Going to non target

I am an incoming freshmen in college and am interested in public finance and going to a very non target, no name college (not quite community college, but it isn't much better), but I intend on attempting to transfer to a target school from my sophomore to junior year. I am supplementing this with extracurriculars, like getting an internship with my democratic senator, where I am one of, if not the youngest one there. I intend on work my hardest to achieve my goals, but I am wondering if other people were in a similar spot, some roadblocks I may encounter, such as when looking for internships in PF, or IB in general as a result of going to a non target, and how to alleviate those.

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I want to echo what has been said above. The Non-Target Title isn’t that bad. Just take a look around LinkedIn and you can see that there are plenty of non target kids at basically every top bank or consulting firm and those kids are in good groups (JPM M&A, MS M&A, GS TMT, EVR M&A, CVP to name a few that Ive seen/know personally). I think being at a target will obviously make recruiting easier and will open the door to buy side ops.

Additionally, I would consider trying to transfer to a target between freshman and sophomore year (I assume it’s hard). Most of the networking you do will be during your sophomore year (in person if at a target or phone calls if at a non target). The target school on your resume isn’t the sole reason these kids get interviews. It has to do with the ease of networking through in person events and ability to cultivate relationships in person. As well as the interaction with upper class men in finance clubs that vouch for you. So when interviews come around, the recruiting team for x target school knows who you are.

As far as getting internships in your current non target area, it shouldn’t be too hard. I always recommend cold calling firms that are local because they prob don’t get very many calls. I did this my freshman year and got a sophomore summer gig there as a result.

This was a little scattered brained as it’s pretty late and I’m watching the lakers get creamed. But if you need any clarification or have any questions feel free to pm or ask here.

 

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