Breaking in to S&T from a non-target school.

Hello everyone,

First poster here. My question is:

I am a student at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are a top 100 national undergrad university, and we have a solid business curriculum. A am a double major finance/economics with work experience (1 year at a prominent money management firm here in town.) My career goal is to work as a trader in a big city, but I'm concerned about my chances as I don't attend one of the prestigious schools that it seems most of these positions are filled from.

Does anyone have any advice as to what the best way to go about landing a job in the industry would be? I am a good student (GPA: 3.65), president of Finance club, good test scores, etc.,etc. in otherwords I feel that I would be just as qualified as anyone else out there. I have had people tell me everything from "Just move to New York and start knocking on doors" to "Go to a top-tier business school to get recognition". Does anyone with experience know what the best course of action to take is given my situation?

Any opinions or insight would be appreciated.

-shep

8 Comments
 

There are alot of threads offering advice to non-target students. Try searching through them first and if you don't find what your looking for, ask again.

The quickest answer for you is NETWORKING. Ask about it, read about it, and start doing it.

 

Ut accusantium voluptatibus aliquid quisquam. Quia placeat et aliquam et. Esse voluptas minus ipsam voluptate perferendis perferendis.

Quasi pariatur quia est. Rerum magni dolorem eaque. Iste inventore distinctio aperiam odit quasi omnis eligendi.

Ut quos dolor occaecati illo omnis magnam iure. Similique nobis quaerat magnam nemo. Voluptatem at blanditiis sit quisquam. Soluta quia voluptatum aut et itaque reiciendis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 11 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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

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...”