Freshman year

start with grades. get all As

First and foremost,

Grades.

If nothing ele, it can get you the interview

network grades eC's

job shadowings are big at my school for freshmen.

how would i get a job doing job shadowing? what about the summer after my freshman year?

Just be realistic.

I mean bankers are professionals and they realize you won't be able to be working on the multi-million dollar merger when you're a freshman. So just keep your grades up, and try to do things that you would want out of a candidate if you thought about it: ie: join relevant clubs, take relevant classes (math, econ, accounting, finance, etc.) and try to get a useful summer position- it doesn't necessarily have to be at a bank but something that shows you're an able and responsible person.

Don't worry too much about banking as a freshman. Fully participate in the college experience and get good grades, but don't be the nerd who studies on a Friday night either because landing a banking job isn't just about grades/expereince. You also need to not be a tool and be able to interact with your co-workers.

grades...maybe some informational interviews with alums to get contacts - think associate or above b/c by the time u apply for positions, all the analysts will most likely not be there

so focus on grades, ec's, and network?

all you can do is make your major in finance/economics and get good grades.

you are kind off setting yourself up for a dissapointment in my opinion, college isn't like high school it won't be as easy...and you are already setting your goals to go into banking.

Hell its only september, you didn't even have a college mid term yet. But you are already setting your goals on a career in which you need a 3.5 gpa to even get an interview.

So your future looks pretty bleak, you'll either a) like every other freshman will change your major twice before graduating. b) will worry yourself sick about your grades, will have no social life, and get crushed by the stress of maintaing your gpa. c) will get good grades, get a job at an IB, and quit after a month, when you realize what a dumb decision it was choosing a career path based on monetary compensation alone 4 years ago.

EVERY freshman goes into college thinking they'll be making 100s of thousands of dollars when they graduate. Ask any freshman and they'll tell you they are either "Pre-Med, Pre-Law, Pre-Business, Pre-Pharmacy, or Psychology"

You gotta pick something you like and success will follow, so don't focus on banking right now, diversify yourself, take different classes and see what subjects you like.

How can you set your goals to be a banker...when you haven't even had 1 finance course yet?

aspiring, I changed my major a few times and didn't have alot of focus in college, but I know people that basically went into school knowing they wanted to work in finance, took all the right classes, became bankers and liked it. There are some people out there like that. Maybe Agree is one of them.

^I'm actually one of these people, I know what I will like and am capable of doing before I even do it.

aspiringmonkey, I guarantee you 99 percent of unversity people don't REALLY believe they'l make 100's of thousands of dollars upon graduation. Just us Ibanking hopefuls.

have fun

aspiringmonkey, how long have you been working in the business?

You've gotta have the grades, but not at the expense of friday and saturday nights out. If you do land a job after college, you'll definately be spending enough time working to make up for the nights you were out in college. Live a little though, its college after all. Go out, get drunk, hook up, try not to run into the person in the dining hall the next day. Mission acomplished.

agreed, no sense in wasting your youth. Think about it, you waste your 18-22 cramming for IB..then 22-24 as an analyst. And then you go to business school at 25 with no social skills whatsoever

Interesting and will help you learn the biz.

u are not understanding the point im trying to make. u are in the same situation as all the other college students on this board. in a lot of threads u give advice to ur peers when you are in the same situation as they are.

generally the people that give advice have passed through the situation they are advising on. in the case of this board that means acutally working in banking. dont pass off things u heard from talking to other people as your own advice.

well I disagree, there is a lot of information online, and most of it is correct. All of my "advice" is based on things people have talked about.

Example: you know the world is round...because back in the 3rd grade your teacher told you that it is. Have you ever seen the world from outer space? (videos/pics don't count because those can be altered)...yet if someone asks you if the world is round you'll answer their question with a yes...same situation here, I may not be an analyst yet...but I can sure as hell answer other people's questions regarding the application process based on the information i gathered.

i find it funny that you think you have it all figured out when you haven't even been able to land an analyst position yourself.. you're right in that there is a lot of information online. however saying "most of it is correct" is pretty ignorant.

how do you know whether it is correct or not when you are still trying to figure out if it will work for you? you can answer questions about the application process, but why are you answering questions about how to get accepted into a bank? this kid wanted to know what to do as a freshman to raise his chances of getting an offer. how can you tell him what to do when you dont have an offer yourself? this is why i said it was the blind leading the blind.

there are enough people on here that are actually working in IB (myself, mis ind, dan bush, others) that can answer people's questions so rest assured there is no need for: i heard from my friends dads friends that...

