2-Year Military Draft Before Berkeley Junior Year – Is My Finance Career Doomed?
Hey everyone,
I’m a Korean student who got accepted as a junior transfer into UC Berkeley Economics from a community college. Long-term, I’m aiming for IBD or Asset Management (open to either at this point), but I’m in a rather unusual situation and would love some input from anyone who has insight.
Due to Korea’s mandatory military service, I’ll be taking a 2-year leave of absence right after transferring in — so technically, I’ll be entering as a junior but won't actually begin until I finish service.
The problem:
Since I came from a CC, I don’t have any internship experience at all. I also don’t have the option to work while in the military. The only thing I can realistically do is study in my free time.
So I’m trying to figure out:
What’s the best way to leverage these 2 years to maximize my shot at a junior summer internship (preferably MM or above) when I return?
Here’s my current plan:
- I passed CFA Level 1, and I’m considering going all the way to Level 3 during service
- Planning to master Excel and financial modeling (e.g., BIWS, WSP)
- Possibly reading industry reports
- Might try cold emailing for my junior summer internship i guess, but not sure how feasible that is from Korea during military service
Would love to hear any advice on:
- Whether my plan is misguided
- What else I should be doing during this shitty situation
- Whether passing CFA L3 + strong modeling skills would give me a realistic shot at junior summer IBD/A&M, even without prior internships(hate being international student,,)
Been in the same situation myself. I'd make the most of it. No need to grind or do anything during the first couple months just go through the trainings and settle into your base since recruiting is far out at that point anyways. Don't think doing more CFA would be good use of time, would instead go through interview guides, practice Excel and modeling when/if you can (depending on what computer resources you have available at your base), and try cold emailing towards the end of your service while being respectful of the receiver's timezone. Also if you're returning to be a junior at a new school, that's not ideal as you wouldn't have joined any clubs at the new school or have any friends that can help at the new school as well.
Why don’t you stay an extra year in college? Technically you could add another major or just not complete your required classes in time and do this. I feel like not doing the standard recruiting cycle is really shooting yourself in the foot because FT recruiting for the large banks and consulting firms is full of uncertainty.
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