Sophomore Student Asking For Help and Advice

Hello everyone, I'm about to start an off-cycle in a boutique PE team for several months, and I've got 4 days begin it begins. I want to be better prepared and also ensure that the prep I invest in helps with 2027 IBD recruitment. I have a question and would sincerely appreciate any help!

For context: 

I am a year 2 undergraduate student studying business in APAC (think HK/SG/CN). I have not started at all on preparing for 2027 recruitment for the USA/Canada/Hong Kong/Singapore/China, but I am beginning now. I'm not sure where to begin, but I was thinking of starting with building models and learning technicals through doing (I am therefore considering to purchase the premium package from WSP or CFI's FVMI, which is presently on sale and cheaper by 200 USD), and then going to the 400 IBD questions (or the WSP redbook), and finally preparing for the behaviourals and storytelling, then finally doing mock preps via some online website. Meanwhile, I will begin networking through LinkedIn messages, asking for phone calls and going to coffee chats between now and July 2026. All the while, I will be working on my off-cycle. I currently have a ~3.4 CGPA as a year 2 student who has completed Year 2, Semester 1, and will be going into Year 2, Semester 2 upon the completion of my internship. I will then likely be going on exchange, so this GPA will not be changing until I return in year 3. I have previously completed 2 other investment management boutique internships and a short investment banking internship at a regional middle-market. 

Questions:

  1. Would the Wall Street prep premium package or FVMI be a better option for my case?
  2. Would this be a good progression for prep, given that I have about 6 months before the start of the recruitment cycle?
  3. Is GPA going to be a big concern?
  4. Is there anything else I can do to maximize my chances?
  5. If GPA is a problem, should I cancel my exchange/shift it to year 3 instead in order to boost my GPA more?

I would really appreciate any insight or suggestions, thank you so much! 

Which Financial Program

WSP
50% (1 vote)
CFI FVMA
50% (1 vote)
Others (Please tell me, thank you so much)
0% (0 votes)
Total votes: 2
1 Comments
 

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