List Your Credentials

Hey so I have lurked around this forum for a little while, and I have a request for anyone that is willing to meet it. I was wondering if people wouldn't mind sharing their resume so people could compare and maybe ease a bit of the stress that occurs with the IB recruitment process (especially in this economy).

There is a site called CollegeConfidential where prospective college applicants go to. There are many threads in which people post their high school GPA, extracurriculars, and more while showing what schools people got into and were rejected from. I know I, and many, found those threads extremely informative, helpful, and relieving in dealing with the college admissions headache.

You don't have to make it too detailed. If I could give mine I would, but I am currently a junior and have no banking experience (yet!). This thread would be meant to be posted on by college seniors and analysts.

Here is a template if you don't understand what I mean...

School: NYU (Stern)
GPA: 3.6 (Major GPA = 3.7)
Treasurer of School Finance Club
Studied Abroad in London
Summer Internship Sophomore Year in Hedge Fund, NYC

SA First Round Interviews Received: UBS, Morgan Stanley, Parella Weinberg, Gleacher Partners, Lazard, Bank of America
Offers Received: UBS, B of A (Chose UBS, M&A)

FT First Round (received offer to return to UBS): Lazard, Credit Suisse, Jeffries
Offers Received: None (returned to UBS)

Any post in similar format would be appreciated. Of course, go into more or less detail at your discretion. If you want more information about me, PM me. I would also appreciate it if people wanted to send me their actual resumes. Yes, I know this thread is somewhat of an excuse for my insecurity going into SA recruiting, but I think this will benefit many people.

 

good luck. not sure how much information about the past year of recruiting will help as everything will probably be completely different but I guess if anything you may see if you're in the range. Also, I think people might be more inclined to reveal their own info if you did so yourself.

 

"Of course, go into more or less detail at your discretion. If you want more information about me, PM me."

This is not a dating forum, Shiksa.

"Categorical Imperative: If I cannot look at my mother or my wife in the eyes and explain it, I won't do it" - Some British MD.
 

why not?

School: Non-target (currently a senior) CGPA: 3.6 Major (Finance) GPA: 3.9 VP Fin of a school association Co-founded a finance association Research assistant (finance faculty) 3 internships in same financial inst. (BO/MO); 1 being a summer, 2 during school 1 internship (currently doing during school) at small AM firm (FO, also run marketing department)

Offers: NONE :( But we'll see if I can get into any boutiques/MMs by the time I graduate (hopefully)

 

I'll play along to give you a perspective of someone who went through the recruiting process awhile ago. I will say that things are very different now and that my stats aren't as competitive as they were two years back.

School: Non-target (Unknown to most) GPA: 3.7 Major: MIS EC: Calc/Stats Tutor EC: Way too many other extra-curriculars to list Internships: Three, one at a boutique IB Offer: Top-tier MM Bank Offer Received: Fall 2006 Offer #2: MM PE Shop Offer Received: Fall 2008

Goodluck.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

Mind you, this is for s+t:

Currently: senior in college School: Ivy GPA: 3.6-3.7 Major: Humanities (absolutely no quant aspect) EC: Pretty much none summer internship: Summer analyst, Asset Management. Summer Offers: Capital Markets, IBD, PWM, Asset Management (my offers were at lehman, MS, Merrill, and Citi)

After my summer, I received an offer from my group, which I declined. I then did accelerated interviews both at my bank and one other, and received my BB s+t offer. i'm evidence that you don't need good work experience or a great gpa, just interview well.

 

School: Ivy, Class of '07 GPA: 3.6 Major: Theoretical Mathematics and Romance Languages EC: Varsity sport, sorority, mentoring, research

Summer Analyst: Foreign BB, S&T FT: BB, investment banking - Left after my 1st year and joined a PE Shop which I would characterize somewhere between MM and Mega-Lite. Not a buyout shop though.

