Good majors, networking is your only option, cold calling from your school will get you nowhere since your school doesn't have brand with banks. Seek out alums who can daisy chain connect you with other people. You will undoubtedly need a top MBA, so also take and ace the GMAT (700+). If you still have no luck, consider a Mstrs in Financial Engineering or Mstrs Accounting programs to help build up your resume. If you want to get in and are dedicated, you will get in, it's not that complicated, and you'll be surprised at the level of ineptness and incompetence that pervades most banks.

Without a IBD internship and so-so grades, you would not be a decent candidate for a job straight out of undergrad. Focus on networking and cold-calling those boutiques. Depending on how strong your alumni network is, your best bet is most likely going to be a boutique and from there trying to lateral to a MM or BB after 2 years.

This is all knowledge I've picked up along the way reading these forums and doing my own research, so I'm sure someone else will have better info to add.

If you transferred in then your gpa should reset. Don't count the terrible grades you earned prior to transferring in your cum GPA calculation.

Firstly, this is not to knock the op. I love how people like socola recommend getting a "top mba" given that finance people who get in to top mba programs are generally from the top groups of the best banks and private equity firms, which is specifically NOT what the op is describing himself as. MFE programs are often extremely competitive as well. Really, if someone was a good candidate for a top mba program, they wouldn't be posting on how to get in to a boutique bank.

Is that ok to only list my transfer GPA on my resume? I was leaning toward listing and trying to focus on my major GPA and last 60-90 hours GPA.

It would probably be fine to just say "expected 2012" or whatever, and list the gpa from the most recent school, and nothing related to the other school.

I think its fine to only list your transfer GPA but be honest if you get questioned about it in the interview. Post up your resume in the resume forum and then start shaking the trees.

Good Luck!

Seabird, I would like to get into a top MBA eventually, do you think going to a boutique is the best way to go from here and how do you think I would best go about doing so? Also I am currently interning for a political campaign in which I am heavily involved. I actually created and ran most of the accounting system, for a small campaign albeit. Now this is something I have absolutely no interest in long term but how much could that bit of experience (and a letter of rec. from a state representative) help me?

Thanks everyone for your input btw, I'm taking it all into account.

^^^^ Anything that shows you are willing to work hard and take a leadership role will help you. The fact that it was financial in nature is just gravy.

Maybe I am wrong here, but I was under the assumption that if your transfer grades counted as credits towards your new school/degree, they would be included in your cumulative GPA?

seabird, by OCS do you mean Officer Candidate School?

I thought about that, but at 24 and with 15 months FT work experience, I'm wondering if that ship has already sailed or if it's worth doing active duty for 4 years and trying to get into a top MBA program.

I don't think just being a 2nd lieutenent with decent undergrad grades and a 700+ GMAT is going to get you into H/S/W.

Well, youre pretty much guaranteed to become a 1st lt. after a year if you dont fuck up royally, and something like 95% of them get promoted to cpt. after like, 2 more years. It was that way with two of my cousins who went through rotc prior to b school. In terms of whether or not the mil gets recruited by top schools, look at this

http://poetsandquants.com/2011/08/15/top-feeder-companies-to-harvard-bu…

Top 25 feeder companies -

11: army

22: navy

22 (tied): marines

That kinda says it all. Army is above BX, MS, TPG, Carlyle etc., and its probably easier to get in to the army than it is in to those companies. The army is considered equally as valuable to top schools as is goldman sachs.

And being 24 is fine - 28 and going to b school is normal, the average age is 27.

Thanks for the link seabird. What the analysis doesn't show is that those army people going to HBS are in all likliehood in the Top 5% of their respective graduating classes at West Point majoring in engineering or some other headie major.

I don't think a so-so grades at a non-target --> OCS --> Cpt. in Army will have a much better shot then a similar candidate that did boutique IBD --> boutique/MM PE --> H/S/W.

That said, my adventerous personality pulls at me constantly to give up 4 years of my life for something as badass and lifechanging as the military.

Agreed, jumping out of airplanes, blowing shit up, having millions of dollars of equipment under your responsibility and leading 40 men couple of months after being taken in isnt a bad deal, lol. Could be worse, could be unemployed. I hear the main thing though is the former military connections.

I can speak from experience in the military connections realm. It is definitely what got me my job after I transitioned out of active duty as a CPT. At very least it made my networking wheels turn much faster.

I have seen that HBS feeder list on poets and quants before. I was wondering if that applies to veterans in my situation, that are getting some civilian work experience before applying to b-schools. In effect, using both my soon to be employer and my past military record to have two avenues of approach so to speak.

Most of my uncle's West Point buddies went straight from active duty to b-school.