Ahh help! Going into 2nd year and don't know what to do..
Hi Everyone,
I just joined this forum recently and I've been reading quite a bit of what's posted here. There's a lot of great information here, and a very vibrant community of people interested in finance. I hope to learn from you all!
Anyhow, I'm in a kind of a dilemma. (Kind of my own fault for not doing enough research before hand.) Right now I'm just finishing up my first year at the University of Waterloo in the Accounting and Finance program (Has anyone heard of this program?). I'm planning to specialize in Finance and minor in Economics. I thought that because of the co-op program, there would be a many job possibilities in IB or S/T, however after reading this forum and observing the university's job posting website, it kinda dawned on me that I'm not at the right school or in the right program. (Should have gone to Toronto instead.. Got accepted with scholarship too -_-'') All of the major banks are looking for quants here, which all to go to mathies and engineers.
What should I do? Should I switch to another school, Ivey or Toronto (they're not accepting anyone for Fall of 2008), or switch into Math (that would probably involve staying an extra year, which I don't really want to do)
The program says that it prepares us for the CFA designation so I'm not sure if I should just stick with it. One of the major problems though is that we don't do much Math in this program, so it's probably way too hard to get into S/T, but by taking the Finance specialization, we don't do much Accounting (the school's strong suit, alot of the people end up working for the big 4 accounting firms) either..
The academic advisors don't help much, since they're pretty much all accountants, and pretty much everyone in my program has the ultimate ambition of becoming a public accountant.
Ahhhh I'm pretty much going nuts. Please help. Any suggestion would be welcome.
Thanks!
hey pal I'm from Waterloo. You can get interviews in IB, but its like saying you can eat with your foot. Its doable, but not exactly the best way to go about it. Its not easy. I know people from accounting who had to bust their ass trying to get into IB - it took them at least 2 years after graduation.
U of Toronto is not the place to go for IB. Western's Ivey is.
You are either smart or lucky that you've come upon this site during your first year. Keep your grades up and switch into Ivey and do the HBA program - you'll be set for toronto IB jobs.
OR if you can do it, try to switch into harvard, yale, etc.
There are a few canadians on this site. Try contacting numi. He knows what he is talking about. Read the old posts, use the search feature.
Well for starters, U of T, unlike Ivey is not a 2 and 2, so if you switch over you may not get all the credits and wouldn't start in 3rd year or would need to make up at the very least. If you are to transfer, Ivey is the better of the two for IB I would say, issue becomes cost with Ivey, as it is double the price of U of T. I know what you mean by accounting school, mine is very much the same, but without Co-Op. I would say transfer to Ivey, but this is more of your own scenario, as one thing that you should consider is how you have done/will do in terms of marks. If you are at the top 10 - 15% you will likely get interviews, so the door is not closed at Waterloo by any means. Also, where do you want to be? Toronto? London? NYC? HK? LA? I know Ivey places people to all of them, doubt Waterloo can say the same.
one more thing:
quant job in a bank is not finance. do not get fooled into the crap that waterloo likes to shell out.
get out now before its too late.
not one person I know from waterloo is anywhere near the career he/she wants to have.
wow Thanks for the replies. This is very useful information, thanks so much! Yea I'm pretty glad I wandered to this site through Facebook. (I was looking for a place to discuss stocks and trading ideas, and somehow got here through the Wall Street facebook group)
Now I'm even more concerned. I'm probably in the top 5% of my class, but I'm not sure if I can transfer out now for second year, since it's past the deadlines, but I guess I'll see what happens in the fall. I'll be doing a co-op term next winter, so I'm thinking I should stick around till then and see what happens. But I hope to make a decision before 2nd year rolls around, so I'll have a chance to finish the last 2 years at a school that I want.
What about doing a Masters at Ivey or Rotman? I doubt I'll get in the American schools. I tried for wharton for my undergrad (clearly never happened or else I won't be in this situation)
I hope to be in either Toronto, New York, or Hong Kong.
Yea, quant's way too technical, and math-based for me. Oh btw, what program were you in niles?
Also, does anyone have any ideas on how to get into portfolio management or hedge funds?
Being top 5%, with decent EC's and then a somewhat relevant Co-Op should make you a contender for an IB spot I would imagine. Not sure how it works under Co-Op, had a friend from Laurier go to TD, so I know they must do something for Co-Op. You are by no means late either, transfering to Western now, considering how well you have done, might be unnecessary (minus the experience of London parties, which from first hand experience are way better then anything in Waterloo/Kitch area). Look to transfer to Ivey, not BA program, so I would start researching and figuring things out soon. Specifically deadlines, application requirements, etc.
MBA is down the line, I don't know why you would doubt you would get into an American school, unless it comes down to money. One thing I would look at is that you have a business undergrad, and some MBA's teach basics before you focus on a specialization. Keeping that in mind, Rotman is similar to this structure in that it is 2 years, Ivey is only 1 (even though 12 months, 3 terms, is how they describe it).
EDIT: Double post
forget about MBA. right now, your focus should be on getting into banking as an analyst.
thats the best way to go about it - both in terms of saving money and credentials. do you want to be busting your hump in b-school? if you go to bschool with the analyst experience then you will be ahead of the game.
you are going to be set for Ivey - apply next year and get the HBA. They admit students who are finishing their 2nd year.
i did co-op as well - there are almost no true IB jobs posted at all. I never saw any during my 4/5 years there.
i studied actsci with an option in finance.
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