Trending Content - Investment Banking Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
October 31, 2026
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
High Finance Applications
Guaranteed
Get at least one offer GUARANTEED
- 1:1 support
- 92% success rate
- 2,000+ mentor network
- Unlimited Live bootcamps
- AI for resume + LinkedIn
- Networking automation tools
- HireVue simulation tool
- Full course library
- Private Slack community
- 20hrs of mocks
- + much more...
It's gonna be really tough. Like Illinois, UC Irvine will be great at getting you into finance at an F500; it will be a real stretch to make it into IBanking.
Start making connections and start applying early- go to Berkeley's, UCLA's, and Stanford's career fairs if you can sneak in- but for trading, it comes down more to the resume and interview than anything else. You may have to do a stint in middle-office or a non-bank for a few years before you get hired into an NYC BB front-office group.
I know student from UCI and a junior banker who graduated from UCI. It will definitely be an uphill battle, but not completely impossible.
1.) College students get 16 weeks of vacation every year. IBankers get 2-3 weeks if they're able to use all of it. When I heard about 90 hour weeks in banking as a college student, I would laugh. "Haha, I'm an engineer. I've done that for 'big projects', too!" Today, I realize that it's a lot tougher to work 90 hours/week without three months of summer vacation.
2.) The difference between Illinois and NYC are like night and day- particularly in the winter. NYC is undriveable, has little open space, and people here are... different. The differences between California and NYC will be even worse in the winter. This is going to make you feel even more depressed than a 90 hour/week job will.
I know you're really ambitious right now. When I was a college Junior/Senior, I was ready to take on the world, but that changed for me and most people I know. Today, I realize life is a lot more complicated and it's important to have a job that you enjoy- or at least don't dislike. You find a lot of smart people in finance at F500 companies- the only difference is they only have to work 50-60 hours/week.
It'll be difficult, but worth a shot. Definitely try to take any work experience you can and bankify your resume. Try to work in some stellar ECs if you can, like starting your own company or charity, anything that shows you've got real business skills.
Anyway, if you don't get in this time, isn't the end of the road. You could always try to get into a target b-school and apply as an associate from there. Jamie Dimon didn't start off in a BB grad program.
Maiores occaecati distinctio ut temporibus repudiandae veritatis. Nesciunt mollitia atque facere vel.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...