i've been pretty stressed out today, but you just made me feel better

1: You're a freshman, you have plenty of time to figure it out

2: keep your grades up

3: transfer as soon as you can

4: eat, sleep, and breath this site and M&I

Use the search function, talk to as many people as you can on this site, and know that you can do it.

laudrup honestly ur not even funny, im so depressed right now with my life. i wish i had good parents but i dont, i wish i had somebody to guide me but i dont. i wish i had networks in the industry but i dont. all odds are stacked against me. i thought my school would be of help but no, the only people who get even bay street banking jobs get it from connections.

stop whining and get your grind on. get your grades up, get involved on campus and if you feel the need then transfer. you are not going to get into a target if your grades are down and there is nothing to you.

yes the odds might be against you but that wont change if you proclaim this on the internet, attitude makes a big difference already.

read every article on m&i and go around on here as well.

50 Bucks you go to Rotman. Still, you're in first year. Relax. Most of the kids who weren't from upper middle class families had trouble finding 1st years internships. If you really had a 4.0 at Rotman (which is a crock of shit but that's another story), you would have the easiest time in the world entering Ivey in year 3 or transferring to McGill/Queens Commerce.

Also, stop whining. I'm not trying to be heartless; I personally was blessed with family connections and the ability to get involved with finance very early on. Nevertheless, anyone can break in from anywhere. If you're even at a school that could POSSIBLY be considered a "target" (UBC Sauder/Calgary Haksayne/UT Rotman/McGill Desautels/Queens Comm.), you have can still even find enough alumni on the street to get placed if you have great marks and solid communication skills.

Finally, don't brag about having an A+ average in first term of first year, it's sad. First year is fucking easy in undergrad b-school. That's just reality.

Bro . Your profile says "somewhere in GTA." So what you're saying is you go to Queens Comm. or McGill. If so, Bay Street is full of alumni from both schools, along with Ivey, Schulich and to a lesser degree, Rotman. McGill and Ivey are VERY well represented on Wall Street. You have nothing to complain about if you go to any of those 5. I went to a school much worse than any of those and I still was able to network with Bay Street alumni from that (lesser known) b-school, before I transferred to one of the above.

Right now, you're in first year and it's not a big deal to not have a finance internship. If you NEED to have one, go apply to do unpaid bitch work @ some bay street boutique or PWM firm (CCL loves that shit). If you can't get a job next year with good marks from one of those schools, it's your fault and you deserve what you get.

Also, please learn to spell. It comes in handy with reports and powerpoint presentations when you do get an internship.

It hurts me SO MUCH when I see my peers doing REAL FINANCE WORK AND GETTING PAID. Come recruiting season, OBVIOUSLY firms will take THOSE KIDS and NOT ME. LIFE IS UNFAIR!!!

You people are crazy. Why anyone would get depressed about not going to a target school or not working in this junk heap of an industry? It would be like getting depressed about not being able to work for Chrysler back in the '70s.

You know who creates a lot of value in finance? Fee-only financial advisors. Economic consultants. Corporate finance people. Perhaps portfolio managers at mutual funds. If we got rid of these people, there would be a noticeable negative impact on the economy.

Tax rates in the capitalist countries are probably going to go up over the next two decades. We may very well see the 70% tax rates we saw back in the '70s. Faced with something like that, you may as well find something primarily that you love and secondarily that pays the bills.

GTA area could also be schulich, or even the art sci program at york or something.

*Lol. I'm not saying where OP goes because that would be a betrayal of trust, but suffice it to say: it IS a "target" in Canada, it's a top 2 b-school and Bay Street is FULL of their alumni.

• OP has a PWM internship in freshman year.

End of story. Look at the success story forum. You have it so easy you don't even know. All you have to do at [your school] is not fuck up, join the [your school] linkedin network next year, and you have a great shot at solid Bay Street groups, and if you really excel, NYC/LA/SF IBD.

Jesus. At first I felt sympathy but after seeing your attitude I really can't justify any more advice than simply manning up.

Better people have been in worse situations. You're not going to get anything by sitting here whining about it. Go out and be proactive.

Edit: The only school I'm aware of with a non-4.0 gpa scale is York. In which case if you're in Shulich, you're most likely fine. And if you're in the art sci program like somebody said earlier it's not too late because you're just a goddamned first year.

