Graduated from an Ivy, no job, feeling hopeless, not really sure what to do

They dont just hand the IB internships out, even at ivy leagues. Put more work in or maybe recontact the buyside shops you worked at and ask them for FT?

Generally things are rarely "over" in life. Rarely has a ship truly sailed away with no way to recover. 

It's worth noting that your GPA unfortunately probably one of those things that has sailed away. In a sense, you are stuck with it. But that doesn't mean you have to be weighed down by your lack of motivation or poor previous performance. 

Firstly, it's worth you taking responsibility for your current spot. You have the academic prowess and smarts to get the Ivy League degree, but weren't able to perform at your best while you were there. An Ivy League degree in itself is a huge achievement and should be something you're very proud of. At the same time, it's clear to me that you need to put more work in. 

The way I would think of this is that maybe IB isn't for you just yet. You have to spend some time building your resume before landing that IB analyst role. Consider applying to jobs at the shops you previously worked for, in corporate banking, corporate finance at publicly traded companies, or in another transaction related space. 

Additionally, consider that you might want to do something else entirely. I wouldn't think that resigning yourself to a MO or BO position will make you happy, so maybe consider what other roles you'd be interested in. 

If you're adamant about IB though, work in an adjacent space for a few years then apply to IBs. That ship probably has not yet sailed.

Why didn't you put in any effort to recruit for IB? Why does your gpa suck? You need to answer those questions to yourself to understand if you really wanna do IB.

My real world advice is to either omit your gpa or just straight up lie about it. I went to an Ivy undergrad and had a lower gpa than you and got multiple job offers through OCR.

I was also able to get into an Ivy b school with that gpa.

From a semi-target with a similar GPA as yours, I wouldn't necessarily rule out middle office. You can always use that as a stepping stone into IB, like I did. Used my credit risk background to pivot to DCM, and recently lateraled to coverage. 

MBA -> Associate?

I would widen your search to more than just IB. you shouldnt have a problem getting a decent job doing something else with your background

I'm assuming you went to Penn (I believe thats the only Ivy that has an undergrad finance degree). Wharton is literally the top UG business school in the world. The odds are stacked in your favor despite your lowish GPA. Just keep at it man, its simply a numbers game from here. Keep grinding the coffee chats/networking, connect with alum and former classmates, professors, etc, and send your resume to every single opening. You'll be fine. 

Start a business/do a startup. Thank me later in 5 years. Worst comes to worse, you have a nice story for b school. 

Hey OP, just wondering, do you actually want something in finance? And if so, is it sort of just to be in finance in general? Specifically in IB? Or you want IB for a foundation or stepping stone to something like PE or HF? 

This might be a bit presumptuous, but just going by your post, I get the vibe that maybe you’re going for finance cause that’s your major, and all your buddies are in IB? 
 

Either way, I think you still have a some good things going for you (even if it’s been 9 months). You’ve got an Ivy league background and HF and PE internships. You have some options. Like some others have noted - things aren’t always linear, so ship hasn’t sailed if you want IB. 
 

All it means is you may need to take a different path to it. MBA is an option. Yes the GPA is on the lower side, but you can crush the GMAT, and work towards building a good resume (interesting resume with depth of experience, leadership exp, etc). Also, if you’re just targeting IB, it’s not like you need to target H/S/W. 
 

But let’s focus on what you can do right now. Like some others, I would suggest casting a wider net… IB hiring out of cycle is admittedly tough. So you can consider other corp fin or general finance programs within industry.
 

Or, because Fintech and Tech/SaaS is so hot now for IB coverage, you could also look at working at startups. Usually at startups (particularly earlier ones) people’s roles can be quite broad - which enables young people to build a lot of varied experience (maybe be told to just “figure shit out” on things… which can lead to ownership of projects with a fair bit of responsibility). You could end up building a pretty cool resume which may be attractive for MBA down the line, potentially a unique industry-specific profile for IB (or consulting), or maybe early stage VC roles.

Mate, I am about to graduate from an Ivy with a lower GPA than you and I recently accepted an offer after many interviews and rejections. Never ever give up. I doubted myself so much in every way. And there is more to my storey that I can’t say (for confidentiality reasons), but most people would have easily given up if they were in the situation I was in less than a year ago. You sound like you are determined and are grinding. That is good. I got similar advice to you: “get an MBA or a masters in finance,” “get a similar role then break in later,” etc.

I did not want to go to more school or wait a year to break in. I knew deep down that I could do it and I just had to grind really hard and be patient. Fortunately, it paid off.

i think what you need to do is start off by checking yourself and what you are doing. Are you really networking as hard as you are? Are you applying to IB roles only one in city, one group? One type of bank? There were many weeks where I knew I could have tried harder in networking. Before you try something different, make sure you’re leaving no stone unturned in your current strategy.

Do some online certificates. They really don’t mean a lot, but show that you have initiative. What level of roles are you applying to? Are you trying to come in as a lateral or a first year? I think a first year maybe easier. Have you reached out to your prior internships? I don’t think you need to take a BO or MO roles. Don’t be afraid to expand your geographic horizon. There are so many banks out there. Once you get into one, you will have created an opportunity to jump to a bigger one.

These points are not new. But it’s easy to forget that landing a job is a numbers game. The more apps you do, the more likely you are to get an offer. And you should make a 3 year plan. If you don’t have a plan then you plan to fail. I made a couple plans because I felt my future was unclear. What do the next couple of years look like for you if you get the role the role you want? What about if you land a job outside of IB? What if you go back to school? That helped me a lot because I truly felt lost, but having a plan helped ground me and gave me something to work toward. It does not have to be detailed, just what are the next steps.

There were many times I felt like I wanted to give up and I was so insecure but do not give up. Take a break if you need. Remind yourself that it is just a job. Surround yourself with family or friends who make you forget about the whole corporate world. There is a lot more to life but we can get caught up in the rate race. And most importantly remember that you are great. You are not great because you went to an Ivy, the Ivy chose you because you are great or had the potential to be great. I always thought to myself, I could be homesless or whatever, but ima damn for sure make something of myself—I don’t need no ivy to tell me that Name is great. I know I’m great. You can’t all it cocky but sometimes you need to ride your own cost tail to give yourself that confidence boost.

You’ll need to network, but the market is hot right now. I’d take a targeted approach find boutique and middle market banks and reach out to decision makers. Make a list of 25-50 places you’d like to work and then find alumni in senior roles. Are you dead set on IB? I would look at real estate too.

How did you get such a low GPA from Wharton? They inflate like crazy over there. I'm assuming Cornell Dyson also inflates a ton.

It might not be your fault, but you need to get your story together for potential employers. If it was a personal family issue, let your interviewers know. Don't let them assume you're dumb.