A modest proposal

The American leadership at the top banks came from the top schools:

Goldman (Lloyd Blankfein, Harvard; Hank Paulson, Dartmouth)
Morgan Stanley (John Mack, Duke; Zoe Cruz, Harvard)
Citibank (Robert Rubin, Harvard; Sandy Weill, Cornell)
Deutsche Bank (Michael Cohrs, Harvard)
Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan, etc, etc, you get the point.

These places are already getting all their leaders from Ivy and the like, why not just stop wasting time and take all their analysts from the same?

Everyone knows the Ivies get almost all the smartest students, with the top grades/SATs/awards. Why do banks even bother wasting time and money interviewing state schoolers.

Everyone knows state schoolers may have some excel monkey training to do some basic DCF, but only ivy leaguers have the raw ability and polish that make the street what it is.

McKinsey gets 40% of its entering class from harvard ug, and another 50% from the rest of the ivy league+MIT+Duke+Stanford.

Why don't banks copy McK, and increase their prestige? State schoolers and their like are ruining the prestige of ibanks.

 
Best Response

I sincerely hope you are kidding. I have ready plenty of arrogant posts on this board, but this perhaps tops them all.

Do you honestly believe that everyone at an Ivy is there because they are simply a cut above everyone else? There are so many more factors that will determine what school someone goes to, such as:

1) $$$$ (sounds like this was never a concern for you)

2) HS (as in, shitty public school that one attended because it was their only choice vs. prestigious private school attended because parents put them down that path from the start)

3) Desire to even want to be at an ivy (because lets face it, ivy is probably not the most ‘fun’ college experience)

Not trying to put down anyone at top schools, or say that you didn’t work hard and earn that right. I am simply stating that there are plenty of kids who are not at an Ivy for one reason or another, and are just as talented and deserving of a shot at banking as those from the targets.

The reason banks hire at ‘target’ schools is because the average student there is, in fact, better than the average student elsewhere. Quite simply, it is the most cost effective way for them to recruit. It has been this way for a long time, and that is the reason you see the banks leaders come from these schools – because most people in banking are. However, to say that someone is automatically not good enough to be at GS because they went to a state school is incredibly narrow-minded and just plain wrong.

I suppose the following people are mentally inferior to all who hold an Ivy Ugrad degree:

Sergey Brin (U of Maryland) Jack Welch (UMass) Neville Isdell (U of Cape Town) Steve Jobs (Reed College dropout) Alan Greenspan (NYU) Warren Buffet (left Wharton for U of Nebraska)

FYI, I am from non-target starting at a top-tier. I will be busting my ass proving assholes like you wrong, while you will be dicking around thinking that the name of the school on your resume is going to make you an automatic MD. Trust me, it won’t.

 

I go to an ivy, and I definitely disagree with your "proposal." There are plenty of people who turn down ivy league acceptances to go to state schools for a cheaper tuition. And there are plenty of people who get into ivies cuz of athletics or legacy, and often lack that "raw ability" you speak of.

Although based on the allusion of your thread title, you're most likely joking, so my post is wholly unnecessary

 

I shall respond to the asshat with the asinine bullet points.

1) The Ivy league takes the best students, irregardless of financial background. The Ivy League and equivs. offer the best finaid. Thus, "$$$$" as you describe it, should be no object.

2) The schools also make deep accomodations for talented people from bad high schools or other such circumstances.

3) Harvard is the #1 choice of HS students, as USNews and Gallup polls have shown. No one brags about going to UGA or the like , and movies about college are almost always set at the Ivy League, the elite and pinnacle of American collegiate institutions.

Sergey Brin (U of Maryland) - was a Russian emigre who went on to Stanford PhD. His lack of UG pedigree can be excused. Jack Welch (UMass) - wanted to go to MIT originally but couldn't get in. Neville Isdell (U of Cape Town) - attended a foreign UG; my modest proposal referred to AMERICANS, you illiterate state schooler. Steve Jobs (Reed College dropout) - wouldn't have fit in on Wall street, his success was in an arena outside of it, read the modest proposal again you illiterate fool. Alan Greenspan (NYU) - yes, and replaced by a Harvard graduate, Benjamin Bernanke. Warren Buffet (left Wharton for U of Nebraska) - his admission to Wharton is enough proof, but he also learned from the master of the trade, Benhamin graham, at Columbia University.

Who cares about state schoolers? They're all excel monkey tools! Sure, you can stuff them in a 2 year IBD slot, but we toss em after that like used kleenex. It is the Ivy grads with polish and aptitute we promote to associate, and ultimately become the leaders of the firm. You think Blackstone or Carlyle PE takes state schoolers? Guess again losers!!

 
ivy_leaguer:
I shall respond to the asshat with the asinine bullet points.

