Employment opp with a degree in econ from UCSD

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breakinginnew

14y

see where alums have gone and network...most decent schools have alums at top firms-- did a quick linkedin search there are GS bankers from UCSD so clearly its possible...

Authored by: Certified Asset Management Professional - 1st Year AssociateCertified Asset Management Pro

LookingForHelp

14y

Several alum at MS as well

Economic Justice Fund

midnight_oil

14y

Best Response

IBD corp fin (i.e. M&A advisory, debt / equity underwriting stuff) will be hard to get as UCSD is not a target school and doesn't give you as much accounting / fin statement training, which is what could at least gives you an edge when answering technical questions. These are the jobs that don't really require a deep theoretical mathematical training. So your best bet would be 1) network hard, and 2) go elsewhere and join a big bank laterally.

When it comes to investment / wealth management positions, then your chances are better if you're ranked highly in your class. I heard Merrill used to have a huge IM presence in the SD area. And UCSD is actually one of the top joint math / econ joint programs in the country.

It's a shame, 'cause it's a hard school to get into and is one of those west-coast 'public ivies' - but the top IBD recruiting doesn't usually go there, usually ending up in with Cal, USC, Stanford, UCLA and sometimes Claremont. I know people had to transfer to Cal from there to get better opportunities.

Lastly, if you're a good student at a good school, "impossible is nothing" - it's just tougher. On the East Coast I've met IBD analysts from the obscurest liberal arts colleges (Bowdouin), while on the WC there are people from UoP, Cal Poly, Santa Clara, UCSB..

http://career.ucsd.edu/L3/sa/survey/SurveyActualJobsByField.shtml

Authored by: Certified Investment Banking Professional - 2nd Year AnalystCertified Investment Banking Pro

RiskyBizness

14y

Mmm, I think their business program might be better. Either way, it's a long shot and you'd have to work at it. Here's a list of their recent grads:

Nobody on Wall St. as far as I can tell. It might be more realistic to go Big4 and consider a transition or business school down the road.

Authored by: Certified Investment Banking Professional - 3rd+ Year AnalystCertified Investment Banking Pro

jankynoname

14y

Nicu,

I'm a UCSD alum, graduated in 05, so I wanted to chime in on this. The econ program is very strong (and also very underrated). However, because UCSD is viewed primarily as an science/engineering school, none of the big finance recruiters come down there. You will see none of the I-banks come there for recruiting, and maybe only a couple of IM firms. During my senior year I drove up to UCLA several times a week during recruiting season to meet with the banks, since they basically only go to UCLA and Cal. This was a pain in the ass, but I was able to at least get interviews with Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, one SD based IM shop (which does recruit there), and a VC shop. I ended up going into economic litigation consulting, which again, isn't recruited there.

Basically, academically you will be just as well off as peers from Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Wharton, etc... (trust me, I've worked with all of them and not really that impressed). But you will be at significant disadvantage getting in the door. Definitely be prepared to work your networks and put it some extra effort. Also, career services at UCSD is wholly unprepared for finance focused graduates. They are really set up to place folks in biotech, engineering, and some consulting/accounting. I only know of one guy from my class who went into ER at a BB, and a couple who went to top tier consultancies, but these guys all had personal networks.

That said, I loved it there, and wouldn't trade those years for the world. Good luck!!

Authored by: Certified Asset Management Professional - 3rd+ Year AnalystCertified Asset Management Pro

jankynoname

14y

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