A change in direction, help needed

Dear fellow monkeys,

I am a 23 year old guy from Norway, currently studying in France at one of the better business schools. Before leaving Norway, I had a tough decision to make - whether to aim towards a career within finance or a career within consultancy. During my bachelor's, which I did in Norway, I majored in finance, and I loved it. Also, during the last semester, me and two friends did a business strategy case study on my dad's company together, and that strategy case became one of my proudest works.

After my bachelor's, I decided to go for business management and more qualitative skills than quantitative skills. Unfortunately, I regret it now.
I am in a master in management program. The program consists of three years, with the first one containing of general courses and no specialization, the second of an internship year and the third one is where you do an MSc within a specialized topic.

The first thing that made me realize that I was more into the financial work was during a business game we had last November. I was managing the financial department in our company, and we noticed that the other teams were struggling with getting the basics of the financing done, while I could do the basics quickly, before looking for ways to gear the other departments (marketing, R&D, production etc.) through tactic strategies. We ended up winning the business game, in which 650 students competed.

I left the finance thought for a while, but picked it up again during the Christmas holiday by purchasing the 499USD package from WallStreetPrep (got a discount thanks to this site by the way), and have been toying around with it since, and I find it very interesting.

As for my academics here in France, I am doing pretty well. I have a GPA right below 4.0, but given my current efforts this semester, I have a fair chance at getting it bumped to 4.0 this semester. It is not that I don't find the quantitative part of business entertaining, it is just that I am realizing that I would love to break into IB.

The good thing about my situation is that I have the possibility to do exchange studies and also up my profile during the summers. This summer I am applying to Harvard Summer School, where I plan on doing a finance based course. During my internship year, I think I will do 6 months exchange in Asia (alternatives are Hong Kong, South Korea, China), before doing 6 months internship somewhere.
For the last year, the MSc year, I am planning to go for an exchange to a school where I can do finance, but I would benefit from some help.

I can go to LSE and get a diploma in accounting and finance. I know that this is not a MSc, and I am wondering whether it is worth it? Furthermore, I can do an MSc in finance at Durham. I am a bit tempted by going to IIM Kozhikode in India to follow their post graduate program (PGP), since they claim to have 30% recruitment within the finance sector, and also with investment banks.

As I feel like I am jumping from one train to another right now, I am a bit frightened. At the same time, I am glad that I have realized what my dream career path looks like. I would love to get some input from you all. If anything is unclear or needs elaboration, do not hesitate to ask.

Regards

3 Comments
 
Best Response

Dignissimos illo perferendis dicta et. Distinctio et voluptates enim fuga. Incidunt praesentium enim accusantium corrupti. Corporis architecto aut quis fuga magni.

Quos cumque perferendis aut qui eos assumenda deserunt ut. Reprehenderit explicabo et consequuntur. Aliquid qui aspernatur voluptatibus eos omnis eligendi amet. Dolor quis quo sunt vel dolorum nobis. Illum aut sed consectetur et incidunt minima. Qui fugiat aut dolor in cupiditate asperiores qui.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”