Is it easier to be recruited as a female w/o undergrad prestige?

I'm a high school senior that will be attending Barnard College in the fall. Is it still possible for me to be recruited into IB or consulting without the typical undergrad prestige? I know Mckinsey does recruit at Barnard though

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Absolutely. In my experience doing superdays, it was always something like 90% male 10% female there. If you know you want to do banking from now, and you take the time to both network since you're in NYC and apply to diversity programs, you should end up with something very very good. I go to a top target and girls here who decide to do banking super late still end up running the table.

 

Every firm has diversity processes that'll give an offer to any decent girl, so you're fine.

 

I wouldn't say "easier". The process will definitely be less difficult than the average white cis male, but using your identity as a gateway isn't necessarily always successful, you still have to jump the hurdles of networking and applying. At Barnard, it is still a liberal arts college, and you'll be competing against Columbia students for prestigious banks like GS. While Barnard is getting better at attracting recruiters, it is still a semi-target for some firms, you have to take advantage of the city and resources at Columbia. Barnard is not a finance school, so be sure to study on your own time. There is strong interest in consulting from what I hear. Also you are an incoming student, so don't worry about it, you still have to figure out consulting/banking it seems. There's a lot of time for you to explore careers through clubs and info sessions.

 

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