Should I Just Give Up

Fuck that, keep pushing man. You only need one opportunity to make it happen. Keep going at it, nothing good comes easy.

Thank me later.

Take the GRE. Hopefully you can do better with that. A lot more of the T20 business schools are taking those scores in lieu of the GMAT. Good luck and don’t give up!

People love a good underdog story. Grind and earn your opportunity.

There are stories on here about non targets and community college transfers making it on here. It all comes down to how badly you want it. You need to prepare extensively if you want companies to even take a look at you.

Keep pushing. I fought my way from a back office role to front office. it is doable just takes a lot of networking.

Fuck no dude. Network. Focus on building skills (modeling courses, taking the SIE, etc) and grind dude. I'm in the same boat as you, but recently made a great connection that will be a proponent for me. Keep talking to people and doors will open. It takes time and doesn't happen overnight.

I gave up. I was four years out of undergrad, I had tried on and off for five years to get a Front Office job of any kind. Over a thousand applications, 100+ cold calls. I had a low GPA from a state school, I was terrible at interviewing, I had little in the way of network. I was working at a corporate finance job I was stuck in and was applying to almost any job trying to get out. I felt really sorry for myself.

One day I decided to give it one last run, I spent hours on my resume and got it professionally reviewed on here. I thought through my strengths, wrote down a targeted list of Banks and teams I wanted to work and could add immediate value and started sending targeted cold emails. Not hundreds this time. 10. The 10 that I could add the most value to. One of them picked up my resume, he was an MD who had a tough run on the street but had bounced back to a BB. He gave me a chance.

Now im in my second year at a top Hedge Fund, my experience here and working for my former employer have been invaluable. My career is forever changed for the better. Im happier, more fulfilled and feel as if all the pain I went through was more than worth it. I love my job and im surrounded by those who love investing as much as I do. Its competitive and meritocratic, what you put in is what you get.

Dont worry though, you can give up. Its so easy. Trust me.

Don’t give up. I worked as a trader for a shit firm for 2 years with shit pay until I jumped. It’s all worth it in the end, one person gives you a chance and you take the baton and run with it. I even moved to a different country for that first opportunity to break in... it will all be worth it in 5 years

NEVER GIVE UP. if this is something you want, don’t let anything deter you. if anything, think of your shitty background as an opportunity to write an awesome success story to inspire others. I’ve got a 2.2 major gpa and a overall 3.34. not much better than u Not that I’ve succeeded yet or anything, but I’m never gonna give up and it’s a thought that you should never consider. what’s more impressive: Wharton hardo with 4.0 gpa and all extracurriculars getting into GS, or community college kid getting into GS - I actually know a guy who made it from community college

think about it, your gonna have a great inspirational story to tell

I expected to get shit on - thank you all for your motivation!

Actually, a lot of the advice here is quite bad. Instead of looking for an emotional pump-up you should decide for yourself what is rational. Do you want to work in "finance or consulting" or do you want to make a decent living and be respected by members of your community? If the latter, there are many possible ways to succeed in this, often much better than beating a dead horse. I don't know about your specific situation and if the horse is actually dead but I wouldn't get influenced too much by a forum dominated by characterless college students.

Everybody has goals and dreams, some larger than others. Some of these dreams, though can never be achieved People keep talking about underdog stories, but for every underdog there are several who don't get in. There comes a point in life, however, when you should move on and try to carve out a different path for yourself. It's not wrong to try, but if you dedicate your whole life to this, you will miss out on the joys that come with your career now. The fact you are making this post shows some doubt as to whether it is worth the effort anymore. If you don't think it's worth it anymore, don't force yourself to continue. Sure there might be more money/prestige in high finance and consulting, but you have to work far longer, will have very few hobbies, and you would have to leave all your current friends. Don't underestimate the things you already have. The grass may not be greener on the other side.

perhaps try to diagnose what parts of the gmat are troubling you. also, think deeply why you want to do IB or consulting - which one do you want to do (they are extremely different, and each requires a very different way to prepare), do you want to be a career banker/consultant or do you have other plans down the line/this is simply a stepping stone. in the former case, why do you want to be a career banker/consultant? for the money/prestige? then that is probably the wrong reason, because the sell-side (yes consulting is a service, let's be real, you're selling) actually doesn't pay that well compared to many other paths you could have. the fact that you can't decide between consulting and banking means that you probably don't have any real passion or even understanding of either, so it doesn't make sense to say that you want to be a career banker/consultan because it's actually what you want to do. so, let's say you want to use this as a launching pad. then you should think deeply about what exactly you want to do after a few years of banking/consulting. in fact, in might be easier to find a job directly in the field you're targeting (or it may be possible to pivot to that field from something other than banking/consulting), as opposed to going from IB/consulting. diagnose and analyze your problem, your goals, and design a way to get there. don't get hung up on banking/consulting just because they seem to offer many exit opportunities., otherwise in a few years you'll become confused again/feel like you made the wrong career decision even if you get a banking/consulting offer now.

Then what? Stay in a job you don't seem to like and eat pizza on the couch after work every night? Especially if you're in good physical and mental health you should certainly not give up, at least not because you read "some of the stuff" written by a bunch of kids in a much worse position than you're in.

If that is truly the attitude you have than 100% give up, you won't make it. If you want more attention from people, then demand it, stop being a pussy. If you want to whine and doubt yourself, than you deserve no attention. People in way worse situations didn't give up, why would you? Because it's the easy thing right now?

I cannot even fathom how anyone can just "give up" on anything, especially not something so important as a career. If it isn't what you really want to do, of course I get that, but if it IS what you want, how could you even imagine giving up? I just can't process that concept. NO YOU DON"T GIVE UP! Go listen to David Goggins and man the f- up.

I'm in the same boat. Coming from a blue collar immigrant family, I never really knew about the preparation one needs to break into the industry. After finding WSO about a year ago, I hustled and manage to land a CB internship. Unfortunately, it was canceled about a month ago due to COVID.