I Go to a Target School, Now What?

So I see a lot of posts that cater towards students at non-target universities on this forum. As such, it seems that there is not a lot of discussions coming from people that actually went to a target school. I think a lot of us assume that it is easy to get a job coming from a target, but I doubt that this is actually the case. I think it would be a safe assumption that a job in IB is not easy to get regardless of what school you go to. However, I want to hear from you guys that went to a target school.

What was your process like? Was it as easy as some on this forum say? How did you leverage your school/connections? What are some of the misconceptions that you see on this forum about target school students?

I would like to say here that I myself do not go to a well-known target school. Instead, I go to a semi-target and because of this, I face a lot of the same problems that kids at non-target schools face. However, I thought it might be interesting to see what the processes of others is/was like.

19 Comments
 

Eh,

I think kids at non-targets have it much harder simply because the alumni and connection base is weak. If you go to a target or even semi-target, it shouldn't take long before you find someone that is in IB close to your graduation date. It also helps because a lot of Wall St is repetitive in terms of educational backgrounds so if they see the same frat or school, I'm guessing it is much easier to pull your application.

Along with this I think the sheer competition at targets/semi-targets helps since you have a better information base and more people that are going through the same thing (I understand it also hurts you because they're going into the same thing).

 

The BB;s are going to come to you...to be on the safe side, network with a bunch of alumni who work for them just os that you have a more clear understanding of the roles and the functions of the bank and see if you can get them to give you a referral too.

 

I really don't see how you think target schools kids need different advice from non-targets. The advice given to non-targets applies to kids at target schools as well. Keep a high GPA, get relevant internships, network, etc. Targets simply just have larger alumni bases to reach out to for networking and there's OCR for applying to internships. If you don't think kids at targets, esp. at super competitive ones like Cornell, NYU, USC are networking and chasing relevant internships, then you are just being naive.

 

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