Advice For Penn State
I’ve just accepted an offer to go to Penn State for the next four years. I know I’m going t have to work harder than I ever have to stand out, but can I get some advice as to what I really need to do and focus on over the next four years and stand out to get an IB job offer at a BB firm?
I apologize if this post isn’t applicable because I went to a school smaller in size than Penn State so I may be naive to the struggles at a big school.
While some people may advise you to start studying technicals now (or stress you out by saying you should’ve started yesterday), I would suggest building your pre-professional “base” first. I’m not saying this is more effective than studying technicals right now because different methods work for different people, but I personally think it would help you most to use this time to (a) figure out your game plan (posting here counts towards that) and (b) finding 2-3 mentors. Reach out to neighbors in finance or do your best to make a connection with 2-3 older kids/alumni who seem to have their shit together. The phrase “riding coattails” exists for a reason—they’ll tell you as a penn state kid what you should be doing at each step of school and what worked for them. They will share their guides and they may even share their connections. The key is to just make a few very genuine relationships early on when nobody will fault you for saying “I have no idea what’s going on, please walk me through whatever I have to.” You don’t need to differentiate yourself as the king of all of Penn State—all it takes is for one person to pull for you hard.
Get excited about school. You might end up having a lot more fun than half the kids on this forum + save a boatload of money while you’re at it. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up at the same bank as them. Higher ROI. Good luck
Current PSU sophomore here! I recently accepted an offer to work at a BB next summer for IB. If you want any advice please feel free to PM!
👍🏻
Join the Penn State Investment Association and then, if investment banking seems look intriguing to you, you can interview for (and hopefully get accepted into) the Nittany Lion Fund. They manage several million dollars of capital from outside investors (not the school's endowment) and almost all of them get very prestigious IB jobs (like Goldman, Point72, etc).
There have been like ~40 people in IBD from penn state from 2014-19 😂
Move to Murray Hill and talk about 'state' until you're 32 or so.
Do not pay attention to my title here, it is inaccurate. Next year when I am in a position to hire I will never push anyone from Penn State. You guys never stfu about your stupid school and plus you idolize child abusers. I am not alone in that thinking, see chart below:
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