 

School: Harvard/Princeton type GPA: 3.4 equiv Irrelevant arts/humanities degree Plenty of irrelevant extracurrics Front office summer internship, 2nd tier bank

= 1st round interviews at every top 10 bank Got a FT offer and turned down the rest, didn't want to keep taking time out for more assessment centres/interviews

With hindsight should have gone for Goldman

=== 23yr old Associate
 

I think that denoting if you had any connections that pushed your resume would be helpful. Although it seems like most of the people here killed it in school. Whichever poster said that a 3.6-3.7 isn't a "good" GPA is a little jaded.

 

This is becoming dumb--hiring is such a random thing that there's no need for everyone to prolong the one-upsmanship evident in the banking industry.

This kind of "phallic envy" is what got wall st into the current crisis--my bonus is bigger than yours, I sold more than you (regardless of the junk that was being sold).

This forum is going downhill and is populated by folks who have never worked in the industry.

 

yanks234 - didn't 7 users that work in "the industry" just respond to give their stats? here are mine...

currently: 1st yr at Wharton B School after 4 years at MM PE fund and 2 years at Rothschild in the Restructuring Group Graduated in 2002 from Williams College GPA: 3.6, econ major ECs: Varsity Squash, Radio Station DJ, JV soccer, studied in Spain one summer during HS Internships: None in banking, one BS one at "Morgan Stanley" (in quotes bc was originally a small Dean Witter brokerage arm in New Orleans that my cousin worked at -- having the name definitely helped on the resume)

2002 was brutal. Interviews with MS, GS, CIBC, Rothschild, Bear, + about 5 other banks...about 3 superdays. goldman, Rothschild and Bear. Got 1 offer: Rothschild.

With hindsight i was lucky.

 

School: non-target liberal arts Year: 1st year analyst GPA: 3.86 Major: Econ/Finance EC: econ club, helped start finance club, few other randoms Internships: accounting, marketing/management for golf distributor, corporate development for tech company doing M&A FT interviews: UBS, ML, CS, Bear, Jefferies, few boutiques Offers: all but ML Currently working for one of the BBs

 

School: Non-target (look through the past threads and you'll be able to identify which schools) Year: Junior Major: Finance, Major 2: Mathematics Cum. GPA 3.7, Math GPA: 4.0, Finance GPA: 3.85 SAT score: 1450/1600 EC: Finance group, Another international organization Internship 1 (Freshman summer): Shell Oil - corporate development Internship 2 (Sophomore summer): Deutsche Bank - sales and trading (Was made an offer to return but chose not to; biggest mistake of the year) Interviews that I had for sophomore FO internship: Credit Suisse, DB and MS Two final rounds: CS, DB One offer: DB Currently looking for junior year internship: Had three interviews so far, and got dinged by a prop firm already. Still waiting to hear from some more firms.

 

School: switching to target (ivey) Year: Sophmore GPA: 3.9 Major: Finance EC: President/Founder of Entrepreneurial Society, Captain of intramural sports team, Director of Finance Association Offers: none yet...but I'm going to apply to literally every single finance firm in Toronto over xmas so hopefully something soon.

 
pedigreed monkey:
man just everyone here has solid gpas. is there anyone with a gpa between 3.0 - 3.4 who got a BB or even solid MM summer analyst job?

I had a 3.25 (I think?) going into summer recruiting. This is at a target school majoring in electrical engineering/computer science. Had interviews with most BB's and got a few offers. It can be done, but you really need to have strong work experience/EC's, and probably only if you're at a target in a hard sciences major. Below 3.5 in a non math, physics, or engineering degree would be a tough sell

 
fk:
pedigreed monkey:
man just everyone here has solid gpas. is there anyone with a gpa between 3.0 - 3.4 who got a BB or even solid MM summer analyst job?

