I was criticized and ridiculed for driving 4 hours to have a coffee chat with an investment banker.

Stop caring about what other people think

I think it looks like hustle, anyone that criticizes you for that is a gatekeeper and likely hasn’t experienced struggle. I would have done the same.

I did the exact same when I was in school, don't let this weird dickhead deter you. Keep at it, it will pay off. 

Your language you use makes it seem like you are desperate so it’s likely that he just chose the fact that you drove so far as a scape goat.

Many of us have been through a similar struggle and have taken trips to other states for networking. For example, my school program flies us out to nyc for a week for networking events.
 

People in ib and pe both drive and fly out to places all the time for meetings with clients. 
 

It’s normal man, don’t let some schmucks post get to you 

Dm me - I’ll point you to a few places that would kill for this kind of hustle.

Anyone who gives a fuck or judges you is an autistic cuck. Unfortunately banking is full of these little shits

Bro met himself

Bro is doing a psyop on us

People in these comments obviously didn't see the other thread

There’s a famous story about Chinh Chu - former Blackstone partner and legendary investor. Came from nothing, went to a non target school in upstate NY. He got his first gig on the street by crashing Cornell recruiting for Salomon Brothers. He offered to drive the MD who was interviewing Cornell students back to the airport. Convinced him on the ride over, got the gig and the rest is history. 
 

you have to do what you have to do. No one faults hustle and people who have had to work for things respect people who work for things. 
 

There’s nothing wrong with traveling to do meetings. My team recently had to wake up at 5am, rented a car and drove for six hours to get lunch with a client and tour a factory.  
 

We have folk at all levels flying out from ny to west coast, Europe, Canada, and Asia for meetings all the time. So anyone who judges you, a college kid who has plenty of time to travel regardless, is probably just a paper pushing cog

Only become some people are out of the loop lol:

https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/job-search/a-kid-drive-4-hours-to…

The people making fun of you are 100% right on the merits. Driving 8 hours for an informal ~30 minute coffee chat is completely irrational. I would be aghast if you did this to meet with me. It reflects poorly on your judgment and self-respect.   

Relatedly, your attitude needs improvement. Don't ever say "I have nothing to my name" to anyone again, including yourself. You're a winner and banks need you on their roster. If you can't say why, you're not ready to interview. 

Firms want to beat their peers in a competitive auction for talent. They do not want broken spirits with no discernable prospects. Desperation makes people recoil since it indicates that the market has already spoken (negatively). Enthusiasm and work ethic are good, but so is poise and maturity. Panhandlers are hungrier than anyone but no one hires them for these jobs.

One more point. Make sure you have a rock solid understanding of investment banking and a convincing explanation for your interest. Waxing poetically about a job you don't understand is a great way to nuke your candidacy (and make me laugh at you).  

People in ib regularly travel far distances to meet with people who they could have easily done a zoom or phone call with lol
 

It’s not a bad look, so don’t stress over this. Whoever you met with that doesn’t understand this concept is probably a bean counter anyways. Don’t work with someone like that. 

Fuck that -- keep the hustle up dude.

As others have said, we literally travel long distances to meet with people for an hour (often less) to "catch-up" to stay top of mind for mandates.

Whoever gave you a hard time for that was probably a junior who just started the job. Very common to travel to chat with prospective clients in IB just how you travel to find prospective jobs. 
 

Do not get dissuaded by people like this and keep doing what you’re doing. You have the right mentality.

OP sounds like he's one of those awkward autists. I could see it being hella awkward if some guy drives like 4 hours to meet you for a super informal chat and you're an associate who thought he was just a guy from the city looking for info. Then he shows up looking awkward, sweaty and having nothing to talk about despite being horny as hell for any possible job lead, which you've indicated you can't give him. 

At that point I would be like bro, you gotta learn how to prospect efficiently because this aint it. There is nothing wrong with traveling for an interview but it sounds like OP has nothing going for him, has no discernable pitch for why he should be hired, hasn't actually identified any high value networking opportunities and is just driving around the eastern seaboard way too horny to talk to people who wont hire him, without having any actual plan for once he gets there. 

And yes, there are stories of people who have done stuff like this and made it work. Those people were talented and charismatic, which smooths all things over. OP is clearly neither of the two. He's a dud. A long-range, interstate dud missile flying city to city just to show up and fail to detonate.