Job prospects out of UCLA?
Hey guys, I'm heading to UCLA in the fall as a transfer in the Math/Econ major, and am aiming to work on wall street as an analyst after graduation. I'm planning on taking an extra year there (they gave me a substantial amount of money to enroll there) in order to have one summer to study abroad (hopefully LSE) and one summer to intern.
But for now I'm just learning everything I can about finance through reading a bunch of books and WSJ/FT. I'm going to network hard once I get there and attend recruiting events and do everything I can to keep the GPA up.
How is UCLA in terms of getting a job in finance (Ibanking mostly)?
Thanks a lot
Which banks recruit at UCLA? There's your answer.
There are some good alumni. Might want to start from there.
For ibanking I know Citi LA and RBC SF recruit at UCLA
Why not reach out to Larry Fink? I see BlackRock in your future
I knew several analysts who went to UCLA at BBs a couple of years ago. Not sure if anything's changed since then (in terms of recruiting).
you will be fine for LA banks, although there are limited spots so you need to start early by doing internships and networking your way into interviews. SF or NYC will be pretty tough unless you have some strong ties to tech (in SF's case) by have an EE/CS degree.
All the BB banks recruit at UCLA, but there's also tons of people who want to go into banking from there. About 10-15 people each year go to BBs. Read into that how you want to.
Moelis, DB and BlackRock recruit at UCLA too, for some reason, they don't go to USC. All the other BBs should recruit there too...
Okay thanks a lot guys, really appreciate the help. I would love to work for a big bank, or even BlackRock would be awesome
Other than just trying to dominate my course work, what other advice would you give to me in order to position myself to get the best positions?
Career events, reaching out to alums, etc? Any advice will be def appreciated.
When I interviewed with WF in SF, 3 guys were there from UCLA
UCLA Placement @ MBB LA Offices (Originally Posted: 06/20/2011)
Does anyone have first hand exposure to the LA offices of MBB, and can you speak to how well UCLA MBA places locally? Do you even have the option to say that you only want to be placed in that particular office? Or would you be dismissed out of hand for not being open to working out of a different city? Also, obviously entertainment is a big industry focus in that area - what are the other big ones? Health care?
You definitely have the option to ask for only a single office preference when applying (at least this was true when I went through 2 years ago). This will not hurt your candidacy as far as I know.
BCG's West Coast offices (LA/SF) are staffed together, so there is a good amount of variety in project work (tech, industrial goods, financial services, etc.)
Check linkedin looks like lots of Anderson grads in MBB LA offices. I'm pretty sure if you are in LA they are recruiting for LA and if anything it would be more difficult to get jobs outside of LA.
I interviewed for an MBB's LA office (internship) and yes, I can confirm that there are a good amount of Anderson grads there.
Awesome, thanks for the confirmation folks.
Bump. Is it safe to say this is still the case? And would it basically be HSW and then Anderson MBAs in the LA offices?
Oh definitely. UCLA and USC all place people into MBB.
At McK, I met several UCLA MBA grads. I would estimate 3 hires per year for full time. Did not ever meet a USC MBA though.
As long as you crushed the interviews, it didn't matter where you came from.
Great, thanks for the insight.
UCLA to LA IB? (Originally Posted: 01/28/2007)
How solid is a UCLA Anderson MBA when it comes to landing a position in Los Angeles IB? What about NY? Does UCLA have any clout on the east coast, or is its influence pretty much regional?
TYVMIA.
Anderson does better with LA than with NYC, as most banks send their LA ppl to recruit there.
That being said, that does not mean every newly minted MBA places into CS LA and UBS LA.
NYC would involve a lot more networking.
Go back East for MBA if you want to settle back East. It's just easier.
What you say definitely makes sense. I'm thinking I want to settle in Southern California, but might like spend a couple years in NY for the experience.
I'm deciding between a few MBA programs ranked 5-10 (i.e. not HBS, Stanford, Wharton, MIT) and UCLA Anderson, which has offered money.
I regretfully have zero i-banking experience, but am determined to get my foot in the door. Assuming I want to stay in So Cal, I'm wondering if it's ridiculous to turn down higher-ranked programs for UCLA.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Anderson just placed 3 summer associates at UBS LA and 2 at CS LA.
UCLA is very close to many of the regional offices of LA banks. With that level of proximity you should be able to easily network your way into a Summer Associate position.
Again, if you want a NYC position, banks still come out here so you won't be locked into any one market.
Is UCLA a target? (Originally Posted: 12/24/2011)
Is it?
For an LA office yes. NYC not so much
for California.
But USC tends to be more of a target than UCLA for some reason. I think it has to do with having an undergraduate business school and the demographic of the student body. UCLA students tends to be more "academic" and more likely to go on to grad school for a PhD or whatever while USC students are more "professional" and want to get into finance or whatever and start making money.
