You shouldn't be focused on your first year salary - or honestly on your first year tasks. Try to imagine yourself 5 years down the road, those are the goals you should be shooting for. If you think you want PE then you're probably making the right call. If you'd rather be more in operations then maybe you've made a mistake. Don't over think it now that you're committed - you're probably just having a bit of buyer's remorse.

Crank this summer and see if you like it - if you hate it and still do well then trust me, other jobs will be lining up to give you a shot with a great BB SA stint on your resume. Keep your consulting networks active and keep your options open if you're really getting cold feet. You're going to be fine.

Also - congrats.

 

A couple of things.. You probably should get off WSO.. Real bankers don't use WSO..they either have work or have a social life.

Take everything you read on this board with a grain of salt.

Secondly, congrats, you should be really thrilled. Having worked at one of those banks, it's a great experience. And you might hate it - but you only have to do it for 2 years.. In hindsight, banking is one of the best experiences you can have out of undergrad.

Unless you had MBB, that's the only thing comparable to a tier 1 BB IBD offer.

Smile, be happy your in the top 0.5%, and prepare to work your $ss off. Just have fun with it. It will be a blast, theres tons of hot tail and the SA stint is just really fun.

With GS/JPM/MS you'll be a top feeder to HF / PE .. !!

 
Best Response

Well first, let's debunk some myths:

1) In consulting, you do not travel to a different city each week. You travel to the same damn city and go to the same damn office and see the same damn people until you want to pull your hair out. It's not glamorous. You're not there to tour the city. You're there to work. And even if you do have time to tour the city, most likely you'll just be going out for a steak-and-wine dinner with your stuffy-ass client and then crashing at your hotel. Alone. And waking up hungover. And no, of course this anecdote isn't from personal experience.

2) Owning an apartment in a good area of Boston/Chi/Atlanta is not cheap. The hot areas of Boston have rent costs on par with SF/NYC. Chicago can be equally expensive. Yeah, you can definitely afford your own apartment in those cities but you won't be living it big. Most likely you'll still be slumming it in a shared apartment for your first few years.

3) Office politics a the Big 4 can be nasty.

The grass is always greener. You wanted to kill for a BB offer. Now you'd kill for a consulting offer. It's not going to be as glamorous as you think it is.

PM me if you want to know more. Was in a Big 4, and close friend was in Deloitte S&O.

Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 

I know of a decent number of people who did IBD SA this past summer and then went through full time recruiting at Deloitte for consulting and got it. At least at my school its really hard to get a summer offer from Deloitte so thats a more common path for people set on consulting. I don't think you've closed off that path at all yet.

 
cooldurg:

I know of a decent number of people who did IBD SA this past summer and then went through full time recruiting at Deloitte for consulting and got it. At least at my school its really hard to get a summer offer from Deloitte so thats a more common path for people set on consulting. I don't think you've closed off that path at all yet.

Agreed, go ahead pursue your summer offer at the BB. You can always go for consulting during FT recruiting. Very common for top kids to switch from BB to consulting after their junior year summer.

Robert Clayton Dean: What is happening? Brill: I blew up the building. Robert Clayton Dean: Why? Brill: Because you made a phone call.
 

If you really want to do consulting then get a return offer at the BB and re-recruit FT at MBB- seen it many times (particularly if it is GS/MS). The consulting lifestyle is not nearly as lavish as you make it out to be- cities traveled to are not usually that desirable, you are there on business (as was said above), and you are there by yourself.

 

OP - if you're truly regretting your decision before the game even starts, feel free to PM me if you want to setup a time to chat. You have the opportunity of a lifetime, don't predispose yourself to what others say around here.

I did banking at a top-tier BB - one of the firms where you landed an offer; I'm very glad I did it. I can share with you to provide some motivation.

 

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