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money

Yeah. Hardos give the industry a bad rep and make it more difficult for normal people to get the job. The freshman in college spending 20 hours/week prepping for IB and 50 hours/ week on classes and never going out just makes it much harder for a normal person to get the job. Not talking about frat stars, but just a run of the mill smart kid who enjoys going to a bar or a party. That person then has to up their own study time to not look like comparative shit on the technicals and networking and then 90% of your coworkers are just lame fucks. People who have no desire to have fun and socialize in college carry it into IB (my own opinion based on others in my class coming into IB with me). If the hardos would just chill tf out, everyone could have more fun and still get offers.

Maybe I'm a boring person or some shit, but I'm relatively proud of my ability to land my gig and not be a no-life. 

idk it gives someone a goal to go for. A lot better than drifting through college w/o direction

You said a lot there. I’m also in HS. I’m not 4.0 but I’m close enough. I could end up at a target but we’ll see. Now since I’m not a banker I can’t answer to your comments however i can give you my position. Personally I started to take interest in Finance and business at a really young age. It started with Corporate Law and wanting to be lawyer and i continued to explore from there. My interests spread from Law to Business and finance etc. I’m not from an affluent family at all so my interest did not form from my parents. I just found interest in economics as someone else might find interest in Dance or history. I know what people say about how “every guy is going into finance” or “we need more doctors” but I really found it interesting. Aspects of the business world clicked. I learned more and more over time and a lot of what I took was very interesting. Now as for IB. I guess If you had asked me 6 months ago if I wanted to be an investment Banker I’d say YES! I would try to explain everything I know (likely sound retarded) and I would tell you about “My pLAnS tO ExIt InTO PRiVatE EqUiTy or S&T.” You get it. I’d sound like everyone else. To be honest, I’ve lately felt discouraged. I still think I want to go into finance. I live in Manhattan and my “Obsession” hasn’t really changed. Wall Street is what I want to do. But It’s changing for me. I’m not set on being and investment banker at all. I would love to work on Wall Street in what I like and in what makes me money. I think I’m going to have to wait and see by the time I’m in College. Things I believe are going to change. I’m not sure what work will be like in the next 5-6 years. Things don’t change drastically but I feel it may be different. No, I don’t believe it’s the end of the world and that PE and everything is gonna fail and die but I believe IB will be looked at differently and that I need to keep my options open. I would talk more but I don’t wanna waste your time seeing as I’m not really answering your questions. So really all it is in MY perspective is I’m not so fucking in love with IB. Yes I would take a job of fucking course but I’m not obsessed. I hope you understand what I’m saying I don’t know if I even do but whatever. We’re both in HS so keep your options open. When I say that don’t take it as “settling”. If you want to work in IB there’s nothing wrong with that. So “keep your options open” doesn’t mean lose interest i finance, it means keep your head your shoulders. I’ve always been afraid of fucking settling bro you have no idea.

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would honestly consider u a loser also... being on a WSO as a high schooler, let alone ranting on it.

I have a question though. Do you think IB is in its state right now because of the Hardos? Like that’s not it’s only attribute. From what I’ve seen the mix of people who say there going into IB range from hardos to people who simply are quite so to speak. Like I’m pretty optimistic about the culture and I’m not sure why. I’ve never seen it so I have no place to say. It’s really what I read on here and other places that people seem like they could just relax a bit. I’m not relaxed at all but I’m not a hardo Douch. People seem very quick to jump into action in the wrong places. Maybe it’s misplaced competition. Idk

can we ban high schoolers from the site?

What the fuck. You high schoolers get weirder and weirder... no one gives a shit about your opinion regarding other students who choose to spend their time as they wish...

I’m sure you sacrificed your 4.0 gpa and 1600 sat to party every weekend like you said.

money, ambition, low risk tolerance, wanting to impress peers

If you’re reading Graham and Dalio in high school, then you are definitely “obsessed” and probably a hardo. At least you know what you’re interested in though, more than most can say at your age. 

Your love for finance is a joke. Wanting to be a banker since high school is cringey and one dimensional.  

Multiple reasons why.

I'm not smart enough for the hard STEM stuff. I like money. I'm risk averse. I actually know what it is and I think I'd be good at it. I'm good enough at math, know excel blah blah and good at grinding through all-nighters of work so I could be good at the junior level. I'm good at connecting with people and sales so I think I'd be good at the senior level too. I'm not particularly interested in, nor can I afford grad school.

I'm probably going to get MS but it's the truth. Everyone on this forum says just have fun be a kid. The intentions there are good, but having a specific career in mind and targeting that gives you a path and it gives you structure. It gives you a reason to work hard, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Plus, for naturally competitive people, you have to realize that there's already a shit ton of high schoolers on here. Many of them will be recruiting for the same roles I will be, so if I just leave WSO I'd give them a leg up and I can't let that happen.

Finally, don't hate on hardos and people that want to grind if you're relying on nepotism.