I had a 3.25 (I think?) going into summer recruiting. This is at a target school majoring in electrical engineering/computer science. Had interviews with most BB's and got a few offers. It can be done, but you really need to have strong work experience/EC's, and probably only if you're at a target in a hard sciences major. Below 3.5 in a non math, physics, or engineering degree would be a tough sell

I don't think a 3.25 in engineering is weak, as compared to a 3.25 in finance. From the people I know who were engineering majors, a GPA north of 3.6 in engineering is FAR more rare than in finance.

No?

 

School: Off-the-map (literally) GPA: 3.7 Finance: 3.8 Sophomore summer: Waiter (Bennigan's) Junior Summer: Top BB S&T internship EC: (failed) Serial entrepreneur, founder of student organization,some intramural sports. Summer Interviews: BB, diversity program (think HACU, SEO) Summer offers: both FT interviews: didnt bother to apply anywhere else after the summer FT Offer: BB S&T

Favorite color: blue

 

School: non-target Year: Senior GPA: 3.90 Major: Finance/computer science SAT: 1570 ECs: variety of stuff, nothing too unusual Internships: Software development at BB for S&T; boutique IB FT offer for large MM IBD

For SA I got superdays at ML, JPM, DB, HSBC, but no offers

 

School: Non-target Year: Senior GPA: 3.9 Major: Finance ACT: 34 ECs: Student government, VP of I-banking club, started not-for-profit Internships: financial consulting & Merrill PWM (sophomore), top BB in IBD(junior)

For SA I interviewed at a few places, got a few offers

FT offers at some surviving BBs and a top boutique

 

Really is amazing the quality caliber people posting here.

School: Super Non Target with zero street presence GPA: 3.4 (After Transfer from T25 State) ECON ECs - Writer for finance newsletter, Board for Finance Club Internships: 3 BB PWM, 1 MM S&T Interviews: 2 Top Prop shops, 2 weaker prop shops, 1 MM S&T/Market Maker, 1 MM S&T

Offers: 1 MM S&T/Market Maker, on hold at top prop shop

Networking has played a big role in this process for me.

"Oh the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion" - Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour.
 

School: Non Target GPA: 3.6-3.7 Major 1: Finance Major 2: Economics ECs: Financial Management Assoc., community work, & college imp. group. Internships: Mid-sized Comm. bank Interviews: Still lining them up, got to love non-targets, trying to work the networking/alumni card atm

Definitely feel there are opportunities just looking for that right door!

 

School: Non-Target Liberal Arts (current senior) GPA: 3.6, Major: 3.9 Major: Economics/Mandarin Study abroad: China ECs: Varsity Hockey (top D3)

Internships: SA, Top-tier IB boutique (soph) -- SA, BB IB (junior) Interviews for FT: JPM, BAC, C, top hedge fund I wish to leave unnamed. 3rd/Final round JPM, BAC (no offer) 2nd round C (no offer) 2nd round upcoming at top hedge fund I wish to leave unnamed. (hopefully something comes of it)

Alumni connection helped promote me at BB (he's a top MD, ranked #1 for his group by II)

 

I feel a little bad not sharing my information, and I see that at least someone wanted to know. I am currently a junior at Upenn/Wharton with a 3.6 GPA. Have done an internship with PWM trade execution and real estate pe fund. Not too worried about things, but I think that the response to this thread has been great so far.

If anything, people (at least in my situation) come here to learn about the recruiting process, and a helpful part of that is figuring out how they measure up. Of course, and I say this with full sincerity, there is no right or wrong answer to what makes a good candidate, but it always helps to see what is out there. I think it will help students at non-targets to see that other kids have gotten interviews/offers from BB and other places (albeit maybe not in this economy). Also it is encouraging to see that people with low GPAs are getting offers. While there are still many people that receive no offers at all, at least they are still positive and showing that they have the backbone to go out and keep trying through networking and such.

I know that most people are super-qualified on this site, and it may seem a bit discouraging; but it helps to see people from all types of schools, with different GPAs, from all types of backgrounds, are having success. Regardless of the state of things right now, the best thing we can look off of is the past. And while people will be hiring less, they will still be looking for the same qualifications.