I think I remembered someone mentioning they came from some ruling family in an Islamic state and thought an $800 hand-made Joseph Abboud suit was cheap and tasteless and $40 was on the thrifty end for table wine at home. Wouldn't it be funny for someone so privileged to be the one attacking some middle-class kid complaining about his opportunities?

Yes, OP. You are probably at a bit of a disadvantage coming in from Canada. That does not mean you are less valuable or productive than anyone heading to Wall Street. Now it's up to you to prove it.

Wow a part of me is angry to read this, while another part pities you.

TransferHopeful:

All my life I wanted to work at Wall Street.

You say that all your life you wanted to work on Wall Street, but your post does not really indicate this. All your life or in the last couple of years? I feel like if you really cared, you would look for several different routes to get to your path. I know of a certain IVY that is regularly listed as a target school for IB that has been moved off the list of JPMC. This wasn't speculation, I heard it from the mouth of a recruiter. A degree means nothing if you are incompetent and unpleasant. (Not saying that you are these things.)

I have no connections whatsoever.

I know several people on the street now who came from completely non-target schools. They reached out to anyone and everyone until they found the right connections. In fact, I know a banker who went to a complete non target school and who didn't land an IBD internship until his junior year, but now he's working for a BB in NYC.

I was doing so well first semester when i was so pumped with hope but when I realized my school barely places people on bay st, my grades started plummet

When you face adversity, when something gets in the way of your dreams YOU DON'T STOP! You don't do worse, you do better. Finding a roadblock is not an excuse to do poorly. You should feel depressed about this.

I networked so hard with so many people but I come from trashy (about 1/3 of my high school peers lived in government subsideized housing) background

This is the part that burns me up the most about this post. How hard were you really networking? It sounds like you gave up after semester one. Do you speak to people in your network the way you write? Do you know the personal stories of these people? Could you call one of them up to talk about the market or to discover someone they know who would be helpful to you too? If you answered yes to the first question or no to any of the other ones then you aren't networking hard enough.

As far as the whole "trash" things goes, do you really want to know why people didn't take you seriously? They didn't take you seriously because you didn't/don't take yourself seriously. You're walking around with a chip on your shoulder. In reference to your high school....Poor people are trashy to you? Do you feel tainted because you walked the same ground as them? Breathed the same air? Attitudes like that get you slaughtered. Take a long hard look at yourself!

If you want to do IB, it's possible from any school. You just have to be smart and work your @$$ off. Once you land that job it will be that much easier. I'm sure you realize that IB is not a 9 to 5 job. Why do you think you could get it doing part time work?

Go network, raise your GPA, and join an investment club. Read Wall Street Oasis, Mergers and Inquisitions, and the WSJ. It is possible to get into a target, but not when you're in such a state. They want confidence and accomplishment not a sob story. If you do this stuff well, in the end where you go to school doesn't matter.

I say this as someone who goes to a semi/non target school. I may not have a perfect GPA, but I'm on the executive board of my school's investment club, an ambassador for Bloomberg, and I've networked and met people on the street through databases, Craigslist, who were the friends of my friends' friends, etc that I can personally call.

By the way, I'm a freshman (well was) who comes from one of those "trashy" backgrounds.

why feedin trollz

WTF? You go to a top 3 school, have a PWM internship after your freshman year, and you're complaining? Buddy, you're head and shoulders above 90% of your competition. Only thing you need to work on is your attitude and you should be set for the top gigs.

Sure. A top-three B-school in Canada offers about the same recruiting opportunities as Berkeley for NYC. Is it complaint material? Perhaps, perhaps not. But unless you got in solely on submitting your resume from a non-target online and going into the interview cold- not knowing anyone- and coming out with a job offer, you may not have all the experience required to really hit this guy upside the head.

The guy has a right to be annoyed, though not necessarily depressed, about the whole situation. It's largely Wall Street's fault, and some of the very things causing annoyances for this guy are also what's bringing down the financial system in the west. The system always runs best when decisions are made based on rational business analysis rather than brands or connections.

Some folks overcame not having the right parents or pedigree and made it to the street. That doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people out there who would have gotten in if they had the right parents.

I know several people on the street now who came from completely non-target schools. They reached out to anyone and everyone until they found the right connections. In fact, I know a banker who went to a complete non target school and who didn't land an IBD internship until his junior year, but now he's working for a BB in NYC.

