Incoming Freshman Advice
I am an incoming freshman to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and my plan right now is to get a job in investment banking after graduation. I'm looking for ways to be competitive when it comes time to apply for internships during my junior year. I am fairly confident with my chances of getting into Kenan Flagler's undergrad business program and am also considering minoring in computer science. As I understand, UNC is not the best school to attend if I want to make it into a BB firm, but because of financial reasons, I was unable to attend Duke or Vanderbilt. I am considering transferring to Georgetown if I can get in and if the financial situation works out, but for now, I am assuming I will be staying at UNC. As a UNC student, I have the ability to take one course per semester at Duke and I plan to use that option to learn from one of the best economics departments in the country.
What would be the best way to make sure I am ready by the time junior year rolls around? Ideally, I would have a finance-related internship next summer, but I have no clue how to make that happen when there are more experienced students who are older than me. Any and all advice would be much appreciated
I am transferring into UNC but have been networking with banking alumni this summer so I can give you a little color on what I learned so far. First of all, UNC is a great school for IB. It's not Wharton, Harvard, or Stanford, but it is considered as a target school at many BBs. It seems like you're a Roberson Scholar which is very selective as far as what I was told and you can definitely leverage your alumni network at Duke as well. Are you a minority, female, or LGBTQ? Being any of those would help your chances immensely.
Hey thanks for the reply. I'm not a Robertson, but all UNC students are allowed to take a course at Duke and NC State and vice-versa through the interinstitutional agreement between the schools. I'm actually a Colonel Robinson scholar so I'm on a full-tuition scholarship. Also, I'm an Indian male so I don't think affirmative action or the diversity programs really apply to me haha. I know that it's possible to make it to good firms, but as I understand, there is heavy recruiting to Charlotte. As someone who was born and raised in CLT, I would love the opportunity to go somewhere else such as NYC, Chicago, or Boston.
UNC is good for recruiting in NYC as well
might wanna work on your cringe nature if you're looking to enter "the investment banking upon graduation"
be careful with alcohol. look for a search fund internship - it will probably be unpaid but would be a good internship to be doing during freshman or sophomore year and serve as a nice stepping stone/help you add to your network. always go to class.
UNC is a good school and I have seen plenty of people in banking who went there. Do well in school, get good grades, join some finance clubs and try to get some internship experience. Set up some networking calls with alumni from your school who are in banking. You can find them by doing a search on Linkedin Xray. If you work and network hard you will be fine.
You're at a semitarget. There's plenty of opportunities for you. Every firm may not offer OCR or a resume drop, but there's probably alumni at every firm on the street and a good amount of students probably place every year. I'd stay there unless georgetown is your dream school.
Couple things about freshman year not to do with finance..... Do not get fat. Do not drink 5 nights a week. Save your money. Try and make friends with people who work hard and have similar goals if u hang out with frat bros and party people you may party too much.
About finance. You want to work at a BB 1. Get your GPA as high as possible, non target have to have a very high GPA 3.8+ 2. Network, talk to kids who work at GS SA this summer who are at UNC. Network with UNC alumni who work in IB or finance at all you never know where they can open doors 3. Try and join the finance club and learn all you can. As a SA you need to model and make pitch books and try to be a good person. Master those skills. Start your recruiting early, try and get internships after 1st and 2nd year so that you can learn more there as well.
Good luck and do not forget to have some fun too.
Actually you can do all the things listed in the first paragraph above that may seem negative. The majority of the 30-40 kids at my school that got IB SA/FT positions were in fraternities/sororities and it helped them because they knew how to talk to people and weren't super awkward. Just do what is best for you, network, keep your grades up (you can party and have a good gpa), and freshman, sophomore summer try to get an applicable internship or at least go abroad so you have a cool story.
I agree did not mean to come off to nerdy. Network join a frat that is work hard play harder. Leverage a fraternity network if u join an academic ish frat. Enjoy naturdays buddy just keep your grades and keep focused.
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