Breaking into IB from Georgia Tech

Hello fellow Wall Streeters,

I am faced with a dilemma and would much appreciate any recommendations or advice you can give me. 
As you know, this year's college admission cycle was crowded, leading to lower acceptance rates overall. I got rejected from all the Ivy League schools, and my only option is Georgia Tech. The question is whether it is possible to break into IB from GaTech, hopefully in NYC. I plan on majoring in computer science with a minor in finance. My other options are betting on a gap year or trying to do a transfer which is quite tricky as well. I am an international, if that matters.

Also, what other non purely tech companies can I possibly get into from GaTech? If I don't land an IB analyst position after undergrad, I think of doing fin-tech, health-tech (something in those ranks), then an MBA, hopefully from a top 5 school, and afterward going into private equity. 
Are my aspirations feasible, or should I convince my parents to let me do a gap year?

I appreciate any help you can provide.

 
Most Helpful

I'm at Georgia Tech right now (Scheller), so I can offer a good bit of info about IB placement here. Tech is definitely not what it was 5 years ago in terms of placement. Last year, we had people place at Goldman, CS, BAML, Citi, Evercore, Moelis, etc. It's no cakewalk for sure, and you'll have to network your ass off, but it is very possible to get placed where you want to get placed for the most part. Additionally, Roark Capital and Truist both like Tech kids, if you're okay with staying in Atl.

It's important to note that everyone I've mentioned is part of the Investments Committee, our student-run portfolio. Most people going into IB are also part of the Accel Program, a pretty competitive organization tailored for those looking to get into IB, PE, S&T, consulting, etc. To be honest, your biggest obstacle will be if you require sponsorship to work in the U.S. Hope this helps, and happy to answer any more specific questions.

 

Thank you so much that was quite informative.

I don't think I will be doing a gap year but I am still considering transferring after I arrive at GT in the Fall. The thing is that I am 90% confident I can get into UMich from where landing an IB position will be a piece of cake, but it will need some more investment from my side. Then again, I can pay off the extra cost with 2 years of IB bonuses:) 

I am more curious whether the people you mentioned made it to NYC specifically?

Also, you mentioned if I will be needing a sponsorship, could you elaborate on that? If you mean a work permit, as a STEM major I will have 36 months to work in the US and I am planning to do an MBA after 2 years as an analyst anyways so I think that won't be a problem. 

On the topic of MBAs, do you know any GaTech alum who got into a top MBA program like HBS, Wharton, etc I am just curious.

Thank you very very much, I appreciate it. 

P.S. I know that getting into private equity is extra hard but do you think that is possible from GT? PE is my endgame anyways so if I can break in before an MBA that would be stellar. 

 

Lol getting into IB from UMich is not a piece of cake. It’s really difficult everywhere, but comparatively easier there than GT. If you really want to go for PE straight from undergrad you could probably go for Roark, but probably not many spots there. Also yeah you’re gonna need sponsorship since you’re international. That’s gonna make the IB grind significantly harder because it limits the amount of firms who will take you

 

Yes, those people made it to NYC. Like the other replier said, Roark would be your best bet for PE after undergrad but it's very competitive. There are good LMM shops scattered around Atl, but not sure of much else. For your other question, I really don't know much about how sponsorship works, so hopefully someone else here knows more about that,

 

Definitely possible, will shoot you a message.

I would highly recommend searching on LinkedIn for grads in the industry and messaging them. Not everyone will reply but some people will.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

GTech is not horrible for banking but it is definitely the third best option in Georgia. Emory has by far the most recruiting and receives priority looks from all of the banks in Atlanta and Charlotte as well as NYC. The Corsair society at UGA places well as well and has begun to establish a pipeline. The IB pipeline at tech is very new and thus weaker than the others but is certainly improving. An issue with Tech is that the business school really is not the focus so a lot fewer resources are dedicated to Scheller relative to the other schools.

 

If you intend on majoring in CS, why would you go into banking? You won’t use CS in banking at all. If you are set on majoring CS, I would recommend the GT/Emory dual-degree program and major in CS at GT and Econ at Emory. Additionally, considering how hard CS at GT is, your GPA will be hurt which will be very hard for banking, especially considering GT is a non-target. 

 

If you really want to be a smart cookie at GT you should just study IE. I was a finance major at GT and the IE guys had a direct shot to MBB and oftentimes better finance roles.

