Canadian chemistry student to investment banking
I'm finishing my final year of honours chemistry at a top 10 university in Canada. I've been set on medical school most of my life and my application is tailored to that. I've got a 99% + MCAT and a 3.9 GPA, with strong extracuriculars. I've put in my application for several schools and have a fair chance of getting in. Despite this, I'm nervous about devoting another 6 years of my life to biology. I'm also worried about delaying salary. I've taken finance, micro, macro, and several other business courses as electives and these courses have always been far more enjoyable than anything chemistry or biology related. I took chemistry largely to prepare myself for medical school applications and dread doing more of it.
This leads to my question. What would be the most effective way of leveraging my background into investment banking? I've taken 3 semesters of calculus, quantum mechanics, and several other math based courses in chemistry so have a strong foundation in mathematics. I also have 2 summers spent interning in research, doing my own synthetic project. I have absolutely no finance experience or internships. Is a transfer like this even possible at this point? I know recruiting for most summer analyst internships is over by now and I'm also graduating so am probably ineligable for both. I've also heard Canadian IB is more focused on major/minor of applicants. I've thought of enrolling in a MS finance, applying to ivey HBA as a 3rd year transfer or applying for the "new analyst program" for goldman sachs. Anyone have any insight?
Alright i see three opportunities
1) Pre med with a 3.9 + good essay is going to be very impressive & I think you would be very competitive for Ivey HBA or Queens commerce. All that's necessary this year is to network , join finance clubs, business frats and be confident to explain why finance etc etc to get a finance internship in the 2020 summer to use as reference on your resume when applying for the 2021 Ib summer internship.
2) You could do a MSF at Waterloo, Queens or Western (idk about grad school in Canada tbh but i guess those are the best?) use your math skills and become a quant if that interests you. Personal experience based on a small sample size but many Stem majors tend to go this route anyway instead of traditional IB , so i figured it might interest you as well : https://quantnet.com/
3) Continue on at your school, join a finance club or business frat and apply to the new analyst program. Looking at the description and considering you're a Stem major you could easily grind out the guides and resources on this website that covers interview prep, networking etc and stand a really good chance.
Your GPA + strong math skills+ intellectual horsepower seems perfect for high finance and with additional support from your network & some hustle you should be good regardless of what career. If none of this works become the next Walter white :)
Follow up questions:
1) What kind of internships should I aim at for the summer of 2020? I know IB SA recruiting is largely over so any suggestions? Perhaps corporate finance?
2) If I took this route would I likely be pigeon holed into quant? I want to get into a front facing role so I'm worried it would be hard to answer the question, "Why IB?" after an MSF
3) I think this would be the best option and applications are still being taken but I'm worried applications taken this late won't even make it past HR. Skipping further schooling would make the most sense economically if this is possible. Does anyone know any other similar opportunities?
As well, thank you for the information given. It definitely makes all this seem a little less daunting.
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