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Of course it matters, but just focus on what you can control.
^ In what ways can a non-target student stand out during Superday interviews?
...
Be the best person interviewing. Absolutely nail your technicals and your story for why this job and this firm, and make them like you more than they like other candidates. Come off as driven and motivated, and able to handle the job.
From my experience it can change the questions you get in interviews. For example, I have received variants of this: "Are you proud of your GPA at your school?" But, if you interview well and better than the other candidates, they are not going to choose the other candidates just because of their school. As long as you kill the technicals you should be on even footing.
It matters a little. I mean firms are looking to hire a certain number of kids from certain schools so the conversion % is probably better. Can't change that so focus on nailing the interview.
chances are, if you're at the superday already, your school doesnt matter as much as how much they like you. this is factored in by several different things. just know your technicals, know why you want to work at this bank, look good, stay sharp, and be the best guy to interview with them.
So, I go to a non-target, state school, and at a Superday last year, I got asked "Did you get into better schools?"
What is the best way to answer this question?
Well, did you?
I'd say yes if you did but you chose your school because you couldn't afford others (true or not, this is probably a safe answer), and if you didn't I'd say you didn't bother applying to others because you knew this type of school was all you could afford.
I have been asked a variation of this multiple times, "why did you go to school xyz?"
My answer is something along the lines of "I loved the campus, they had a reputable xx program (hopefully finance) which is appealing, it was closer to my family and I was able to save money / get scholarships. That said, I wouldn't have changed a thing about my college experience if I had to do it over again; I feel that xyz school did a great job of preparing me for abc career path"
nah your school doesn't matter. Once you make it to super day your past experiences have no impact on the bank's decision.
Kinda. I remember one Superday I had last year in the Midwest, everyone there was from a top level school in that region and maybe less than a handful were not from those schools. Still, it is a numbers game and you do you best to make a great impression and so on...
Only if you make it about that...
It does matter, since the people interviewing you will check which university you went to. If you're not from a university they like, that's a minus. Does it matter a lot? Not at all. I've done a superday this fall and I was up against Oxbridge/LSE as a non-target. I was the only one who got an offer.
Note that many students from target universities have an oblivious sense of "entitlement". They feel like the firms owe them an offer just because they are in a top school and are top 30% of their class. Guess what, nobody cares about your academic achievement if you don't show any serious interest in the firm/area/people. Those who want it enough prevail, given the opportunity.
Definitely still matters. Use the inevitable question as a chance to further emphasize/stress your strengths.
I feel that your non-target may help if you go to a flagship public state school with a good sports program/greek scene. You'll probably already be a cool guy as a by-product of being a student there and it's a great story.
Think of it as an advantage!
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