Going to Amherst College next year... why are all the LinkedIn IB profiles former athletes????
Ik amherst's alumni network is very small compared to its ivy competitors but ive heard on a size adjusted basis it does pretty well (along with other LACs like williams, swarthmore to an extent i think?). anyway, i was searching google for "amherst college" + "investment banking analyst" or "summer analyst" + "linkedin" and literally 90% of the profiles ive came across who were working at bulge brackets/EBs/some top MM firms etc. were varsity athletes at amherst, usually playing lacrosse football volleyball or tennis (sometimes crew but i think thats a club sport at amherst). ive known that wall street loves athletes, but this came as a big surprise to me cuz literally the VAST majority of the linkedin profiles were athletes at amherst, and even if they didnt put their team under their college description, a quick google search of them + amherst would bring you to an amherst athletics page usually.
anyway so I was wondering am i screwed if i am not/won't be an athlete and want to break into finance from an LAC like amherst? Ik that in these top LACs like up to a third to 40% of the student body are athletes. So will banks/firms really pass over me when they see an athlete that's just as good (Or not too far behind) me? Or will I be fine if I network really hard. I know there are quite a few liberal arts guys so i was wondering your opinions. @NESCAC"
You don't need to swim for crew...?
yea
Regardless of whether there is a swim test or not, I highly recommend that you learn how to swim if you want to do crew in the case that the boat capsizes or you accidentally fall off.
I would recommend learning to swim regardless.
Front office IB essentially looks for three things above all else:
Very smart people, but they don't need the smartest - the work's not that intellectually rigorous
Charismatic, presentable people who aren't awkward around clients
Competitive people with incredible work ethic
The above should make it fairly obvious why, in general, athletes place relatively well into IB. You already mentioned the high proportion of athletes in small LAC student bodies. Then consider the self-selection aspect, where students who go to a smaller liberal arts school are probably less inclined to pursue the prestige of IB than their name-brand Ivy peers. I'm not surprised then, that the majority of Amherst bankers have athletic backgrounds. But none of that means you'll be inherently disadvantaged without one. If you find another way to demonstrate your work ethic, you'll have plenty of opportunity.
And for the record, there's no swim test for crew. If you're swimming, you've done something very wrong.
This. As long as you graduate with a good GPA you will get an interview at essentially every bank on the street. History and American Studies majors have gone to JPM, etc. from Amherst.
take swimming lessons jesus christ 70 percent of the earth is water
Things you need to know in order to be a man:
1) How to ride a bike and swim
2) How to kill a bear with your bare hands
3) How to use Excel without a mouse