AM Chances
Greetings,
Hoping to get some advice from WSO. I am currently a sophomore at a non target (ranked roughly 50 nationally) studying economics. I have a low gpa (3.0-3.5 range) play a sport, involved in a sport related club, and planning on joining an investment banking/finance club in the next year. I also have a internship lined up at a boutique investment firm this summer. I am highly interested in hedge fund/equity research/asset management, but I have only been able to study these through books, WSO, in my own time. I am just curious what my chances are at ER, HF, AM and what the career path would be through this.
Another question is that our school offers a data analysis concentration for economics majors and I am considering doing this because it seems it could be more relevant and display quantitative knowledge that might be helpful for chances at hedge funds. However, this concentration is notoriously tough and might hurt my gpa and if I consider MBA in future it would be tougher applying with a lower gpa. Just wondering what others think about this tradeoff.
Thanks for the help!
If you spin your boutique internship well I think you have a decent chance at AM - i was able to get interviews at a few top shops with mediocre GPA and no networking, because I had relevant experience. ER will probably take more networking to break in. As for HF, unlikely as they tend to focus on targets.
AM chances are still good. I went to a non-target similar to yours, 3.4 GPA and only settled on what I wanted to do around my senior year(graduated as a super-senior), and managed to break into a great shop. I did a STEM major, and I think they liked my background so it can't hurt.
AM doesn't do classes. Almost nobody gets hired straight out of school. Sorry, but those are the facts. Do something interesing first then latteral. The only roles where they'll hire a new grad are on the internal desk and you don't want that job.
What do you mean by internal desks? Thanks
I'll say that I think it's not literally impossible to get hired into AM straight out of school, it's not going to be easy especially with your GPA (but if you're a STEM major, your chances are much better). Work a very large LO AM and our hiring cohorts are in the single digits
If you work in IB or ER for even a year, you'll have a legitimate shot of getting into AM though. I got in from undergrad (but I had significant help), and I even know people who joined my company after doing IB for only 9 months and then leaving. I'd argue your chances will be best if you do something interesting first as @Whatever1984" says, and use that to help you get the job
Qui omnis nulla expedita aut. Quis aut ipsa eligendi rem. Magni harum eum est qui.
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