I go to an SEC school with some pretty big Fortune 500 companies very close by. We're known for having generous alumni and great job placement after UG but not a lot of reach into IB/Wall Street in general. I have a fairly average GPA between 3.2-3.4. I was wondering how much emphasis is placed on school name/location when being considered for a position. Also, it seems my recruitment/candidate process has been largely faceless and I haven't had a lot of direct communication past the initial application stage. It feels like this isn't the consensus across WSO. I've had a few interviews with BB and mid-tier for SA 2021 but no offers yet. Any advice? Especially from those who went to nontarget schools.
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UGA/TAMU? If you're at either one of those you have a shot. Network hard. School and location matters a lot in this industry to certain people but networking can overcome this. It really only matters to the gatekeepers (hard to get your resume in front of a decision maker when most are coming from Ivys). Once you get to the superday, your school/gpa doesn't matter. Well it mostly doesn't matter- they may use it to make a decision if its between you and another person for the last spot and you're neck and neck.
If you're getting interviews, you're doing something right. Getting interviews is the hardest part when coming from a non-target. Take some time to reflect and think about why you didn't convert. Ask for feedback if you can. Maybe you missed some technicals (easy fix), maybe you weren't charismatic/likable Only you and the interviewer really know.
If you're at TAMU then you're at a top school for energy banking and the alumni are very loyal, I would aim there. There's also some small groups in Dallas. If from UGA try Atlanta. You may have to intern at a no-name boutique and then re-recruit for a bigger bank for full-time.
Always remember, networking is king. Even if you don't get a referral from a call, you still practiced and became more comfortable talking with people in the industry. This is invaluable and I think it really helps your confidence in interviews. Always remember- it only takes one yes so don't give up.
Oh and make sure you're recruiting for other things on the side (F500, Valuation, Corp Banking, etc). You don't want to end up with nothing to do this summer.
Short answer no. I also go to a sec school and I dont believe I or you are screwed. Theres tons of advice on wso already about how to improve your odds especially from a non target.
**You or I
Pretty screwed. Not because of your background, but because you cant even take the time to research and use the resources on WSO, which includes dozens of threads from nontargets/low gpa students trying to break in. Youre gonna have to put in the work. Good luck
Seriously I’ve had 3 IB Internships and I’m a junior at a SEC school with a 3.3 GPA.... if you think you’re screwed you’re just lazy or/and a loser
Screwed because of your gpa. Unless you’re in engineering, somewhat difficult to have something that low + be at southern state school. Know this because I went to South Carolina. Anything is possible and every year, South Carolina, and other sec schools send 20+ kids each to BB’s. Need to network your ass off + work harder than the Harvard’s of the world. In the end, those state school kids tend to keep up that work ethic and will succeed at far higher rates than your ivies.
20 kids/year to BB? they absolutely don’t. Vanderbilt probably hits 20 even. The others don’t come even close.
Tamu has sent kids to Citi, Barclays, JPM, BAML, Goldman, Wells, Moelis, EVR, Jefferies, Simmons, TPH (energy boutiques) and other MM players over the last few years, around 20ish / year, vast majority obviously in Houston but over last couple years have seen a handful in NY. Not a ton of competition for IB like at UT so the driven kids who know their shit will get multiple opportunities.
I’m going to have to agree that 100% South Carolina does not send 20+ students to BB. I went to South Carolina as well and graduated less than 6-7 years ago and higher finance/consulting people landed like Deloitte, KPMG and regional banks. The only person I knew that landed a high finance/consulting gig was our student body President. He had to network a ton to land a MBB role.
There are definitely one offs but not 20+.
Hope this clarifies, OP.
Huh? Empirically not true — Ivies have far fewer grads, but way more important / wealthy alums.
And how do you think those kids got into Ivies in the first place? By fucking around and having low work ethic?
That might be average at Princeton or Caltech but prob below at your school. Thankfully IB is not about brains but determination and luck so you can make it, you just gotta GRIND
If you had a 3.8+ GPA you would be able to get more interviews....but you've been lazy and unmotivated to study and get good grades...and now you expect the job that requires intense attention to detail and fast turnaround time on sensitive work to choose you over the kids from Yale, Harvard, MIT, Stanford who have 3.8-4.0 GPA ?
And despite your low GPA, you've gotten a couple interviews...but you have not been able to convert those into job offers (which means you did not sufficiently impress in the interview, and so they chose other candidates over you). This kindof bogles the mind...you should have been doing mock interviews, recording them on video, studying your flaws and working to improve them before you EVER go to an actual interview...just seems like all kinds of lack of preparation and willingness to work hard on your part.
Why should they hire you OVER the kid with the 3.8 from MIT ? serious question...
Probably pretty screwed unless you go to UT Austin and are in a "demanding" major
UT Austin isn't a SEC school
Oh yeah oops, I just remember Bama OC Sark going to UT and got confused
As a SEC guy myself, unfortunately I won’t respond to your email w that gpa. There are just lot more “proven out” kid in whichever of 14 schools you are from. Trying to get one or two kids a shot at the goal a year and it better be a good one
gpa is too low. best bet would be do a “valuations” type role at a big 4 or other accounting firm and try and lateral or go the MBA route. i broke in from a non target and have seen a few folks do it this way
you are good just network hard, i come from a similar non target and low gpa with no experience situation, but all worked out.
just remember to work hard and it will workout someway
Honestly, even with the warmest introduction imaginable and being someone that is willing to take a chance on non-target kids, I would look at you with an extremely skeptical eye. I mean come on man, the competition at your school is no where near the cream of the crop and you still only managed a 3.2? Not that you have to be a genius to work in IB, but it shows you’re just lazy, plain and simple.
Time for a few less beers at the Saturday tailgate and a few more hours in the library if you want anyone to take you seriously.
UGA seems to be becoming a target or semi at my US BB. One group head or MD went there (not in my group) but I remember during placement last year (when we were ranking who we wanted from a pool of analyst interns that had already received IB offers) being shocked at the number of UGA kids there were on the list.
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