1) The Ivy league takes the best students, irregardless of financial background. The Ivy League and equivs. offer the best finaid. Thus, "$$$$" as you describe it, should be no object.

2) The schools also make deep accomodations for talented people from bad high schools or other such circumstances.

3) Harvard is the #1 choice of HS students, as USNews and Gallup polls have shown. No one brags about going to UGA or the like , and movies about college are almost always set at the Ivy League, the elite and pinnacle of American collegiate institutions.

Sergey Brin (U of Maryland) - was a Russian emigre who went on to Stanford PhD. His lack of UG pedigree can be excused. Jack Welch (UMass) - wanted to go to MIT originally but couldn't get in. Neville Isdell (U of Cape Town) - attended a foreign UG; my modest proposal referred to AMERICANS, you illiterate state schooler. Steve Jobs (Reed College dropout) - wouldn't have fit in on Wall street, his success was in an arena outside of it, read the modest proposal again you illiterate fool. Alan Greenspan (NYU) - yes, and replaced by a Harvard graduate, Benjamin Bernanke. Warren Buffet (left Wharton for U of Nebraska) - his admission to Wharton is enough proof, but he also learned from the master of the trade, Benhamin graham, at Columbia University.

Who cares about state schoolers? They're all excel monkey tools! Sure, you can stuff them in a 2 year IBD slot, but we toss em after that like used kleenex. It is the Ivy grads with polish and aptitute we promote to associate, and ultimately become the leaders of the firm. You think Blackstone or Carlyle PE takes state schoolers? Guess again losers!!

this kid is clearly a virgin. I'm surprised he isn't embarrassed after reading his posts.

 
ivy_leaguer:
look it up in the dictionary, if you know how to reference one, monkeybrain.

Dictionary? Never heard of it. I have, however, heard of proper English usage. Since you've surely looked it up in the dictionary, I am certain that I don't need to tell you "irregardless", in the context for which you used the word, means the opposite of what you intended it to mean.

 

Is this really the type of people our "top" schools are looking for and letting in? If so A) our country is screwed and B) explains why most of the world hates us.

However, I think this is just a case of someone who is unsatisfied with their own pathetic existance, and therefore felt it necessary to go onto a public website and crap all over people who, in their own twisted and immature mind, are below them. Good job, you made a fool of yourself

 

I'm assuming this kid is just trying to pick a fight, but this topic does bring up an important issue.

I have an almost opposite proposal. Instead of targeting ivy league students why not base hiring criteria on accomplishments and merits within a certain school, ivy league or not.

First, $$$ is a HUGE issue and a reality that I saw many of my HS class mates going through which forced them into state school programs. Ivy leagues give little to no merit based scholarships.

Second, why are banks so obsessed with homogeneity?!? When you pick an entire analyst class from just a few colleges you are essentially getting the same students, taught the same crap, by the same incompetent professors. Why not bring in new people with NEW and FRESH ideas. Diversity means MUCH more than the color of your skin or which ivy school you went to. This is something that the banks have either failed to notice, or are too set in their ways to care. I suspect the latter.

Third, I know many kids who were smart enough to get accepted into ivy league schools but in the end didnt give a crap about the "name" or prestige and found different schools where they felt more comfortable.

Fourth, I've only met two Harvard grads in my life, and both of them were completely incompetent on the job. This is no lie...

 

furthermore, it would help if a moderator could lookup ip's so when people post under a different handle (i.e. his 4 bananas) we can still ban the name they usually post on. can you do that nychimp?

 

It's titled "A Modest Proposal", ala Johnathan Swift writing about eating babies to feed the poor in Ireland, due to the well known babymaking of irish catholics and the fact that everyone was starving. It's clearly a joke

 

dick fuld went to U Colorado

2nd of all i know many kids who went to top state schools (mich, uva, berk) even though they got into tons of ivies bc they didnt want to spend 4 yrs in a library hanging with ugly chicks

you represent why so many people hate cocky ivy league kids who think they are better than everyone else when they are clearly not

 

In truth, where you went to school ultimately does not make a difference if you've got the determination and drive to succeed. Even raw talent only gets you so far. I turned down Columbia, Duke, and Dartmouth for what most people would consider a less prestigious institution because of financial and practical reasons, yet I don't see how I've lost out on anything. I've met some of the coolest, most interesting and diverse individuals imaginable. One of my track buddies from high school turned down MIT and Princeton for UMD, and some of the smartest kids in my class turned down Cornell, Upenn, etc for the likes of Rutgers, UMass, and UNC. And trust me, they are way more intelligent than the five kids from my school who enrolled at Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and Wharton. So please reconsider the pure bigotry and ignorance in your post.

 

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