Advice for an incoming college freshman
I am a high school senior, likely attending Michigan Ross in the fall. In addition to finance, I plan on studying CS and entrepreneurship. I am interested in IB after graduation because I don't know exactly what career I want, but IB offers great exit ops. I have lurked on WSO for a while now and found its discussions very helpful as I plan for my future. I would like to ask you guys if you have any advice or useful anecdotes for someone in my position. I don't want to look back on these years and wish I did things differently. How can I best enjoy the "undergrad experience?" What are some tips for maintaining a great GPA and relationships with professors? How can I network effectively and stand out in a competitive class?
Thanks in advance. I think this thread will be useful for people in similar positions.
The easiest thing to have regrets about after college is the social life. You're not going to graduate and wish you networked with more Goldman analysts your sophomore year - you're going to miss the camaraderie that exists on a college campus and having the freedom to do pretty much anything you want.
Speaking as a 1st year analyst - the two most important things to do in college are 1) Have fun and 2) Graduate with the highest GPA you possibly can. Someone with a 3.9 GPA will get interviews with limited networking while someone with a 3.4 will have to network their ass off (for IB at least). Regardless of what you want to do, GPA is very often the gating requirement - much more so than relevant internship experiences or 20 minute generic phone calls (from what I've seen - obviously there are exceptions).
Michigan is a very fun school - tons of parties, great sports, well-rounded people, don't overlook these 4 years as just another step towards a BB offer
Well said, sir
For the second thing you mentioned, are you referring to IB recruiting when in college?
Yep - the first thing any bank will look at is your GPA. Kinda sucks but generally and at least at my bank if you're not above a 3.5/3.6 they won't even look - and that's for target schools (unless you have good references of course).
To put it in perspective - I had about a 3.8 when going through the process from a semi-target liberal arts school and received interview invitations through online applications after speaking to like 1-2 people at these banks, while some of my buddies with 3.5's did not even with much more extensive networking above the associate level, so it is what it is
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