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If you want to be an investment banker, then just start investment banking. If you don’t know how to investment bank, then best may be to start learning how to do that. Good luck :)

 

Network network network. Coming from a semi target will be a huge help. Keep your GPA above a 3.7 as best as you can (but don't freak out if it's below that).

Find which clubs and orgs banking kids at your school are in and try your best to join them. Technical prep for your interviews should also help you with this if these clubs are competitive to get into.

Lastly, IB is not life or death. As someone who just joined several months ago, I'm very glad and grateful for the spot I'm in. But also very cognizant that there's plenty of other finance jobs out there that pay well and allow you to live your life how you want (and if that happens to be grinding for 2 years to build your career then you'll do fine in IB).

Best of luck!

 

afaik 3.7 doesn't really cut it anymore--maybe for diversity

nondiversity: soft cutoff is closer to 3.85-3.9

Had a 3.95 at a target with solid ocr--got looks from some BBs and 0 looks from EBs 

 

I got in from a semi-target, making above street in a tier 1 city and planning on exiting to VC. What worked for me was networking a ton. It didn't land me the job but I learned a lot about the industry and how to deal with/interact with bankers which gave me a leg up in interviews and gave me confidence. Studied hard for interviews, tried to genuinely understand what I was studying versus memorizing (took a few months to get to that point). For a long time after first/second round rejections I felt like giving up but I set tangible targets (having X networking calls a week, applying for X number of jobs, etc...), and eventually that consistency got me a better offer than I thought I could possibly get (the group I wanted, in the city I wanted, in a firm with good culture). A big part of my success was being myself in interviews instead of trying to just be a robot, and learning to just be better around people in general (going out more for dinners with friends, meeting new people, etc... developed my social aptitude in a way that I feel really helped for interviews).

Also get some finance internship, it's pretty easy to land a tiny boutique internship if your school has a decent brand name and you reach out to enough places which goes a long way on your resume. Good luck 

 

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