Does everyone at a semi-target make it?

A lot of people—and I mean a ton of people—I know are going to Mich, UNC, UVA, Bucknell, Georgetown, Colgate, etc to study finance. This has got me thinking: does everyone make it? Where is the cutoff?

All of the kids were smart in high school, founded their own little stock club, played lax, have decent but not insane connections. Most of them are going to end up at some private equity or decent firm for IB.

The most sought after path in finance is Wharton/Harvard, but what happens to the kids a rung below? This may seem stupid, but the reason I ask is that most of the UVA guys I know are the EXACT same. They golf, play fantasy, are in frats, date the same girls. Everything—they’re basically Eskimo brothers.

I refuse to believe, however, that ALL of these guys end up making 1M+ a year. I know finance is a well-tested path, but there seems no way. Deadass is the secret to wealth just raising a kid in Darien or Greenwich, making sure they’re decently smart, getting them into a large but rlly good state school, and boom they’re set

17 Comments
 

Cutoff is at effort. Most don't try enough, and then you don't hear about them again. Sometimes, they cope with IB being too life-draining. Also, it's shocking how many people do well in high school then jerkoff in college.

Also, not everyone is like that, most that go for ib deadass can't hold a conversation with a wall or are weird, you're probably just seeing the normal ones.

Your ''secret'' idea is right but not a secret. Being rich, and raising your kids around rich areas leads to rich friends and a good education then depending on their effort, them becoming rich has been around since the 1800s in America and ever since humans have been around in the world.

UIUC(I know it's a step below) junior staying in Chicago IB that mostly fits your mold except not Fairfield County CT but Lake Forest/Winnetka Chicago.

 

Yup, was going to include Lake Forest or Hinsdale on the list. Lots of those kids go to SMU, interestingly.

Yeah, the secret idea isn’t too secret among white people, but is still catching up to Asians. I don’t think they quite understand yet that living in diasporic clumps isn’t conducive to success if business. Works for medicine and tech, but maybe not finance.

I actually don’t know anyone who went to college and just jerked off tho. Most joined some club or tried to break into IB somehow. I was more talking about IB attrition into bland corporate development or just going to a rlly shitty bank in a shitty city. I know kid doing Lincoln international in Chicago, and tbh, why at that point.

 

Yeah, the secret idea isn’t too secret among white people, but is still catching up to Asians.

Have you seen a EB Analyst class? They are doing just fine as with all things.

 

There are other jobs in finance that pay pretty good too. Large state school + lax bro sounds upper middle class, not like the kids of a rainmaking MD or smth like that. Theres a really good chance that they end up as middle management in CF 

 
Most Helpful

Idk what exactly is being asked here but I went to a school comparable to those you listed (shoutout Patriot League) and what made the “difference” for me was discipline. From a shitty background, zero connections, never worked at a “prestigious” firm (until my current one I guess?), slightly above-average intelligence, but I always stayed focused and had a good idea of where I wanted to end up, while being flexible and adaptable along the way. Classic cliche advice like not getting rattled by setbacks, not giving up, etc. are all cliche for a reason - it’s reality, but most people are lazy as shit.


Am now raising my kids in a town comparable to the ones you mentioned, and discipline is the no. 1 value I’m going to instill in them.

 

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