How important is it one come from a rich family and be younger with regard to being hired as an Investment Banker?
I've always had an insecurity that i will be discriminated againist by Investment Banks even though i'm tall and good looking, but older (28), and cannot relate to much any of the same experiences as my well-to-do classmates. How important is it to be young (around 20-22) and have rich parents to get an internship and ideally a job offer at an Investment Bank? I am 28 and have not graduated yet do to life circumstances and with the realization that i needed to transfer to a target school, (which i did, Harvard Extension School) otherwise i would be screwed as far as getting a high paying finance job. Also, being the first one in my family to go to college, would my wealthy collegues (not to sterotype but most of them will be) not consider me equal and invite me into their circles beucase they know i did not come from money like them? Any light which could be shead on the subject matter would he helpful.
Being richer in of itself doesn't present much added advantage unless your last name appears in the WSJ, etc often, or come from a family thats a big client for an investment bank.
A main advantage of being rich is that it does however teach you about the business world EARLY: the importance of networking, the confidence to talk to adults, the non-expectation of not being taken seriously, the diversity and normalcy of some jobs (someone whose family has struggled financially, lived in dangerous neighborhoods, etc may not know what it means to be in high finance, nor expects him/herself to get there), etc. Rich families tend be have been successful in one area or another, and well-connected.
However, those same advantages can be developed in life outside of your family through networking, pursuing professional development, diversity/mentoring programs, finding your own mentors, etc. Dingdong08 came from disadvantaged background, and now is an MD in PE.
It's less wealth that matters than whether you can conduct yourself in a manner appropriate to the social class you're trying to crack into (largely white, upper middle class professional).
While there is a strong correlation between class and financial wealth, the two are not the same. Americans often conflate the two, I think because your national mythology (particularly boot strapping, entrepreneurs in garages etc) largely refuses to acknowledge class as an explanatory factor for success*.
Going to college, hanging out with friends from different class backgrounds etc, is partly about learning how act within a certain class culture (or at least mimic the behaviour of that class). Hopefully you've spent some time in college doing that. If you can then send the right signals in interviews ("I am essentially one of you"), then breaking into an investment bank will be easier than if, other things being equal, you're talking with an Appalchian accent or rural South drawl.
Important note here - The point here is that being a member of a particular class opens doors which means you're allowed to succeed, not that members of a class have certain innate characteristics inherited from birth.
HES is not a target school and isn't well regarded in high finance. Nobody will look at HES on your resume and view that as a check the box in terms of education/prestige.
The program serves two purposes: solid business fundamentals for those looking to advance in industry, and a cost effective way of putting additional coursework on your resume if you went to a non-target/have a low GPA - but this only matters for b-school apps.
28 is not discriminatory age, but your accomplishments to date at that age will be taken into account. Not having graduated from college probably means you have low quality work experience. What's the story here? I graduated at 25 and was able to squeeze in 5 years of work experience, attend an MBA business schools">M7 and then transition to consulting (similar dynamics to IB) so this perspective isn't from your traditional target candidate.
Family background doesn't matter all that much, the firms take about 1/3 children of clients etc, 1/3 super targets and 1/3 semi-targets/non-targets but that last bucket is usually highly focused very young and have proven their work ethic in other ways.
I'd focus on graduating ASAP at the best school you can (if that's HES, so be it) and focusing your networking at lower/middle market banks and corporate finance roles at big 4 etc (psuedo-banking). Don't waste your time right now on Goldman/Evercore. Find goals that are achievable over the next 3-5 years and work for them. The leap for you right now is just too big for success and you're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. You still have the opportunity for a long, industrious career but you should focus on achievable goals in your late 20's/early 30's in the meantime.
You need to get your life on track in manageable steps and stop shooting for the moon. You need to show recruiters and companies that you can buckle down and work hard. It's no wonder your confidence is shot, you haven't put the effort in yet for success. At 28 nobody is evaluating you on potential anymore, you're evaluated on your accomplishments. Focus on making some, incremenetally and tactically, and things will work out in the long run.