Chances at landing IBD SA Position at BB?
New, here. Not sure if I'm posting in the right forum but I'd appreciate some feedback on my chances.
Rising Junior
GPA: 3.28
Non-Target, Top Liberal Arts College (GS, Barclays, UBS, CS, and a few other recruit annually)
Major: Econ major, applied math minor
No relevant finance internships
Leadership: Student Government, President of Black Student Association, VP of Women of Color, Dormitory Advisor, Athlete (Varsity Rower), blah, blah, blah
Not much else, gained a bit of knowledge out of my school's Entrepreneurship and Business Club but that's about it.
GPA is killing me. Although I have a positive trend: Freshman year (2.4), Sophomore Year (4.0), I'm not sure if it'll help me that much. Alot of the SA positions I'm looking at are competitive BB and I'm not sure I stand a chance. I don't really have a legitimate reason for why my freshman year is so low, I really wasn't prepared to go to college, tried to go pre-med (worked out terribly) and I became depressed being far from home. Things have gotten better as I've gradually adapted to college life, though.
I wanted to ask if there was such thing as sending in my fall grades to some companies to boost my gpa? Doubt it, but if I continue my trend by January my gpa will be a 3.44, which would be a 3.5 rounded. Or should I wait for the next recruiting season in a year if that doesn't work?
I've been dreaming about working on Wall Street for a while now. Hopefully a top BB, GS, MS, Blackstone??
thanks guys, all help is appreciated
you're black and a girl. you're set because of URM recruiting. don't think you'll be getting top BB (ps BX isn't a BB), but you'll find something.
and a 3.44 is not a 3.5 rounded.
3.44 is 3.50 rounded? I think I just figured out why you did shitty freshman year.
Edith Cooper junior here. You'll be fine with those stats + URM.
_
Your school is not a non-target.
URM female, nothing to worry about. For GPA, put cumulative and then 4.0 Sophomore year next to it.
A lot of the deadlines for SA positions are in November, December, etc. before my grades come in for the fall. So I'll be stuck with a ~3.3. How will my chances be with that? Is a 3.5 that big of a difference?
It's a big difference. The usual cut off is 3.6 or 3.7 for some places. Especially BBs are stiff about the GPA requirements when it comes to screening. I would say you should network your ass off and hopefully that can get your foot in the door. Make sure to apply to all URM programs out there and I am sure you will be competitive. My only question: how do you get a 2.4 GPA freshman year???
What does URM mean? Do you have suggestions on programs to apply to? And like I said, there really isn't any real excuse for my freshmen year, I wasn't prepared to head off to college early and the transition was really tough, I probably should have taken a gap yr or something..
Never understood these posts. If we told you you have no chance, does that bar you from trying? If so, you won't do well in IB anyways.
I'd say your chances are pretty slim, everyone usually hated their dorm advisor.
Your chances would be complete shit in any other demographic, but they are actually fairly strong as an African American woman. Literally the goldmine of diversity. I can tell you that URM's have a special recruiting channel - you might not even have to go through your school's OCR program. You need to look into diversity program ASAP (you already missed out on SEO which would've landed you one of these jobs).
This isn't just speculation either. I've managed to get a peek at a few resume books, and Latino/African American URM's can get in with gpa's much lower than the rest (3.2-3.3 pretty common). With that said, I wouldn't put too many high hopes on GMJ or BX, and honestly you sound so entitled. You're already getting a free pass (you don't think anyone else had trouble transitioning to college?) based on your race, don't get greedy.
+1. URM has got to be the most bullshit part of recruiting (not saying that the candidates aren't legit; i'm sure that there's strong candidates in any bucket). however, the issue is the fact that a lot of black and latinos get a free pass while the poor white/asian kid who was never handed anything in life had to bite and claw for everything he got because the system tries to fuck him.
I really dislike people like the op. You really sound entitled. Why don't they just make you CEO ?
Lets not turn this into anything about feelings regarding URM and all of that. The OP sounds a bit entitled but no need to throw around the insults.
Now, the top BBs/BX will still probably be pretty tough in my mind for you given that you have a 3.2/3.3 and no experience- the URM kids they take (in my experience) are usually in the 3.5-6 range and have a bit of experience (many of them actually find BB jobs during sophomore or freshmen year through URM programs). That said, some of the other banks are definitely within reach, and it is worth looking into their URM programs because, as was said above, a lot of times this will involve you getting in through a channel other than OCR. Best of luck.
I'm entitled? I'm sorry if I came off that way but it wasn't my intention to be so.
I'm thinking of delaying to apply to SA positions until next year when my gpa is higher and I'm more competitive. Is that a bad idea?
any more suggestions? advice?
You want advice? Blackstone's not a BB, and you're not going to Goldman. But thanks to some God-given luck, the doors are still open for you. And since URM recruiting isn't OCR, you can probably do it more than once anyways.
I don't exactly see what your point is, if the banks you've see have a cut-off of 3.3 then that's what I already have and by the time my fall grades come in it'll be much higher.
So I didnt have the motivation or foresight to keep my GPA because of an unfortunate Freshman year. Shit happens. What's your point? I'm not making any excuses although the reasons I had at the time were compelling enough but if you honestly think that the potential success of any profession should be based off that alone you're sadly mistaken.
Oh and thanks for insinuating " my free pass to the college of my choice", I had a great laugh.
You know I'm not exactly an advocate of affirmative action policies and I never once said I rely on them because I don't. But You probably shouldn't go around accusing people of benefiting from a system that was designed to help their depressed, disadvantaged communities in the first place.
The companies I listed are those that exclusively recruit from my school, I'm not necessarily sure I have a chance at any but I meet the min . GPA and that's why I asked here.
Any advice on applying for a good SA position for the summer after my senior year. Yay or nay?
You have a huge opportunity before you. Use the search function and start preparing for interviews and crafting your story.
This thread is getting real political
OP improve your GPA asap and try to make your dream a reality. A dream is one which does not allow you to sleep. Go ahead and make things happen.
The reason everyone is bashing on you is because it doesn't sound like you have put a lot of work in. Although you sound successful, it appears to me that you have regurgitated everything you have and are looking for re-assurance after looking at the top 3 names on league tables, even though you have been dreaming of working on WS for a while (e.g, BX isn't a BB).
My advice? Go to OCR/career services and explain your situation. Usually they can work with you on GPA cut-offs considering your school is a target (e.g., CS recruits at my school and I was able to work with OCR to have my 3.56 satisfy the 3.7 requirement.) Next, apply for everything. Can't hurt. Also, use the search function on WSO. APAE posted an exhaustive list of URM programs that could help you get your foot in the door. Also, look on banks' campus recruiting websites; I know for a fact that there are exclusive networking events for URM's with employees at GS,JPM,etc.
Best of luck in your search (and if you see the broadstbully at a super day).
I once applied to be an astronaut. I'm sure your chances are better than mine were.
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