Semi
The most accurate term is probably "Regional Target." All the top shops have at least a resume-drop there, but (almost) all the spots are for LA or SF.
How to break into Banking at UCLA. (Originally Posted: 07/09/2010)
Hey guys,
I'm brand new to this site with this post being my first. Im currently going to be a sophomore at UCLA in the Business Economics major, and I am wondering how I can break into the IB recruiting scene there. I have a 3.97 through my first year plus summer school, im in good old SAS(student accounting society) who are brainwashing me to think that working as a public accountant at EY and PwC is the only way to go in life. I really have no idea how to get involved with the Bank recruiting on campus. What steps should i take to try and land an internship(preferablly a BB) in this upcoming summer 2011? If you want to see my resume or anything like that jus message me. Im open to all help.
Thanks
Dude, you go to UCLA and you only have a 3.97? You're fucked.
A decent amount of West Coast groups recruit out of UCLA. It's much harder to get to NY.
1) Get out of SAS. They convince themselves that Big4 accounting is the Holy Grail. 2) Get involved with the Undergrad Business Society and get in touch with the i-banking mentors/officers.
3) Get into the i-banking workshop.
4) don't listen to your professors, friends, or other bus/econ kids that are pushing you to do big4 accounting. give them the finger and pursue banking.
I am a UCLA grad so shoot me a PM if you want.
Generally speaking get involved with the UBS as stated above. Keep you grades up and try to get a internship this summer or during the school year. Get that accounting minor too. Being as though its your freshman summer and will be sophomore school year shoot for anything finance related internship. Even something that's unpaid and 10-20 hours a week will be good. It displays youre interested and gives you opportunities to build upon before recruiting for the real summer analyst positions that open up during your junior summer. Use the career center website to look for jobs and when late fall/early winter jr year roll around be on the look out for those summer analyst gigs. Plenty of kids get banking jobs out of UCLA, its really not that hard if you set yourself up properly.
oh yeah, just as ke18sb stated, get an internship ASAP during the school year or over the summer related to finance. Even if it's just wealth management, that'll do. Most people from UCLA i know did WM internship during the year, then banking internship, --> banking FT.
Soon to be UCLA student (Originally Posted: 05/14/2007)
I have mostly been a lurker in this forum. Reading a few posts here and there.
I haven't done a lot of research into this field. But have definitely considered it as a field I would highly desire to enter because of my long term goal of becoming a venture capitalist.
As a transferring student from a california community to UCLA this fall, I think I may be at a strong disadvantage because of my weak background in accounting. I have taken the basic two financial and managerial accounting courses. What kinds of classes would you recommend for me to take to give myself a better advantage in the upcoming nov/dec interviews?
I understand that I need to know DCF, comparables, the basic 3 statements, balance sheets etc.
this is not meant to be snobby however the fact that you are from a cc is a huge disadvantage. i wouldn't disclose that on your resume if i were you. as far as the classes maybe you can take some of the management classes this summer or econ 106f or 160 those might help you brush up.
I don't necessarily agree with that comment. He/She is going to be at UCLA now - in my opinion, in the eyes of a recruiter, this could be seen as someone who is driven and motivated to move up. I'd think it would be hard to go from a community college to UCLA with a 3.0. It's not about where you start, but where you finish. He's getting a degree from UCLA, which is all that really matters.
Regarding the weak background in accounting, I wouldn't necessarily consider that a be all, end all to a career in ibd. I came from a Top 10 liberal arts college, from a non-econ/math/finance/any other related degree background and it worked out fine for me.
Any bright kid could do this stuff - what's just as important is to show that you have solid quant skills, you're driven, passionate, a hard worker, and are sociable and not a douche.
Don't pretend to know everything about DCF's, comps etc. Know the basics, but more importantly speak to your strengths and be able to tell a compelling story about why you want to get into this business.
This is probably a bit of a cliche, but I hope this helps.
cubemonkey you clearly don't know about the california college education system. one doesn't stand a chance if recruiters know you are from a cc especially for a summer analyst position. maybe after you do a year at ucla and kill it grade wise then one can overcome the cc. however who is going to give a kid a summer position that has taken no classes at the school. not to mention tranfering into ucla and getting in out of high school is night and day. everyone knows this including recruiters. i'm trying to help the kid out here by letting him know to avoid the cc issue as much as possible.
Thanks for the input thus far. I understand its an industry about what you know or how you can figure something out. But I just want to be prepared for interviews this coming fall. I'm sure being a UCLA student has its advantages such as the presence of on-campus interviews. Moreso, than I can get from my community college. I just need the direction to really make myself stand out in the crowd. Which is why i'm trying to get an early start.
i'd check out the ucla career center website and try to get a gig this summer at a small regional botique, the ucla website has it fair share of jobs like that
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