Non-Target vs Gap Year
Good day to all WSO users!
I'm an 18-year-old Canadian, currently residing in my home country. During university applications, like many people my age, I was rushed through them and was not given the time to properly think about what I really wanted to pursue in my future, so I decided to apply to various random programs (environment, computer science, finance, international management, law among others) without doing much research on what programs were best for what schools. I ended up settling on studying finance at a non-target institution, Telfer School of Management (affiliated with uOttawa) in Finance.
Ever since COVID hit (which, for me, has been a blessing), my school workload dropped to near-zero, and I started doing a lot of research on potential future careers, through which I discovered investment banking, and though it sounded really cool. I kept doing much research on the topic and realised that at the school I will be attending next year, my chances of breaking into high finance are near-zero at the university I'm headed into.
I have started contemplating whether to take a gap year or not. If I did so, I would differ from my current academic obligation for a year, and apply for different schools/programs for September 2021. At the moment, I am thinking of Ivey, Queens & McGill. During my gap year, due to my parent's current employment, I would have many opportunities to volunteer/work abroad (namely in the Ecuadorian cloud forest & Galapagos Archipelago) for essentially as long as I would want. During this gap year, I would also be able to take various online courses on Udemy or Coursera if I decide it would be for the best. The worst-case scenario would be that I get a great year full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, learn more about the career I want to be headed into, build towards it, skip the online classes due to COVID, & go back to the program I am currently enrolled in.
However, I'm afraid that a gap year would look not so good on a resume, especially for a career as competitive as investment banking. Should I head into my current program and work extra hard to break into my dream career, or differ for a year, get great experiences, and hope to be accepted into a target school, delaying my life plans by a year?
Also open to any ideas of what else I would be able to do over the course of the gap year if ever I decide to go for it!
Thank you all so much :)
Be it me, I'd take Ecuadorian cloud forest & Galapagos Archipelago, and have it on my resume - it is really cool. Give yourself a year, take your Coursera courses, volunteer in those cool places, have fun, you won't regret it. You have your whole life ahead of you, don't rush things.
Hey OP,
I think taking a gap year will be really useful and if you can maybe upgrade your grades you can easily get into Queens / Ivey / Mcgill. All 3 of those school are great, but I would recommend Ivey because it has the best placements in finance in Canada. Most firms wont even ask or realize you took a gap year. They mostly care about your year in school (ie. Junior). I know people who took gap years and got EB/BB roles. And the gap years were longer than just one year. I'm glad you are thinking so far ahead it shows you really care. If I was you, I would try to get some internship or some work experience in that 1 year and then when you enter first year at any of those schools you'll be able to land some good first year internship. Also make sure to start networking right when you enter first year, by the time your junior year comes around you should have contacts as every firm. I think the best path for you is to get into one of those 3 schools and learn as much as possible during your year off.
I’m also an international student, took a gap year and I attend a complete non-target. I had super days with 3 EBs and eventually accepted a top BB (GS/MS/JPM) As long as you are able to talk intelligently about what you did during that year and network a lot, whatever you decide should work.
Take the gap year, get a solid application into Ivey (I don't know much about Canadian universities but I know Ivey Business places super well) or any other top Canadian university and don't look back. One year makes no difference in the scheme of things and Telfer (which I've never heard of as an American) vs Ivey/McGill etc will likely make a big difference.
Frankly, this is the best time to take a gap year and covid gives you a great excuse to delay a year. Future employers won't even blink an eye or probably even notice that you're a year older.
Go to the Galapagos/Ecuador, learn Spanish, volunteer, travel, read a bunch of books, take an online course, become a more interesting and worldly person.
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