Hi theaccountingmajor, whoops, looks like nobody chimed in here.... maybe one of these discussions below is relevant:

  • AMA- Analyst at $1.5B Endowment Fund is selecting the best managers to give money to. Most of the time your actual allocation will not ... your manager selection. My primary responsibility is our quarterly performance report that goes to the ... younger readers on here. When I was going through the interview process for my current role, I had a hard ...
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  • Breaking into IBD from PSU without getting into the Nittany Lion Fund? difficult and competitive to land a spot in IB in NYC as a Penn State student not on the Nittany Lion Fund ... if the applicant is not on the Nittany Lion Fund. I have read on different posts that it is extremely ... some other posts on here it sounds like the Nittany Lion
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  • How Hard is the GMAT? today, but you above the average peon monkeys think it's tough? Is the GMAT Hard? This question will ... inside of a polygon is 180(n-2) where n is the number of sides. I needed that to solve a geometry problem ... vary person to person due to the nature of the test. Since it is an aptitude test, in some
  • How to get into the Nittany Lion Fund as a freshmen from studying for interviews to GPA and EC's. How much is your high school background considered? ... This one goes out to all of you NLF alumni and current members out there; how do I get in as ... mind for when I start my first semester in the Fall. I'd appreciate it if you went over everything ...
  • JP Morgan Winning Women- Selection Process? Competitiveness? idea about what the selection process is like (phone interviews? several rounds of interviews?) or how ... competitive it is. Has anyone gone through the process before? ... I'm a freshman at a top target, and I recently submitted an application to the Winning Women ...
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I made it into the Nittany Lion Fund and can attest to the difficulty: it is extremely competitive. To get into the Nittany Lion Fund you need to be a member of their feeder org called Penn State Investment Association (PSIA). PSIA has over 400 kids in it each semester. Then you have to pay $25 to get access to the PSIA’s canvas page so you can submit assignments to be considered for the Fund. I would say about 100 out of the 400 people in PSIA actually follow through with becoming a dues-paying member.

That being said, the ~100 people who paid $25 for access are definitely serious about joining the Fund, with most being finance majors (3.5 GPA minimum) who attend most weekly meetings while studying technicals. Only about 40 people will end up being selected for a first round interview. You get recommended by networking with fund managers and proving to them through mock interviews that you are qualified. From there, only 10-12 people are offered a position in the Fund each semester.

If you were to make an acceptance rate for getting into the Fund as a dues paying PSIA member, it’s about 10%. If you get the first round, it’s 25%. If you just sign up for PSIA, it’s more like 2.50%. Keep in mind that the people who are trying for the Fund are also very qualified (most with over a 3.7 GPA and knowledgeable on the basics of finance).

With all being said, it’s extremely difficult, as it’s an extraordinary opportunity that virtually no other college offers. Though it may sound overwhelming, it is on par with how hard it is to land a job on Wall Street (with many banks having 1-2% acceptance rates with ivy leaguers applying left and right). However, it is not impossible and if you work harder than everyone you will get in. I would totally say the work is worth it. And if you do get in, it’s something that sets you apart from any other candidate, being able to say you manage a portfolio of millions of dollars.

 

It’s extremely competitive to get in. To get in you essentially have to treat PSIA as a class and study for the interviews and you have to spend your free time networking/mocking with current fund managers. You have to good relationships with the current fund managers to even get in. You also have to have a high gpa combined with leadership experience. Once you’re actually in it’s a 35-40 hour time commitment the first semester. That’s a significant amount of time to spend on an extracurricular activity and that’s in addition to doing well in classes and being involved in other activists and maintaining leadership roles in those activities. The culture of the fund is said to be very realistic to wall street and there’s a lot of emphasis on perfection and performance and you will get yelled at and criticized if you don’t perform at NLF standards. It’s no easy feat and recruiters know it.

 

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