So... Why the hell do I want to graduate from a top B school?

Kid from non-target here... I have had to voraciously fight to just get a sip of the ball sweat of students from target schools.

I have to fight ruthlessly for a chance, because at the age of 16 I was simply too stupid to understand how critical the final 2 years of high school are for a relatively easy life. That "SAT thing", I was pissed about having to wake up for on a Saturday, turned out to be a pretty big deal.

Because of that tiny mistake, (I know, I am a numbskull right?) I've spent the last 4 years playing catch up, jumping up and down for jobs that seem to be handed down to students that come from these special schools who did well on this special test.

Whether or not I make it into BB (and then a top B school), my value as a person does not change. I left everything out on the field. There was nothing else I could have done. At this point, a good super day could make or break my acceptance into a top B school down the line. If I don't get acceptance, it's another uphill grind for god knows how long.

Assuming I do break into, and against insurmountable odds, a top firm which helps me get into a top B school, why was playing catch up the best use of my time?

Why do I care?

If I am capable of getting into a top firm from a non-target, then any stamp that a top B-school could give me would simply not be good enough. At this point, I've already proven to myself that I'm capable of anything.

Why then, do I even care about going?


EDIT: For the people who see me as a resentful bastard, thank you for your thoughts, opinions and support. Yes it sucks and I will eat a ton of shit but I enjoy the grind and I'm pretty sure that I'm am going to be okay.

I just hope this post and the comments within can help chimps with the major life decisions they will have to make now and in the future.

For the people who find themselves getting personally enraged at the mere thought of what this post is suggesting, hop off your hamster wheel for 10 seconds and read what others on this board have to say. There is a good chance that what is written here will help you more than anyone else....

Or throw your delicious monkey shit at me. I'll eat it faster than you can spit it out. What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right?

For everyone else, at the very least, I hope you enjoy the writing and appreciate the thoughtfulness of this post.

Feel free to share all of your thoughts, no matter how provocative they may be.

 

So much seething resentment from your posts. Pro tip: as much as you think that may not be the case, or that you hide it well in other interactions...you more than likely don't hide it well or even at all. That's only going to hold you back.

Neighbor is a senior partner at EY(you mentioned being from an accounting background) there's definitely money to go around outside investment banking or whatever.

 
ArcherVice:

So much seething resentment from your posts. Pro tip: as much as you think that may not be the case, or that you hide it well in other interactions...you more than likely don't hide it well or even at all. That's only going to hold you back.

Neighbor is a senior partner at EY(you mentioned being from an accounting background) there's definitely money to go around outside investment banking or whatever.

Having been on both sides, I still think I was not terrible at hiding my frustration. Despite my obvious agenda on WSO, I wasn't like that in real life.

My suspicion is that OP is here to vent. But venting gets funnier and a whole lot more productive if you can poke fun at the attitudes holding you back. When you can laugh about it and laugh at it, you start winning.

 

I agree. Reading through his threads there's just a certain frothing at the mouth hatred. It's the image that comes to my mind.

Anyways, back to your point, he'd definitely benefit from putting things into perspective and approaching the situation productively.

 

Archer, all I have to say is thanks for being up a 2AM on a Monday and caring enough to give your honest thoughts about what a sad little chimp has to say.

Let me hear you say, this shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
 
xgozax:

Archer, all I have to say is thanks for being up a 2AM on a Monday and caring enough to give your honest thoughts about what a sad little chimp has to say.

You're enough of a big boy that you can take the direct, unfiltered, and ugliest aspects of the truth from a trader without getting personal. Congrats, many 22 year olds can't pass the same test you just did-- you'll make it as a professional.
 

Dude, you keep posting pretty negative shit that essentially reads as a humblebrag to make you feel better about "how hard you've grinded" for a goal that "doesn't even seem worth it" (from your previous thread on bankers not actually making that much) - obviously a facade that serves as a hedge for any failures you are anticipating. Don't know why you're acting entitled and approaching everything with the attitude that the world was just so stacked against you, when in reality you just didn't grow up as quickly as some other people...

Anyways, B-School is usually to try to pivot or rebrand for a move to a different firm/industry. You don't just go to B-School for another stamp of approval, or whatever you said. If you're planning on staying at BB/EB or whatever top firm you are looking for, most of the time you don't get an MBA anyways. If you think going from non-target to banking absolutely proves you are "capable of anything" then you honestly have larger problems... ex) thinking about B-School prestige and purpose as an undergrad without a job. I don't know what your career goals or aspiration are, but complaining on WSO about how the hiring/promotion process works in a well established industry probably won't help too much.

 
Best Response

Congratulations. You are the new, more angry, less funny version of IP ~five-ten years ago.

Look kid (I get to call you that now that I've entered my thirties), where you are right now isn't where you'll be in five or ten years. There's a bunch of assholes (probably Princeton MFEs with UIUC undergrads) who think they know more than you. You think they're wrong and you may be right.

So prove it. It takes time and patience and it doesn't happen overnight, but smart, hard-working people often (not always) pull it off. And if you can't get in the front door, break in the back, or crash in through the window.

Prove us assholes wrong. Land a job, scrap your way into the front office, and kill it. The old way in was the mail room; the new way in is IT, accounting, or operations.

Also, develop a sense of humor about some of this. The foibles and insecurities of the ivy league aren't something to get annoyed at; they're something to LAUGH about, poke fun at, and embarrass. And when I find myself chuckling along with you-- when you get to that level-- I will have to pass the baton.

But the first step is working through your issues:

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/do-bb-bankers-really-make-that-mu…

I got lucky, but a hard-working fellow like you can make his own luck.

Good luck to you.

 

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Let me hear you say, this shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

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