Diversity recruiting - where am I going wrong?

Half venting, half genuinely wondering. I’m currently a sophomore at a lower tier target, and I’m taking Ls left and right on these diversity programs.

I think I look great on paper? 4.0 gpa, top leadership positions in multiple clubs, 2 finance internships, polished resume free of errors, etc. But I’m striking out every time.

Most recently I was ghosted by dbAchieve and the GS possibilities summits. The thing that puzzles me is that these were just a resume drop and a short essay, so I don’t know where I could’ve messed up so bad.

The only things I can think of are:
1. I’ve applied to most of these relatively close to the deadline (few days prior) instead of right after they open. Definitely not doing that with SA apps as they start to open up, but could this be enough of a reason for all these programs to cut me?
2. Haven’t networked for any of these. Was under the impression HR handles most of this stuff and the bankers don’t get too involved at these stages.

Curious if anybody else has had a similar experience so far. Apologies for the rant, and congrats to everyone who has made it through these. Just want to know how I can improve.

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

Maybe you could try to apply based on merit instead? Since that’s how life works 

 

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