By your pronouns, it looks pretty clear that you did go to a target school. Are you just trying to reasssure yourself of the fact that you got to- or have a shot at- the street because of something you did and not because you won the admissions lottery? Interesting.

I am all for folks telling OP to grow up. But the fact is that with a different set of parents or different year applying at target school X, he'd probably be in a different situation.

i know girls with more ball than you.suck it up and do some fucking push up. What the hell can you contribute as a freshman in an IB. yea u got A+ in intro to finance and finance for dummies that don't entitle you to shit. Prepare and practice and your time will come . Till then screw you and your whining

Like some have said before me...grow a pair. If you unravel at the first roadblock you will not get anywhere in any field! You are young, suck it up and see if you can change anything going forward. I'm from a complete non-target, just moved to Chicago and networked my ass off. Getting in at a prop firm working with some solid traders and looks like a might be getting an offer from another top prop in the city.

Thank u

Hey man,

Get your chin up and make things happen. Print out a picture of something that is a visualization of what your goal is (I really hope it isn't a pile of money) and put it where you can see it everyday. Then, network, network, network, network. If traditional methods fail you, WRITE LETTERS! I'm dead serious, find the name of someone in HR, or a MD or VP or someone and write them a freaking business letter saying your ready to do whatever it takes to be interviewed even if it means shine their shoes for six years.

You only fail once you've stopped trying.

you go to rotman? im going there next year. I just met this girl who graduated this year and got a job at barclays capital. if you try and get lucky u can do it

dont stop trying.

thx for all the positive comments.

I think its my time to chime in. First up man the fukk up. Theres tons of people in the world who are living in war torn countries thinking about whether they will live til tomorrow, and here you are complaining about how you do not go to a target school. You remind me of those stupid college girls that complain about life when there father is paying everything.

I go to a non target school (a Canadian one), had zero contacts ,and had a low gpa The week after next I start a S&T internship at a bank on Wall Street.

Continue to work hard and start networking your ass off. If I could make it down to wall street, I am pretty sure that you could. Start emailing and calling people in NYC and maybe even fly down to meet with these people for coffee. I spent 2 years networking and it finally paid off.

Also make sure gpa is high!! I got in with a low gpa but it also made job hunting 10X more difficult.

One last thing, make sure you change your attitude. I can tell you right now that you would not be cut out for the trading floor with that type of piss poor attitude. My interviewers liked me because I was aggressive and they liked my hustle.

Forgot to mention, for any Canadian university students out there interested in S&T. It is actually much easier to get a trading job in NYC/Chicago then in Toronto. The competition is way more intense in Toronto because they will only take 10-15 people out of the whole country max for S&T.

want some tissues op? I came from a lower-middle class family, I made it. My advice is quit crying cause no one gives a fuck. Now get ur grades back up and start networking.

Thank u

talk about being a whiny little bitch and complaining about the school. Suck it up and do the best you can to network and hustle. In all honesty a target school and good grades might give you a slightly higher chance to interview, but at the end of the day it is all about what you have done and can offer.

I graduated from a low tier state school in California where not even a retail bank would consider recruiting for anything higher than a teller. And now, I am in S&T doing exactly what I always wanted through networking and hustling. Most of the guys in Wall Street are not super book smart, but they got the attitude and hustle to overcome anything. You clearly lacks what it needs, but lucky for you there's still time left.

Now get off your ass and stop bitching.

lol this troll loser really got 30+ responses?

shame on you guys and thanks for the poop OP

People will your mindset will never make it to the top.

That being said you're young so change the way you think and work hard to achieve whatever you want to achieve.

I don't really buy the "I made it from complete non target with no money into a top bank on the street, anyone can do it, shut up" bullshit. People who actually made it "rags to riches" so to say, know exactly how difficult it is, how much hard work it requires, and how even all the hard work in the world isn't going to replace a certain degree of sheer luck.

Graduating from a target with no debt (because your parents paid for your school) and with an e-rolodex full of daddy's buddies in high places does not have the same "hustling talent" requirements that are placed on a non-target grad with no parental support, so let's not fucking pretend that your "work ethic" or "intelligence", or "soft skills" have anything to do with your success.

OP might be overreacting - I don't know, I didn't see the initial post, but judging by some of the comments in this thread, it doesn't sound like it.

Also OP's attitude couldn't be a whole lot shittier than monkeysama's, yet monkeysama got WAY more useful feedback and opportunities (that he proceeded to shit on) than transferhopeful. Why is that?