They don't

“I’m so cool but every other wannabe investment banker at my school is a loser except me I’m very cool and normal and special. Also I’m too dumb to get into a good college”

You sound autistic, not gonna make it for sure

Jesus Christ, i hate you

@ WSO please let this site be only for professionals, i don’t want to help these high schoolers who aren’t even at good schools

Yo, I’m not going into IB because I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do immediately out of college, but holy crap—I didn’t even know WSO existed or what investment banking was until my sophomore year in college. My background is super different than majority of y’all (i.e. my parents never went to college so I had zero guidance for my career). I think you should see the context of your situation. Reading what you posted, I wouldn’t say you necessarily have the right to be frustrated. I mean...the fact that you’re aware of so many things at such a young age reveals that you’re more hardo than you realize

Because they watched Wolf of Wall Street once and thought investment banking would be all drugs and partying and then they realize it’s really just sitting in front of a computer for 16 hours a day and moving logos around in ppt

This isn't common in HS at all. I went to a fairly good public high school and nobody knew what the fuck IB is outside of the few who's parents work in finance/law. Sounds like you're living in an extremely privileged area / go to an elite high school where "general consciousness" of IB and finance is higher than average. 

Prob money/prestige. 

It's a prestigious job along with doctor/lawyer/etc. so prob for the same reasons people pursue those roles.

If you know what IB is in HS, then you probably are in a well-off neighborhood/HS and if you've expressed an interest, probably someone has pointed you to that direction. Who tf would tell you to look into a back office job lol

Jeez, firstly, learn to be concise. Secondly, you are talking shit to people who are committed while you, a non-obsessed finance kid, can "potentially pull something off in the future" due to daddy's or some other family member's connections. At least respect people who work hard.

P.S. For everyone here who doesn't see the quotation part, it is because he edited his post.

Jeez I thought people were joking when they said this board has highschoolers on it

When I was in highschool nobody knew wtf to do or wanted to be anything when they grew up cause we were all young and dumb and full of energy

‘WTF is wrong with high schoolers who are obsessed with IB; oh by the way, I’m in HS and here’s why I’m obsessed with IB’

Don't know about the high school you attend, but one of my cousins who is still in high school says what the cool kids talk about is entrepreneurship and how to get accepted into Y Combinator or the Thiel fellowship. They know what IB is but few of them have any interest in pursuing it.

Just another well-connected High School douchebag that thinks shitting on people that are working hard for their dreams is funny

delete

I am kinda in the same boat as you. I'm a high school senior but I didn't really drive into finance until last summer when I found IB. I thought I wanted to be a doctor but I now know I like finance more. My family pushed me into medicine cause doctors are always needed but I just can't see myself sacrificing more than eight years to go into a TON of debt. I grinded for all of high school mainly because in my boring city there's nothing better to do than smoke weed. But I think it has been worth it!

At 15/16 years old, every Asian teen goes through a rite of passage known as choosing career. In an attempt to look magnanimous, Asian parents give you a whopping 5 option, namely doctor, lawyer, engineering/tech, finance, or scientific research. Becoming a doctor pays well and has respect but going through 8+ years of schooling and accumulating a crap ton of student debt isn't feasible for many including myself. Scientific research is cool until you realize that it doesn't pay enough (exception to this is pharma/biotech research). Being a lawyer seems cool on TV, but most of the lawyers that get paid the big bucks never even see the inside of a court, which is probably the best part of being a lawyer. Tech is probably a safe option but when all of your peers simp for FAANG + M and your parents and everyone else you know is in tech, it doesn't have much of a novelty/coolness factor. This leaves finance as the definite option. Also helps if you have a genuine interest in the markets, investment, current affairs and economics. I say this now but come college apps time, I will still probably end up applying to schools as a CS/CE major.

noone at my hs knew what IB was.

Everything you just described is right. We are all monkeys here. Don't make Investment Banking into a big scary thing. Big tech is the wave rn, not big banking. 

Dude you guys need to chill the fuck out and go smoke some weed and maybe touch a boob. I can’t think of a single person in my entire high school experience who ever went to IB, let alone knew about it in high school. just fuckin work hard and build social skills. You’re already reading this site. You guys won’t interview for like three years. You’ll know the technicals. I’m concerned you won’t know how to be a normal person. IB is just a sales job at the end of the day. Go work as a salesperson at some retail store and learn how to conversate and be normal. Work out and stuff. Skim WSO in your free time. Stop glamorizing this industry. The happiest investment banker still would rather be doing other shit when they’re at work. I think the combination of fin memes and Wolf of Wall Street made every little kid want to be a banker. 75% of bankers are dorks.

Jesus fcking christ how do high schoolers even know what investment banking is? I'm going to take a wild guess and say they don't, and just read on here that IB is the most prestigious and well paying finance career and have subsequently developed an "interest". I didn't even know wtf finance was when I was in HS. Boys, we are in for a real treat in a couple years when these try hards start reaching out for coffee chats. Can't wait to hear about how your interest in M&A started when you were 10 years old. Kill me now