Another international student from UW-Madison (low GPA)
Hi everyone, I am currently a junior at UW-Madison majoring in Finance. I am also an international student.
My short-term goal for this year is to land an internship (anywhere in the United States in the Finance field) for summer 2018. My ultimate goal career-wise is getting a job at a prestigious/well-known bank such as Citi and UBS.
However, I am currently unsure about which field I want to work in finance, nor have I had any experiences in the finance field nor any school experiences. I tried getting in to Investment Banking Club and Consulting Club, but failed because of my interviews lol
My GPA is at 3.16. My GPA was high my freshman year (3.75) due to the easy classes I took and with low credit loads. However after I started business school, I did not focus on my studies and the subjects got harder which made me give up in the middle.
I feel like I blew all of my opportunities because of my low GPAA. Now, two weeks before beginning my junior year, I feel hopeless.
I need some advice as to where to go from my current standing.
This is going to be a very uphill battle.. Would try to network as much as you can. And perhaps consider opportunities in your home country?
I will try to...and I can't stop beating up myself because of the opportunities I have lost because of my GPA I do not want to work in my home country so I was looking for opportunities in SG/HK and the US for internships...
then you should have went to a better university or at least have a high gpa at a shitty university
If your short term goal is to land a decent finance internship, sorry to say you will probably not get it.
Solve these problems first. Find a field that you want to work in, and set your sights on it. Do research. Talk to seniors, professors. Learn as much as you can online and offline.
Start by joining/starting whatever frats/clubs/charities and try to get a leadership role. If you're going to network your way through, you better have something to talk about.
Try again next year. Seriously, they'll do wonders to your CV, especially if you do something meaningful. And don't go "failed because of my interviews lol". Do your preps before. If you passed through the initial screening, your resume should be good enough. Work on basic interview questions for IB or Consulting. The questions are literally EVERYWHERE.
Try bumping it up and work extra hard this year. You want a "job at a prestigious/well-known bank" but you "gave up in the middle"? You know very well that this does not correlate at all, right? And no, you didn't blow your opportunities because of your low GPA. You blew it because you did not try getting experiences in the finance field or in school, no matter how small.
You may say I'm a bit harsh, but this is probably what you need to go land that job.
EDIT: You said you don't want to work in your home country, but that's probably the only option you have now. That's where your parents (presumably) have connections to people working in finance. Friends, teachers, relatives, whoever dude. Make use of them and land one back in your home country.
If you're not a Singaporean or Hong Kong citizen, I doubt companies would want to sponsor your Visa.
Companies sponsor as much if not more in IBD HK and Singapore compared to IBD US, though in overall numbers US might be higher due to their higher head count. This only applies to BB, EB, and certain MMs.
That's what I meant. The guy was looking for internships in SG/HK, presumably smaller firms that would be reluctant to sponsor work visas.
I agree with you though, large companies in HK or Singapore usually sponsor plenty of work visas- Government policies.
This comment was exactly what I needed. I will try to join more finance clubs and research more into the field. I am confident I will work harder for my GPA Going to my home country was my last option but I guess I will have to try now... Thanks
You really need to get a grip on yourself, dude. You're going to have to work hard and motivate yourself way more than you did if you really want this.
Just curious by the way, where's your home country?
Just wanna add something. Both SG and HK have pretty favorable working visa policy to foreigners. If you get an offer in SG or HK form a not-too-small employer, visa won't be a headache unless you are Chinese citizen.
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