already (and just recently interviewed)
I have some offers in other fields like PWM, corporate banking, and corporate finance rotation programs but none of them are banking and I just don't think I'd be happy settling.
Any advice would be much appreciated
no
Agreed
No. Just go network.
I would take your offer and network.
Then again, spending another semester at USC doesn't sound too bad.
Network and get the experience. I think it'd be easier to get into banking from one of those positions versus taking another semester of taking course work with no real relevancy...get into the mix and if you're driven you'll get what you want. Well not always, but you get the point.
From everything I read it seems almost impossible to lateral into banking from the aforementioned fields without going to business school first. The only reason I'm even considering an extra semester is because one of the directors at a BB whose superday I made it to (without an offer in the end) suggested this course of action.
Is it possible to do internships in the interim before another round of interviews? I guess it could work if you filled up that semester with a ton of relevant experience / networking....
I have to admit I didn't start out in those positions, but I have seen people do it but it's extremely difficult and probably even more so in these markets.
If you go to a target school and there are some decent finance shops around to give internships (even non-paid)...then I don't see it couldn't work...
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the problem is..assuming you are in LA. The offices is small small that they will recognize the person when they see your resume again in the pile.
Given the limited offices, if you got dinged the first round, most likely they won't invite you up again when it comes to SA / FT
If you got dinged the 2nd round, you might want to hope you were the runner-up choice in that superday, or else you are not getting another shot
Why couldnt you try and get another summer internship if you stayed.another semester? Value is subjected upon that in the actor. Is time lost, plus the 25k, worth a summer internship and, IMHO, an easier chance of getting an offer? I dont know how easy you can get a intern interview from your school, that would make a difference if you have to network anyways.
Lateraling into the bulge bracket or elite boutique out of those industries you have offers in will be undeniably hard, but it's pretty realistic to lateral into a MM shop like Jefferies, Piper, Oppenheimer, Baird, etc. You just absolutely need to expand your geography a bit. If you're in LA, you need to consider SF and Silicon Valley and their usually tech- and healthcare-oriented practices.
As far as taking a summer analyst position after your senior year - if you actually do get one, it shouldn't be an issue afterwards. I know plenty of people who had to do that in '09 given that the full-time recruiting season was so anemic in the Fall of '08, and many of them found jobs immediately after finishing up those internships in August / September banks started to hire more. Of course it's not the same as locking down a full-time offer 8 months in advance, but in the end I would argue these guys benefited more b/c of the added experience they received that summer. To think of it, you don't even need to do another semester if you can graduate now. Just continue to recruit next year like the rest of the next year's class; one of your selling points will be that you can start ASAP.
Regarding location, I'm by no means confining myself to LA. As long as I end up in LA/SF/Chicago/NY I'd be happy.
Regarding just going through recruitment with everyone else and not enrolling, you need to be an enrolled student to participate in OCR
At my school - since not every graduated student got a job by graduation - you were allowed to use the OCR website (and apply for jobs) even after graduating, for a fee. So I'd inquire about that at your school, as it doesn't make sense to restrict the alumni who are looking for a job AFTER graduation, like most normal people.
Not to mention that many people showed up to on-campus info-sessions from other schools and tried to make connections that way.
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