Thank you to everyone who has posted so far, and keep posting if you haven't yet.

 

School - University of Manchester Degree - Economics (Business Studies) Hons, 2:1 (around 64%) Internship - Big 4 Audit in Dubai (too lazy to go through SA recruiting in the UK) Extracurriculars - Next to none, too busy enjoying uni (just knew that I wanted to do finance, wasn't even sure what investment banking was); was frontman for a band and trained classically in piano though Job on graduation - Temp gig in middle office at top regional investment bank, made that FT and then transferred into IBD at the same bank after a year

 

School: completely non-target liberal arts Major: Economics, Political Science, Mandarin GPA: 4.0 Study abroad: In an Arab country, in an Asian country, in a European country EC: Varsity sport, competetive debating, student government, started 3 clubs, editor-in-chief of a journal, did about a gazillion other things

Internships: think-tank (sophomore), consulting (junior), BB S&T (senior) FT offers: got offer from my BB S&T internship, didn't apply anywhere else.

 

Year: Senior Accepted: FT at Citi S&T school: Bucknell/Colgate/Lehigh GPA: 3.4 Accounting: 3.4 Did my Freshman summer at a bank Did my Sophomore summer at an accounting firm Did my Junior Summer at Big 4-Tax SAT:1440 Extracurricular: Men's rugby. Student Government.

Networked my ass off. If you don't go to a target school I highly recommend you network. Usually people who are director and up take care of their Alma mater (especially at non-targets). They cant get you a job flat out but than can push for you to get an interview. After that it's all on you

 

Year: Senior School: Semi-Target GPA: 3.6 Major: Economics Study Abroad: London School of Economics for all of junior year (interviewed for SA while home on break) EC: President of a prominent campus organization, binge drinking Internships: Morgan Stanley IBD Accepted: Morgan Stanley IBD Suggestions: Much of the advice given out on this thread is generally valid. Work hard and continue to network until you land the job that you want.

 

School- University of Wisconsin - Madison Year- Senior GPA-3.5 Major- History Study Abroad- London for 4 months, interviewed for job while there and stayed for another 4 EC- Beer and cheese Internship Junior year summer- RBS Project Finance in London. Did not receive offer FT Recruiting- Interviewed with tons of places, got final rounds with M3 Capital Partners, didn't get offer. Accepted offer from M&A Advisory team within a reinsurance company.

 

Year - 1st Year IBD BB School - semi-target (non-ivy) Major - Accounting / Finance GPA - Cum - 3.7, Major - 3.9 EC - Ran my own business fresh/soph yr (enough to pay for tuition) Clubs, intramurals, Army ROTC, finance clubs, etc. SA Interviews - BofA, Citi, GS, JP, couple MM's banks Internship - BB IBD, 2 offers FT - Received offer, interviewed at same BB's

 

I pretty much pale in comparison but the hell with it...

School: Target (Ivy) GPA/SAT: 3.0/1420 Major: History EC: Club Lacrosse, Tennis, Squash, Legal Association, Business Association, School Newspaper, etc. SA Interviews: Brown Brothers Harriman IM, BBH Operations, Bloomberg, Shattuck Hammond, SEO, Lehman Equity Research *Dinged at all but Ops, which I declined. FT Interviews: Abercrombie, iProspect (Marketing) Past Internships: Think Tank, 3 RA positions at Business School, Merrill Operations

 

Have been working for a year and a bit in London Undergrad: Civil Engineering at top Canadian engineering school GPA: 3.3/4 Grad: Real Estate Finance at top 3 UK school GPA: 3.8/4 equivalent Real Estate type Society - President Business Plan competition winner Hockey, Squash and Golf

Had SA internship at a Big 5 bank in Canada in the RE Group, a CBRE internship before that, and a civil eng internship before that.

