Can I get into Sales & Trading?

I really enjoy trading on my own account, and I have an extremely strong desire to become a trader. I devour any information I can get about institutional trading, and my heart starts racing when I think about the idea of being a trader in the future. My issue - I will be attending a non-target (Rutgers Business School/Penn State/IU Kelley/UW Madison/Ohio State/UIUC/Fordham). Can I get into trading from a non-target? Id be MORE than happy (thrilled actually) to start off at a "less prestigious" firm like mizuho, nomura, BNP Paribas, or SMBC. Could I make this happen? What can I do to make sure I can get into a position like this after college? If it helps, I got a 33 on the ACT with a 35 on the math portion (99th percentile in the nation). Thanks in advance!

10 Comments
 

Until what math level is good? Calc 1 or 2? or would I need to go further?

 

Single variable calculus is just checking a box, but wouldn't impress someone looking for math skills.  If don't like math and want to still stand out in some way, do  just enough math (multi-variable calculus and linear algebra) to take some probability and non-intro level statistics classes.  If you don't want to do math at all, you can always go for being a traditional finance guy, but it is harder and harder to stand out with that background in trading (especially from a non-target).

 

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