Non-target college student at a loss. Please give me any advice you can.
First off, I'd like to thank you for thanking the time out to read this post and help me in any way you can.
Background: I am currently entering my junior year of college at a non-target university but due to attending a dual-enrollment school as well as passing several AP tests I have the option of graduating early. (As soon as the end of this semester.) Something to note is that I have a full-ride scholarship at this university.
Dilemma: This past summer I received three internship offers; 1 in a finance role and 1 in a product management role at MasterCard/Visa/American Express. In addition, I received an offer at a boutique PERE firm in an acquisition role. I ended up taking the PERE role and was verbally told that they wanted to keep me on after graduation. It turns out that they felt the need to hire someone in an Asset Management role and as such would not be able to make me an offer by the end of Fall semester and told me that best case scenario they "could" hire me at the end of the Spring semester. According to them this is all dependent on how well fundraising goes from now until the end of spring.
Does it make sense to wait around at school until Spring or possibly senior year to possibly land a role at the firm? My school is a non-target for buy-side or IB roles so the chances me stumbling upon another opportunity like this are fairly low when you take the fact that my GPA is not exactly great into account. On the other hand, my school is heavily recruited at by F500 firms for fldps, banks for MO roles, and other positions such as the product management role so I am fairly confident that I could land any of these jobs if I choose to graduate this semester.
Advice: transfer to a target school
It's not too late to transfer in my Junior year?
I don't know your exact situation here, but something tells me even if you could transfer to a target school, you wouldn't be able to make the grades. What you need to be focusing on now is finishing school and leveraging your job opportunity. Just my two cents.
I scored a 2100 on the SAT, have a 710 on the GMAT, and a 4.0 GPA. Sure my SAT and GMAT are not the highest possible but I am fairly confident that I could make the grades. If you came to the conclusion because I attend a non-target then it'd be important to note that I am here because familial circumstances led me to attend the school that was free.
I didn't mean to sound like a prick, but get real. Do you think Harvard or Berkeley will be any easier if you're struggling to pull a 4.0 on a full scholarship? Buckle down, finish your degree, network like crazy, and work your ass off to find the best job you can. School brand doesn't really matter until graduate school. If you're mature enough and have the right experience at the time, your grades/ug will matter I lot less.
Think about it--you transfer, you give up your scholarship and over a year of your life. If it's a private or out of state school, you may need to retake a bunch of credits. You may never get that investment banking offer, and even if you do, you'll realize that the cost of living will quickly chip away at your salary.
In the end, it's going to be your decision about the way you choose to live your life. If you really fell strongly about it and have assessed the risks, I say go for it.
Edit: Most schools have different polices about transferring and may not accept you. If they do, you might be forced to retake a bunch of credits or have a certain number of credits remaining. There are ways around this--such as declaring a similar double major/minor before applying.
Thank you for your advice, that being said I feel like you failed to address the crux of my initial post. Transferring was not even part of my post, my question is does it make sense to wait around on the chance of converting full-time at the PERE firm I interned at or should I not risk it and go for the P&G/BoA/J&J fldps and other OCR opportunities? If you have any advice concerning those options I would love to hear your thoughts.
Can't you do both? Networking and OCR while interning through the firm?
I currently am. Maybe I'm not clear/descriptive enough. I am currently still an intern at the firm, they said that the best case scenario of them hiring me full-time would be at the end of the Spring semester (May/June) but this is not guaranteed. If given an offer through OCR this semester what should I do? What would you do in a similar situation? That is the decision that I need help with from people with experience and have possibly gone through something similar.
I would pursue OCR/outside networking and use outside offers as leverage. You're probably thinking, "but I ultimately want to at the REPE firm, this would be counter-intuitive".
Look, if that firm is going to push you around and hold your offer in front of your face, fuck them. Show them you've got initiative, work your ass off, but pursue other companies, even other REPE firms. Why bust your ass and focus on one group of people who come off like they don't give two shits if you get an offer from them or not?
Once you've got offers, and especially ones from other REPEs, you can approach your internship managers and tell them you're interested in their firm, but that you have deadlines to meet on these other offers. If they push to give you an offer, they're interested and are willing to negotiate; if not, screw them and go with the other offers.
You'll be much happier starting at a company that actually cares about your well-being.
I want to work at the PERE firm if possible but is it too much of a risk to wait around and turn down other jobs?
Doloremque quasi et consequatur dolores. Enim est ut officiis et aut beatae. Ullam est pariatur sit mollitia dicta.
Eveniet aliquam est exercitationem harum totam similique sed. Saepe velit atque qui. Minus eius consequatur reprehenderit qui non quas.
Est officiis ad accusantium dolor quisquam facilis. Harum maiores inventore debitis corporis et et ex consectetur. Autem qui laboriosam quo consequatur consequuntur consectetur beatae. Id beatae alias nobis et.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...