Wall Street possible for kid out of the middle of nowhere?

dude, you dont need to be on wall street in order to be successfull

loads of opportunities in europe

many good austiran and russian banks where (i guess) you come from

i would look for corporate finance at big oil companies or something and make some good contacts well if you are smart and fit, you will make it much further than in WS you might even become an oligarch somewhere..

however, if you are a type of kid that is good at studying, but cant really use your brain to figure stuff out without the book - good luck with the further school programs and target/semitarget schools and stuff.. its a legit route, but much less exciting and time consuming

and with the decent network, you dont need that MBA from the target school ofc, if you are using generic templates and are "eager to learn more about exciting IB industry" and "show your genuine interest" - better push the learning thing.. it should be the safest thing, although you might be shooting too high mentioning HBS and Wharton.. broaden the view

make your own way.. you dont have to be a small part of the machine and regular routes that is for those that are buying into pedigre stuff and prestige

No. Find a way to come to the United States first.

Apply at the exim bank, get an internship, then see whats up...

Go Ops.

thank you guys for your comments

@animalz you're probably completely right with that make your own way approach, but the thing is i'd somehow love to study or work in the U.S.

@James yeah that's what i'm trying to do...

@creative at my country's exim bank? why?

@G.M. what is Ops?

hey cruel3a, thanks for your post.

1) that sounds like a good option to me, the only problem I see is that the only top MSc program related to IBanking at LSE is the "MSc Accounting and Finance" which is exactly the same MSc I am doing right now here at home ("MSc Finance and Accounting"). so after that I'm gonna have two identical soundig MSc (while LSE > my university of course, but still ...?) what 3+2 degree did your friend exactly do before he went to LSE. and did he/she do the Accounting/Finance MSc at LSE ?

2) i'm from austria by the way so no ex UDSSR country (and therefore no russian banks or oil companies here), and since I don't really want to go to germany it's gonna be difficult ...

thanks !

In England they do not care what you have studied as long as you went to a top school. So you can attend the MSc in Economis, Finance, Finance & Private Equity, Management, Financial Mathematics, International Management, Law and Accouting and so on. For instance, an alumni of my school studied Law at my school, then she went to LSE for the MSc in Law and Accounting and after that she joined a BB in London. 2 years there and then MBA at Wharton with a MPA at Harvard and now she is in another BB in NY. Obv. this is a top class example but this track is possible.

I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of good place where to start working in Austria and I'm also pretty sure that if you can reach an high GPA you can try to get into top consulting, Big4 or other top companies (i.e. Red Bull) that can help you to get, later, into a top MBA: Btw, why you did not go for your MSc at WU? It is not a target school as HSG in Switzerland but it is the best school in your country...

hey cruel3a, thanks again for your help!

I am actually doing my MSc at WU right now, but it's far from an international target school... This MSc will not help me anywhere except for my country. Of course there are top consulting, Big4, or other top companies (yeah Red Bull) I could try to get in, and this will probably be my plan B, but I'd really prefer to leave the country after my MSc.

I really like your top class example track of the law alumni. LSE MSc --> BB London --> top U.S. MBA --> BB NY, this sounds very tough but kinda motivates me. I could at least give it a shot. However I read on this forum that the Accounting and Finance MSc at LSE still is the best MSc if you want to get into IBanking. I'm afraid recruiters will think I am crazy if I go for an MSc (LSE) in "Accounting and Finance" right after I did an MSc (WU) in "Finance and Accounting" ??

thanks again!

They will definitely prefer someone with an MSc in Financial Mathematics to someone with an accounting background because it sounds more difficult and less boring. Btw, I met in this industry people with background in History, French, Math, Chemistry and so on so what you have studied is not a big issue as long as you avoid the MSc in Accounting and Finance for the second time.

Anyway, if you google "Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien linkedin Goldman Sachs" you will find a lot of people that went from WU to GS and I'm pretty sure you can find a lot of other people that went to other top firms.

Finally, you have a BSc and a MSc from the top university in your country, you are fluent in English and German so I'm pretty sure you would already be on track (if you had an high GPA) to get a summer internship.

The above looks like good guuidance.

That said, you could also look into UniCredit and Raiffeisen in terms of ibanking. Obviously neither are huge players but it is a good way into the business and you are definitely a viable candidate. UniCredit runs internships out of london and munchen so you could even make it over to the Uk and start there.

Just something to consider.

hey guys, thanks for your advice. I'll probably try to get into UniCredit/Raiffeisen during my last year of studies over here and then I'll apply for that Financial Mathematics MSc at LSE. if you say I would already be on track (with a high GPA) to get a summer internship, are you talking about BB on WS? because I do not have any work permits. do WS BB even recruit internationals who are not in a U.S. MBA?

off-topic: how come you guys know so much about banking/universities in my country?

No, I was talking about SA or Offcyle internship at BB in London. Of course you don't have any chance, without previous working experience + MBA from top school, at WS.

Cause I'm a follower of this website :). No, cause I've been studying at BSc level in the middle of nowhere in another country but did my MSc in a school which has a strong partnership with WU. About banking cause I've been there for some months before going in another direction.