FT Recruiting had interviews with MS, LEH, Rothschild, boutique and a few backups at RE Economic Research firms. Final Rounds with MS, the boutique and 2 research firms. Offers at MS, boutique and one of the research firms. Accepted the boutique for lifestyle reasons, exposure to both IB and PE, and a convincing convo with one of the partners. Would have taken MS if they still did the MSREF and IBD rotations for people in the RE Group.

 
RE_Banker:
Would have taken MS if they still did the MSREF and IBD rotations for people in the RE Group.

Are you talking specifically about the MS RE group in London? For analyst or associate position? Just curious because NY analysts and most associates still do both IBD and PE, and only direct associate promotes are put specifically into either one.

 

despite having worked really hard, i realize how lucky i was.

School: non-target public GPA: 3.9+ SAT: 1240 Major: Econ/Fin summa ECs: student manager univ endowment, univ leadership counselor Internships: mm insurance co (hs), btq management firm (fr), treasury department (so), Citi credit (jr) Fin Interviews: C, DB, BAC, 2 MM banks FT Offers: 2 for 5, none of them MM

i got what i did from networking, emailing, socializing, cold calling, and trying to be over prepared if i got an interview. its a numbers game. be a hustler and hope for a twist of luck.

 

Currently first year analyst at BB School: Non-ivey league target GPA: 3.7 Major: Economics/mathematics Study Abroad: London School of Economics for one summer EC: President and founder of volunteer organization, a few scholastic groups, some mentoring Internships: PWM, middle office at a BB, back office at a BB, consulting gig for a friend's father's multinational company SA: back office with BB FT: IBD at same BB

I got my offer because I networked like crazy the summer that I was at my bank. I was lucky in that the people I reached out to were very open to speaking with me and incredibly helpful in putting me in contact with other people. I managed to impress the people I spoke with and it materialized into an offer--never underestimate where good communication/interviewing skills can get you.

 
  • School: Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford
  • GPA: 3.7
  • SAT’s: mid-1500’s
  • Major: Two majors (one in the liberal arts, the other one in quant)
  • Extracurricular activities: Several (college sports, arts/music, and one business organization)
  • Work experience: 3 years in equity research at a couple of bulge bracket banks; 1 year at a large middle-market PE firm (current)
  • What I’m grateful for: God, family, friends, my health, WallStreetOasis.com, AnalystForum.com, sushi, and Bombay Sapphire
​* http://www.linkedin.com/in/numicareerconsulting
 

Currently: 3rd Year Analyst at MM School: University of Washington, Seattle, WA GPA: 3.5 Major(s): Business Administration and Finance ECs: Vice President/Social Chairman/Finance Committee (Fraternity) Internships: Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, Merrill Lynch PWM, UBS Business Banking Interviews: UBS, Piper, Weisel, Several MMs FT Offers: UBS (corp. fin./IBD rotational program), few MM's

 
snydert:
Currently: 3rd Year Analyst at MM School: University of Washington, Seattle, WA GPA: 3.5 Major(s): Business Administration and Finance ECs: Vice President/Social Chairman/Finance Committee (Fraternity) Internships: Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, Merrill Lynch PWM, UBS Business Banking Interviews: UBS, Piper, Weisel, Several MMs FT Offers: UBS (corp. fin./IBD rotational program), few MM's

Can you elaborate on why you decided to go with the MM offer over the UBS one?

 

I chose the MM offer for three reasons 1) I personally liked the corporate culture far more at the MM than UBS 2) Geographical preference (MM in SF and UBS in NYC) and 3) The MM position was for an immediate start (January 2007 - I graduated December 2006) and the rotational program didn't start until July 2007.

