Hi all,
I'm currently a freshman at an SEC school majoring in business (finance concentration). I know getting a decent job in the financial industry will be tough coming from here, but I want to put myself in the best position possible. If I have to get a MSF in order to boost my chances, that's fine.
I currently hold a 4.0 (will be around 3.9 at the end of the year), and am involved in a fraternity. What other activities can I do to help me stand out? I understand I will need to be very strong academically, but what else should I do? Any advice from anyone else who went to a NON-target (emphasis on the non)?
Thanks, I appreciate your help.
Do whatever you have to do to get relevant internships. That is probably the biggest thing. Maybe you might want to sign on to a brokerage firm just to get your Series 7/63.
If you go to a SEC school, one with a decent BBall program then you cannot consider yourself completely non target. I am sure there must be a ton of alumni working in the industry. Start looking on Linkedin and your alumni database. Good luck.
Thanks, Anthony. I don't have much planned for the summer, is there anything I can research/study to give myself a better understanding of the industry?
message me
If you haven't already, start networking with alums... this is key.
Other than that, just keep your grades up, get some relevant internships, get involved in your school's finance/investment clubs etc... no real secret here.
And what type of SEC school are we talking here? I would imagine a school like Vandy gets at least a few BB and MM firms to come recruit, and I know even UF puts a decent number of kids into BBs each year (for a non-target). But I would guess a school like Ole Miss or Miss. St. hardly gets any recruiting and places very few kids onto Wall Street.
Not a Vandy or a UF, but not Ole Miss/Miss St.
Yeah, whatever school you go to really, just make sure you start networking with alums; I really can't emphasize that enough. You can have a 4.0 GPA, with great experiences and extra-curriculars, but if you don't have someone on the inside helping you out, no one will ever even take a look at your resume.
I just did a search on my linkedin for the University of Kentucky, financial services and banking and I found 4004 people. Granted, I am sure some of there will be crap.
Auburn University - 2528 LSU - 2303 UMiss - 2500
Yes, this is not scientific nor perfect and yes, a lot of these people are not doing IBD, BUT the key thing to realize is that you do not realize how many people are working in certain places. Linkedin is just one avenue. I am sure local firms will be better bets, alumni networks, etc. Key thing to remember is that you are not helpless or without a chance, you just need to put a little effort.
When you finally get that shot and they ask "why you and not someone from XYZ college" make sure to tell them how you moved heaven and earth for this shot and will continue to do so if hired.
keep the grades up and network...if signs are bad next semester, transfer to a UVA type school
Agreed with everyone else. Learn what you can in your finance classes, maybe audit or just crash / sit in on a few upper level classes on modeling, trading, computer science, math...etc. These really helped me stand out in interviews coming from a non-target, when they'd say "What questions do you have for me?" and I'd start talking about some advanced class and ask them a bunch of questions. By the end of most of my superdays, I'd go into the interview and they'd just say, "So, heard you had XYZ class, didn't even know a class like that existed, what kind of stuff did you learn? What do you think of this market? How would you handle this situation?"
Oh, and network.
I'm sure that with at least a 3.9 GPA, you could transfer to a top state school (UVa, UMich, etc). It'll be harder to transfer to an Ivy, but it's worth a shot as well if you're really worried about recruiting. I know that you might have already established yourself at your SEC school, so I guess this is sort of a last resort type of thing to consider.
Learn what you can, I'd look to see if there are any local asset managers or PWM guys you can intern with to get a start on a resume, use your school's network (what SEC networks lack in quality, I'd imagine they partially make up for with size), use your fraternity's network. Transferring is also certainly another viable option.
sounds like alabama ,auburn or tennessee
to be honest, you aren't going to make it to a BB solely based on graduating with a 3.8+ GPA from your school. if i were you, i'd become very active in my fraternity, obtain a leadership position, and maybe even run for student government. the greek system is king in the south, and many if not most of the south's powerful businessmen and politicians were greeks. it's a veritable old boys network, and if you get in, you'll be set for success (in the south at least)
He goes to south carolina. It says in his profile./
well, then take my first sentence, "to be honest, you aren't going to make it to a BB solely based on graduating with a 3.8+ GPA from your school", and double it.
I'd transfer if it's SC. OP, with that GPA, you could transfer to some solid schools. I'd consider it.
PM me.
I believe Tennessee has a top 10 logistics/lean processes program and good accounting program. So, if you are stuck at your school, try to do a niche degree that is well respected.
Honestly, no one cares if your university is 50 or 100 on USNWR, or that it has a great program in lean manufacturing or agriculture. Anything you can learn in college, you can learn faster and better by reading a few books. Colleges exists to teach you how to think, not to teach you anything, and can be broken down in to three categories:
-Those that teach you how to think. -Those that teach you how to think, and throw in a prestigious name for an extra 100k. -Those that don't teach you shit, but give you a worthless associates degree so you can call yourself a college grad
South Carolina is one of the former, as are the majority of other colleges. It's a waste of time to argue over which one is higher ranked, has a lower admit rate, has a higher SAT percentile, etc - there's a reason we have the NCAA, to settle disputes like that.
The advice on the above comments is pretty useful. The (remarkably civil) discussion of which SEC college is higher ranked is not useful.
Great Point Drexelalum, and he is right SECfinance and in retrospect I sounded stupid with my post above. Do what you are interested in and do it as well as you can and paths will open up to you.
OP, I just did a quick search on LinkedIn for USC alums in investment banking, and I found people who were at Goldman, Barclays, BoA, Wells Fargo, etc...
So yeah, definitely try to get in contact with as many of these people as you can.
If you're going to a strong engineering school, it might be a good idea to get the toughest quantitative degree you can get from there.
Here what you should do:
because you shouldn't bother wasting time chasing something you'll never achieve.
so who would have thought
IlliniProgrammer tells the OP to get an degree in engineering SirBankalot tells the OP to commit virtual suicide
BIG surprises on WSO this morning!
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