IE at GT has been number 1 nationally for like 30 years. I know guys that went to MBB, REPE, Mezz funds, PE analysts, FAANG corp fin and product roles.

If you are doing CS, there is quite a contingent of GT guys up at Chicago prop shops (Akuna, Optiver, Belvedere, Citadel Sec etc

 

Yes, I am considering going with IE as well. I will think about it over the summer. 


But before that, I have to decide whether I should do a gap year or not? I applied to most of the target and semi-target schools, unsuccessfully:( GT was the only non-target I had because it has excellent engineering and is reasonably priced. Getting scholarships as an international isn't the easiest thing to do. The ones that are willing to give out scholarships like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, well, they aren't quite easy to get into, and this year wasn't the luckiest year to apply as well. I wonder if it's worth taking a gap year and having my GT acceptance on hold while trying my luck with other schools in the Fall. 

 

I've read through most of this thread and it's pretty clear that you haven't really figured out what you want to do. Why would you major in CS if you wanted to go into banking? To me, it just seems like you want to go into high finance for the money (which most of us do) but are not at all interested in the job itself. Don't stress yourself out with all these thoughts of taking a gap year and trying to apply to a marginally-better school. Odds are if all the Ivies rejected you this time, they'll all do it again next time around. I'm actually from GA and I know that GT is a fantastic school with excellent post-grad opportunities, some of which are as good as or better than IB. Go there next year and figure out what you're really interested in. Having horse blinders for IB/PE when you haven't even graduated high school and don't really have a passion for the industry is never going to work out well. 

 

I agree to some part. I haven't figured out what exactly I want to study but I am quite determined to get into IB, and not only for the money, the job itself is quite appealing. I just know that they recruit from all kinds of majors and I haven't really found one which both gives me the ability to study what I want (which I don't know what it is) and to have translatable skills in the industry. So after thinking about it, if I do got to GT then IE is probably the best option. 

 

The reason I wanted CS is that 1. maybe it doesn't help too much in IB but it certainly won't hurt (they recruit from all majors so CS with a finance minor ain't so bad) 2. CS just gives an exit opportunity that most other majors don't which is starting your own thing. If you have the idea and the skills you can make a tech startup from scratch in your basement when you have free time, and you don't need to make an investment right away. So having a major that not only sets me up for a good career but also lets me to have a "cash in big" kind of opportunity is nice. Of course its not easy to make a tech startup but studying CS is the way to go to at least have the chance, and if I wouldn't show exemplary coding skills then I would always have an amazing career option like IB/PE. That was my rationale, but now I am more leaning towards IE, cause I will still gain the coding skills without wasting too much time on theorems and stuff. 

 

I feel I might have given off a negative vibe against GT but the reality is that it always was one of my top choice schools. The only reason I thinking of looking elsewhere 1. financial situation, getting a need based scholarship would be nice  2. its hard to really know what you wanna do in life especially before starting university, I like IB because it gives me exceptional exit opportunities into any industry basically and a great lifestyle as well (suits > hoodies, for example). I am just a little afraid that I won't be able to land an IB position. 

 

hey mate. Glad you're thinking about this stuff early, it seems like you have to with how timelines are working these days. I'm at tech right now and ended up placing in bulge IB in New York. I echo what has been said before: it is a grind and a process but fortunately due to the work of alumni at Tech it HAS gotten easier. I see you are considering doing a CS major or maybe something else: my advice to you would be that in the grand scheme of things it won't matter much as long as you find your classes interesting.

I did a business major with a finance concentration and got minors in math and computer science. You could also do IE, or stick with CS. I've seen people place in IB across all 3 schools. I would keep it limited to those 3 majors as you decide. What they did all have in common was being involved with the Investments Committee and / or the Accel program at Georgia Tech. Accel runs a year long program where you get accepted after a round of interviews. It is led entirely by students who have went through the recruiting process the year before, so their experience and advice is timely and relevant. The Investments committee doesn't focus on IB specifically, but it is the largest wholly student run endowment in the US (~2m AUM). It is a good experience and builds the resume (also helps score those early finance related internships). 

Most people who really commit to the recruiting process at Tech end up landing in a good spot within IB, whether they want to be in NY, SF, or stay in ATL. happy to answer more questions if you have them. 

 

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