 

Currently: Senior at Non-Target GPA: 3.6 Cum, 3.9 Finance Major: Business Management with a Finance Concentration EC: Captain of Varsity Golf Team Internships: Final Rounds at 3 BB's, 2 MM prior to studying abroad, got an Early offer from Bear and accepted to get it out of the way. Bear went under, I networked and got an internship working on a new PE fund at BlackRock. FT: Got an informal offer from my boss assuming the fund got approval in the fall (which he was 100% expecting), and the fund got killed due to the economy. Interviews: First round with Goldman, JPM, CS and Rothschild. Final rounds with Goldman and the Rothschild. Offers: None. Now: Networking, looking to see if the Denny's down the road is hiring, and working on some entrepreneurial stuff to hold me over.

NEVER lose your BlackBerry www.conveniencesoftware.com

 

[quote=Convenience Software]Currently: Senior at Non-Target GPA: 3.6 Cum, 3.9 Finance Major: Business Management with a Finance Concentration EC: Captain of Varsity Golf Team Internships: Final Rounds at 3 BB's, 2 MM prior to studying abroad, got an Early offer from Bear and accepted to get it out of the way. Bear went under, I networked and got an internship working on a new PE fund at BlackRock. FT: Got an informal offer from my boss assuming the fund got approval in the fall (which he was 100% expecting), and the fund got killed due to the economy. Interviews: First round with Goldman, JPM, CS and Rothschild. Final rounds with Goldman and the Rothschild. Offers: None. Now: Networking, looking to see if the Denny's down the road is hiring, and working on some entrepreneurial stuff to hold me over.

NEVER lose your BlackBerry www.conveniencesoftware.com[/quote]

I'm really sorry to hear about what happened. It definitely does sound like you got the short end of the stick multiple times. Good luck with the networking!

 

School: NYU College of Arts and Science GPA: 3.3 (during recruiting, dropped to like a 3.1 when I graduated thanks to booz and biddies) Summer: Weak MM IBD, though I interviewed all over the place FT: Strong MM IBD in Top Group, had lots of interviews and a few offers

I had a strong resume from working every summer in something related (hedge fund, big bank back office, boutique ibank while going to school, MM IBD, then FT MM IBD). I don't think I'd have the same luck now since the market is such dog shit. However, I definitely wiped the floor with a shit-load of the finance geeks whose GPAs were bigger than their dicks. Nonetheless, once you're in the real world there are few people that could give a shit about this stuff...what really matters is what you do once you get there. The judgmental fucks are the ones that get their asses handed to them with the quickness.

 

Target GPA 4.07 SAT 2240 Frosh: AM Sophomore: BB SRP Junior: 2 offers from euro banks (london and hk locations) (Corp Fin/M&A) soon to be expired. campus recruiting started just recently.

Best, SoulSearching

Best, SoulSearching
 

Currently: Junior at Non-Target NYC GPA: 3.7+ Cum Fin: 4.0, Acct.: 3.9 Major: Finance, Accounting EC: Not much to standout, I should have thought of this before Internships:1st summer: Advertising/Sales/Marketing 2nd Summer:Corp. Treasury

rd Summer-SA Interviews: MS Prime Brok., MS Glb.wealth mgmt., jpm, qvt ops., barcap

Final:Barcap, JPM This summer at Barcap, Middle-Office Spot Im def. lucky.

 

Currently: Junior at super Non-Target GPA: 3.5 major gpa: 3.65, Major: Finance SATs:1200+ (out of 1600) EC: Founder of fin society, lead fed speaker, acct society member, founder of poker club (this has actually made me money by using some of the people in the club as horses in online tourneys) 1st summer: Bahamas 2 1/2 weeks London playing poker for 1 week.... 2nd Summer:World series of poker 2 weeks/Cancun 1 week 3rd Summer-: offers from Citi corp fin, Bofa/Merrill MO, No name HF (RM), Final: working at Bofa/Merrill Middle office as SA.

If given the opportunity to change anything... I wouldn't for the world.

