Senior In High School - Finished Applying to Colleges, What Next?

Before anyone says anything, I'm touching grass while writing this post.

I've applied to all of my colleges, and am wondering what I should do in these next handful of months to best prepare myself for college and a career in high finance (IB, PE, VC, HF).

In addition, I am wondering what I should do this summer, as I want to participate in an internship opportunity that relates to finance. I am in Kansas City, so not a competitive market to gain one I presume.

Please let me know what I should do. Thanks.

6 Comments
 

This is your last summer to really enjoy yourself. You can do an internship, but don’t stress out too much about it. Once you get to college, your HS experiences become basically obsolete other than maintaining some connections. If you need money, work a normal job. It’ll give you a look into the real world and make you value your education all the more. Good luck with your apps!

 

First and foremost, I appreciate your advice. I have been acceptance into a few semi-target/target schools already, but won't make my final decision after Regular Decision schools come out in late March. That said, should I reach out to professionals at high-finance shops already underneath my top school that I've been accepted to, just to build some relationships and see if I can garner an opportunity without being in a rush?

 
Most Helpful

I get where you're coming from trying to prepare as soon as you can, but trust me when I say that you should use the rest of your senior year to have fun and generally read about careers. Freshman year you should explore as much as you possibly can. Try to join pre-professional finance/consulting clubs and reach out to alumni who can give you a more honest perspective on what these fields look like. Don't fixate on one thing too soon, give yourself some time to explore your options and understand each option as much as possible. Once you've got one or two options down, go full in on them sophomore year during recruiting (fall/winter for finance, late spring/summer/fall for consulting).

For the moment, you probably won't get much out of talking to alumni, especially when you haven't started school. Not sure you're going to receive too many responses either. Lastly, building relationships doesn't mean you keep in touch with these people over two years. It just means having a couple friends/alumni you're close with (once you're in freshman/sophomore year) and lots of other connections that can generally speak well of you. Hope this helps.

 

Bruh its senior year sure have fun, but its also good time to get ahead. Classes don't matter as much anymore, so some work here and there will not be bad. Do NOT reach out to alumni at colleges you've gotten into. Only do once you commit, and even at that, only at local shops, not like Goldman IB or something. 

Best option - email every pe, ib, hf, vc, wealth management, asset management, commercial real estate, accounting, literally any place near you. Say you'll work for free. Leverage family connections or your friends' parents. Ask everyone. Do this in your area and I'm sure something will pop up. It can be remotely finance related. Maybe even supply chain or operations at start-up, or position in local government doing something finance related. Literally anything. This will be best to walk into freshman year of college with.

 

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