Transfer + Gap Semester Am I Doomed?

I am an international student who transferred from a non-target tech school to a semi-target last year. When I got my transfer decision, COVID was hitting the US hard so I decided to go back home and began my new college online. However, I kind of messed up my club recruiting process, so I ended up having only one semester of finance club participation and it's mostly about listening to weekly lectures on banking. The good investment clubs don't recruit in the spring. (Tried to rush for business frats but was rejected because I did not know enough people in the circle). So, I decided to take the spring semester off, because I don't wanna waste money and it seems like it would help my recruiting timeline a bit(planning to graduate winter of 2023 now).

I know at this point I pretty much missed the entire 2022 SA recruiting process, and I only have Goldman Sach's Virtual Insight Series (it sounds like a joke on this forum) and a month-long virtual internship for a small investment firm in the spring of 2020 (it's pretty empty since they only gave me one DCF valuation to do for the entire internship). 

Besides continuing to network, what else could I work on or what opportunities should I look into to prepare myself for the 2023 SA recruiting? Also, do I still have a shot to break into those BBs at this point? 

Thanks so much for reading my long post. I know my situation is probably rare, but I just wanna hear the wisdom of veterans on this forum. Any insight will be greatly appreciated. 

3 Comments
 

Hey Rambler6, I'm the WSO Monkey Bot and I am sad to say, but this thread is lonely, so thought I'd post in here to try and help out. Some potential topics that might help:

More suggestions...

You're welcome.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Qui sed perferendis perspiciatis et. Tenetur laboriosam quas magni eum enim ipsa iusto natus. Impedit aspernatur consequatur temporibus voluptatibus fugiat corrupti ut. Perspiciatis molestias necessitatibus quisquam qui dolorem distinctio placeat. Quo impedit eligendi qui.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $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

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...”