 

Target 3.7 Econ SAT's 1300+ EC: Research assistant. Varsity Sport first and second summer - sports/research assistant Junior year part time internship at relative arbitrage fund. Placed in Capital structure arbitrage. Final: As of yesterday started at Small PE firm less than 1B AUM.

 

Currently: Junior at semi GPA: 4.0/4.0 Major: Honors/Finance SATs:1440/1600 EC: NHL Valuation advisor, some volunteer work 1st summer: volunteered, mostly nothing though 2nd Summer: summer analyst at brokerage/nhl valuation stuff 3rd Summer-: interviewed with pretty much all my regional BB and some MM, CS NY, Evercore, HSBC---------all were for IBD 2nd rounds with CS, DB, BoaML/Citi/JPM Offer: BoaML/Citi/JPM--->Excited me goes to one of those for SA IBD

 

Currently: Junior at midwestern target (northwestern/uchicago) GPA: 3.9/4.0 Major: econ/math SATs:2380/2400 1st summer: shitty work at small pe fund 2nd Summer: summer analyst at mm bank in chicago 3rd Summer-: 1st rounds with every bb (chicago office for cs + ubs, ny all others), lazard,moelis, pwp, evercore 2nd rounds with all but goldman and cs Offers: 3 of the bb's and one of the boutiques

 

Currently: 2nd year at a top 6 UK university (Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Warwick, UCL, Imperial) GPA/Uni result: 1st in year 1, expecting 2.1 in year 2. Major: Economics EC: A few society ones. No sports. Internships; 1st summer: working for the government 2nd Summer offers: UBS IBD, and JPM S&T. Both London.


Just my 2c.

__________ Just my 2c.
 

This is for Europe

Education: Good 2nd tier university Major: Econ Grade: 2:1 - was a 1:1 until I signed my offer and chilled out a bit too much in hindsight in my final year. Internship: mid market corpfin in an emerging market - I was a foreigner there. I know this was a major differentiator on my CV and impressed a lot at interviews. I make this point so that those who frequently come on this board and say how they'd like to go to China or something like that, do it, it's a very easy way to stand out from the crowd. Work: Analyst at one of the big European BB's.

 
Best Response

For Europe

Currently: BB trader Undergrad: Non-target, econ/math major, 3.8 gpa Masters: target, econ, graduated with honors. Research assistant in undergrad econ department. Studied Abroad in a tiny emerging economy most people have never heard of. Summer internship junior Year at tiny boutique in said country.

SA First Round Interviews: none really; didn't apply for banking internships, except that one boutique. FT First Round Interviews: GS, JPM, MS, ML, BNP Paribas, HSBC. Offers Received: JPM, ML, BNP Paribas, and FT offer from that tiny boutique.

Moral of the story: any IB experience -- even in a tiny country with horrible pay at a tiny company that nobody ever heard of -- is infinitely better than no IB experience.

 

School: Junior at a Target GPA: 3.9 SATs: 1540 Major: Finance, Mathematics & Economics Work/EC: Boutique Sell Side Advisory, Financial Analyst Tech Company (created their model to pitch to VC/PE firms), Econometrics Research Assistant

Got a bunch of offers in prop trading, structuring, etc and took BB S&T.

Jack: They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off from that economic crisis that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have zero real world skills, but God they work hard. -30 Rock
 

School: Junior at Non-Target GPA: 3.8 SAT: 1400 Major: Finance, Accounting, Economics EC: President-prestigious business organization, selected to participate in student investment fund investing 1M+, exec board- largest organization in state, Fraternity positions, interfraternity council positions, 400 hrs of community service in last 2 years, more smaller positions as well Work: fresh summer- consulting firm, did stat analysis for a research project that was recently published; soph summer- acg/fin intern at local not for profit, Junior Winter Break- Strategy/stat analysis for fortune 100 company SA interviews- JPM MO SA Offers- JPM MO

I just couldnt get an interview. No ocr on my campus at all. No alumni in ibd whatsoever. I networked as much as i could, but i really had very little to work with. Ive already started preparing for FT recruitment. I got into UChichago Duke and Georgetown out of HS, but there was no way my family could have paid. Unfortunately, I just cant get past the non-target stigma.

