If you are from a target

Well, the whole boatload line I find to be a bit much, but it has been done for sure. There are however, hundreds of people who fall under these qualifications, and as can be seen in Misind's harsh but realistic post, you would have to stand out...What would be nice is if Misind would make a post that showed the features of the resumes/cover letters that actually passed the initial filter and got an interview.

ha, chill out man, I didn't intend to offend you. I am saying getting in is possible. The location, firm, EC's, and major will all come into play of course. I personally know several people in every university around me which have relevant internships, high GPA's, and take part in EC's that will apply and won't get an interview. There are a limited number of positions and thus a limited number of opportunities to interview for them, whatever you say.

Goodd luck to you and everyone trying though.

depends on whether it's summer or fulltime interviews...if it's summer, then good grades might get you plenty of interviews (as long as u didn't piss away all your previous summers not doing anything)...if it's fulltime, it's a lot harder man... i worked in my (target) school's career office parttime senior year, so i saw pretty much all the summer and fulltime resumes and who got selected by the firms...i don't know how many interview slots firms tend to have at other schools, but i usually tended to see around 15 for smaller firms and 30 for bigger firms...what tended to happen was the same ppl got the interview slots for every bank...and there's definitely more than 30 ppl trying to get into banking from target schools and have gpas higher than 3.5...and i went to a school known for grade deflation, so you can speculate on what happens when you've got tons of ivy kids w/ their massive grade inflation all vying for those spots...

summer internship recruiting to be way harder. Maybe because I summered at a bank that I got interviews in the fall. But I'd say something like for summer interviews, I maybe got like 30% offers to even interview first round. But for full-time, I think it was about 80% for first round interviews.

The problem is, at a target, is that it's the same 50 kids that get the interviews over and over again. But, by the same token, if you're looking for different firms that have better culture/not as well known or prestigious, you have a good shot of landing a first round interview.

i go to a top target, so this may not scale to all targets, but here is my $.02/:

it is much easier to get a full time interview than a summer interview if you bank, almost anywhere, during the summer.

despite smaller expected yields than summer, the banks had similar sized full time recruiting schedules.

they thin out the numbers between the 1st and final rounds. some will have a 2nd round on campus and a superday in ny. this means that you will get an interview and can sell yourself.

i get the feeling that banks come here prepared to hire a set number of analysts based on the yield from the school team's summer class. if all the analysts left, they will replace them and vice versa. i think this has to do with maintaining a base of power for your alma mater, but i'm just guessing.

the effect of this is clear. students with offers from lower tier banks will come back to campus for full time recruiting shopping hard. if a "better" bank bites, then they leave opening up a slot for another full time candidate. at the top end of the spectrum like ML to GS, there is probably alot of competition for the ML spot from people at BS or BofA, but there is a serious trickle down effect.

people also give up their spots for consulting, pe and random stuff like fellowships (deferring their offer).

so net net it is my experience that you will be in very good shape to work in IB. even without a summer banking. it is kind of like the Bubba Gump shrimp company after the hurricane. they weren't catching much shrimp before the hurricane (summer), but with the top fisherman on the beach, they were out working hard when the hurricane came and reaped big time benefits.

please remember that there are exceptions to this - LEH didn't recruit on campus for FT banking and DB had a small interview slate, but on the whole firms mimic their efforts for summer.

"if you bank during the summer."

When did it become acceptable to use the word 'bank' as a verb in that context? Do you people not realize how lame and "models and bottles" that sounds?

let's just state the obvious...of course you get more fulltime interviews if you interned at a bank..and of course firms come onto campus knowing exactly how many spots they need to fill and how many offers they need to give out to fill those spots...but the OP didn't mention summer or fulltime, nor did he say anything abt experience...he just said if you're at a target, you can get an interview any place, any time, as long as you have a 3.5...and that is simply not true, even at my school where it's no walk in the park to get a 3.5...

I was scared shitless a couple of weeks ago when I was starting to apply to summer internships at the various firms (fav ones being Lehman, UBS, Citi, MS). My grades last semester was as good as I would have liked, 3.6 vs. 3.8 or 3.9 I was hoping for. However, I have found a small measure of comfort on this forum especially in this thread.

So I was wondering if you guys could comment on my chances of getting interviews and making it in general. I have a "whopping" cum. GPA of 3.51, and my major (econ) GPA is actually a little bit lower. I go to a target (ivy). My extracurriculars are not especially spectacular. I built a website from scratch and run it for a student organization (comes with a lofty title). However, I spend around ten hours a week working at the school paper on the business side (ad revenues) in a managerial position. Last summer, I worked in operations for a reputable if small private bank (great products but has a narrow focus). Finally, I think I am a personable/likable person. Although I am not the life of a party, I have my fair share of fun. And that's my story.

resume seems solid but unfortunately similar to alot of other applicants that will be coming out of your school. Your work experience is good in the respect that you've been close to finance at all.

My $.02 is that for places like MS and Lehman, you'll be a maybe or an alternate (however your school does it). You have a shot with UBS and Citi. But again, much of the process is luck and having someone review your resume who could essentially 'vouch' for you. You really need only person to make a case for you because at least when that happens, you manage to stand out from all the 3.5

Considering that I though I would have trouble even getting a single interview, that sounds decent to me.

This question probably has a vague and highly variable answer. How many bankers (summer or full time) come out ivies/targets? Does anyone have the slightest idea?

you can come back and leverage your way to another bank on your return if you're unhappy pretty easily.

not all ivies are created equal, obviously HYP+Wharton will have an easier time than lower ivies, so if your 3.5 is from a place like cornell, good luck

what ivy are your from?

from my vantage point at a target state school (texas, umich, uva), getting interviews for summer analyst is far more dependent on networking than GPA. sure, you probably need around a 3.5, but believe me, 3.5's can beat out 3.7/3.8's for interviews just by networking hard. it really does seem like a crapshoot at times.