If you read the same information 5 times, talk to 5 people who also say the same thing...chances are the information is correct....but hey you know more than me, since as a first year analyst you've finished your training and worked a whole month in IB.

and as you can see I didn't really advise him on how to get the job...because in my opinion its way too early. I mean he didn't even have one college level grade yet...and chances are didn't even have a midterm/final yet...so how can he know what he wants to be when he doesn't even know if he'll be successful in college?

Its a message board, you know what that means? More than 1 person can give their opinion . So you can go ahead and give him your insightfull answer...oh wait you didn't even do that..you instead decided to concentrate on bickering with me...and I can give him my advice as a senior.

And he can choose to follow either with a grain of salt...there is a reason in your profile where you can say what your status is, that way your answer may be taken with a grain of salt

first of all who says i am a first year analyst? i have been in the business for two years so yes. my opinion is a lot more knowledgeable than yours and actually based on past experience.

secondly many go into college knowing exactly what they want to do. its called having a goal and working toward it. i knew about ib before entering college and knew that was what i wanted to do after college.. and guess what? i now work at a bb firm.

anyway i dont feel like bickering with you so you just keep on going and giving people your summaries on what you read from the vault guides. i just hope some poor sap doesnt follow your advice and end up striking out.. that's the shitty thing about the internet.. you can't tell the selfappointed experts from the people that actually know what they are talking about

aspiringmonkey give it up. there are plenty of people that know what they want to do by the time they are 18. some people mature at a younger age.

apparently you are not one of them and so atleast stop projecting that shortcoming onto everyone else.

the kid has a goal he is working toward. let him do it and just assume he is smarter or more mature than you were at that age.

I disagree once again.

Noone truly knows what they want to be as a freshman...this is why all schools tell you to take different classes your freshman year to see waht you like.

The FEW people who know what thye want to be, base that decision on either their parents, or TV shows or $$.

There are very few who know what they want to do at the young age, and make an educated decision.

Apparently I'm not? You get all of that from a few posts on a message board?

If he has a goal why isn't he posting in this thread defending his decision? Huh? I know if someone called me out on being shallow in making a decision I would be defending myself with my real reasons...but he is nowhere to be found.

So just because someone wants to be an Ibanker at 18 he is suddenly smarter and more mature? I disagee, I place him in the same category as all the "pre law, pre med" kids who have no direction in life, and choose a major based on how prestigious it is.

why do I need to defend myself? I'm not going to argue with you over the computer (which is pretty silly.) I don't want to wait till senior year and decide what I want to be, especially when its too late. I want to do something in business and Im not 100% sure that I want to be an ibanker. But I try to read stuff about it so that i can make my decision.

"So your future looks pretty bleak, you'll either a) like every other freshman will change your major twice before graduating. b) will worry yourself sick about your grades, will have no social life, and get crushed by the stress of maintaing your gpa. c) will get good grades, get a job at an IB, and quit after a month, when you realize what a dumb decision it was choosing a career path based on monetary compensation alone 4 years ago."

Your attitude is really negative. You got to be positive especially for a job like ibanking. Well, good luck in college. It's your life, not mine.

PS, I would rather take a advice from someone who is has the experience over someone who just reads about it. Its just the not the same. Also, the person in ibanking has the college experience as well.

i am positive about my attitude for myself, which is why I am glad I enjoyed my college career instead of being a book worm. Granted my grades aren't in the crapper...but thats besides the point.

I'm not really negative, I'm just telling you that freshman year is way too early to concentrate 100% on something, wait till your junior year, then get an IB internship between junior and senior year and do a good job over the summer and get hired full time.

But since you decided to reply...why do you want to be an Ibanker...how did you come up to this decision...what personal qualities would you bring to the table?