 

School: Junior at Super Non-Target GPA: 4.0 (gonna lose it this semester though) Major: Finance, Math EC: President of two organizations, winner of two national team case competitions. Work Experience: Nothing finance related SA Interviews: GS, MS, Barclays (all S&T) SA Offer: Received and accepted 1.

 
  • School: top 10 liberal arts, decidedly non-target however
  • GPA: 3.9, GMAT: 710
  • Major: Economics/Music
  • ECs: varsity squash, orchestra, president of intl. students association, non-profit org exco
  • Work experience:
  • 2.5 years in the military (commissioned officer)
  • citibank shanghai (freshman summer), west coast hedge fund 1.2bn aum (sophomore summer)
  • lehman IBD SA (interviews at ubs, ms, db, jpm, macquarie, bsc and some others)
  • barcap IBD FT starting this july (revived lehman FT offer; interviews at citi, bcg, bain - no dice)

yknow, i'm really into the whole idea of banking and i try really hard at this stuff... but truth be told, these past couple of months have me convinced that in the end, it comes down to luck. you can focus on clearing the basic hurdles/pre-reqs- that's a given... but alot of it isn't in your hands. i'm pretty tired of being anxious after the health of the industry/economy. these days, i'm just trying to find my zen and enjoy the ride, come what may.

 
  • School: Nowhere near target. Not even on the map.
  • GPA: Magna cum laude
  • Major: Humanities
  • Internship/SA: none
  • 2nd yr associate, mm bank, NYC As with many others on this board, networking has done wonders for my career.
Follow me on insta @FinancialDemigod
 

School : Semi-target public GPA : 3.5 SAT:1400/1600 Major: Electrical engineering EC : fraternity Fresh: nada Sophomore: sales Junior : large aerospace company as an engineering intern School internship : hedge fund, boutique IB

Senior summer: -superday with PWP, ML,JPM, and C, didnt get any offer -interned at an unknown boutique

FT: 1st round with DB,Lazard,GHL,Sagent, TWP, Harris, Sandler, HLHZ, UBS, MS, C, Barcap,BoA,Savvian, Superday : DB,GHL,Sagent,HLHZ,MS,BoA, Barcap,Savvian Offer: got the offer I wanted which I wish to leave unnamed, got rejected 6 times before that though.

I think this fall recruiting is definitely a lot better

Never give up and network your ass off is my advice. It's hard sometimes but it definitely will pay off

 

Currently: Senior School: Target Majors: Finance & Economics GPA: 3.8 EC: Finance club, martial arts (no leadership position) Sophomore summer: small commercial finance firm Junior summer: foreign fund of hedge funds FT Interviews (only IBD): 3 BB's, a few middle market firms Offers: 1 BB offer (accepted), canceled remaining middle market interviews

FYI: Networking helped a lot in FT interviews, did not do enough for Sophomore/Junior.

Also, I agree that in the end there is no perfect formula. You need a strong GPA, decent work experience, and networking a lot. But in the end it is very random, as you can tell from previous posters. Some with top credentials and got nothing, some with 3.3 in liberal arts and got several offers...

 

School: Non-Target, Class of '10 CGPA: 3.1; Major: 4.0 Major: Finance EC: Varsity sport, Student Investment Fund

Summer Analyst So Year: Small Hedge Fund Equity Research Summer Analyst Jr Year: Foreign BB, S&T (No offer) FT: Capital Markets at a Top MM (Wanted to stay in a markets-facing role; Already aware of the lack of "Exit Opps" as compared to IBD)

*Note: Relative is C-Level at a publicly traded company, hence pretty strong contacts at a number of firms.

 

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"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
 

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I hate victims who respect their executioners

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