Stories of late bloomers

This thread is inspired by a post in another thread. I love hearing stories of people who were considered "underachievers" and "mediocre" when they were younger and then eventually end up being successful.

Back in high school, i knew this kid who went to a rival school. The dude was a total slacker, just spent his time goofing around, hanging with the wrong crowd. The smart kids made fun of him for being a loser. He went to the flagship state school and got his shit together. He studied physics, did very well, and went to the Phd program in physics at Harvard. After getting his master's, he decided to leave and took a job at Goldman Sachs doing quant strategies. I was absolutely floored when I found out about this. Just proof that you can't judge a book by its cover.

11 Comments
 

Absolutely agree. To add to this, I know plenty of prople whoe went backwards too. Those who were all stars in highschool and uni, and who ended up doing nothing later on.

 

Most of the people I know who were idiots in school still are and have either gotten pregnant, or gotten someone else pregnant.

-------------------------------------------------------- "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcom
 
ke18sb@illini

I'm sure that kid is happy as hell living an amazing life. He probably has a more mature and developed outlook on life than most on this forum.

Absolutely; he's also a poet. That said, his parents are really pissed at what's happened and there's something to be said about getting burnt out too early.

PARENTS: Don't push your kids too hard. Also, it's best if one of you works only part time and spends some time with your kids.

 
Best Response

I thought you were talking about me here: " The dude was a total slacker, just spent his time goofing around, hanging with the wrong crowd." Except, you didn't mention the copious quantities of weed.

Yeah, I was really unmotivated and probably depressed in high school. I think a lot of it stemmed from social anxiety and introversion. I didn't want to go to college but I had a feeling things were going very wrong in my circle of friends and I enlisted in the Navy. 5 years there gave me the time to grow up, get some discipline and confidence and I came out very much ready to work hard.

So I did well in a JC, transferred to a semi-target (top 25 school with a top 3 business program) and got a pretty sweet job. I know being a Risk Analyst at a BB isn't golden on this site, but it's pretty damn stellar all things considered. Hell, the kids I went to high school with would be dumbfounded that I'm graduating from a college at all, let alone a much better one than most of our classmates went on to.

I think finding your own path keeps you humble and grounded. I'm not going to try to break into IB, I'm going to to do the best I can where I'm at, go to a good b-school (I was only enlisted, but military experience and risk should help me out there) and generally, just find what makes me happy. Actually, I didn't even apply to IB, I'm old enough to work hours that let me live my life.

 
RiskyBizness So I did well in a JC, transferred to a semi-target (top 25 school with a top 3 business program) and got a pretty sweet job. I know being a Risk Analyst at a BB isn't golden on this site, but it's pretty damn stellar all things considered. Hell, the kids I went to high school with would be dumbfounded that I'm graduating from a college at all, let alone a much better one than most of our classmates went on to.

I think finding your own path keeps you humble and grounded. I'm not going to try to break into IB, I'm going to to do the best I can where I'm at, go to a good b-school (I was only enlisted, but military experience and risk should help me out there) and generally, just find what makes me happy. Actually, I didn't even apply to IB, I'm old enough to work hours that let me live my life.

Props man. You figured out what works well for you. And whether or not the traders and capital markets guys want to admit it or not, risk management is the glue that keeps the whole system together.

Working 100 hours a week in IBD is waay overrated. Actually, I can say from experience that working 80 hours a week is overrated.

Thank you for your service.

 

Aut laboriosam voluptatem velit et aut. Doloribus hic ex sed atque cupiditate ullam.

Non nostrum reprehenderit in et corrupti. Itaque repellat voluptatibus et optio velit et non voluptatem. Doloribus ullam quia incidunt odio eaque eos.

Rerum accusantium incidunt repellat deserunt inventore autem est. Accusantium cumque cum officiis culpa aut voluptatum. Ut et distinctio aliquam dolorum. Voluptatem soluta eum soluta voluptas amet ut.

Illo velit pariatur quos ut beatae omnis. Dolorem suscipit sed alias ipsa quasi officia expedita. Fuga assumenda ut odit itaque optio. Quia rem iure et fugit non numquam voluptatem. Delectus doloribus sit tenetur dolor quas.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (23) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (81) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”