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I'd say do the Paralympics. Great reason to have missing internship experience as well as great interview discussion. Also, do you want to spend your summer competing for your country or arranging logos on a slide?
If my country is France (as OP's region on the post implies), then definitely would prefer to arrange logos on a slide :P
100% do the Olympics. Do something sophomore year, likely won’t be in IB (although I feel like some sophomore year diversity programs at BBs may include disabilities as diversity?) but get some finance experience early on, network your ass off, and I’m sure you can stand out as a full time candidate. Way cooler to be an Olympian than a banker.
Problem with disability diversity internships is that I’m a) 100% mentally capable, b) not physically dependent on any prosthetic or wheel chair, and c) I come across 100% able-bodied and tbh my disability rarely interferes w/ my day to day life. But I still qualify, since it objectively impedes on my athletic ability to perform/compete. I’ll probably do more DD on what “disability” means for these diversity programs, especially now that I know that I qualify for the Paralympics — the epitome of “disabled.” **Any insight on diversity programs for disabled would be incredibly beneficial, because I think it’d be comical if I pulled up to the program as a white, straight, male who looks 100% able bodied.
I know literally nothing about disability internships but for IB at least I would assume that a) you’d have to be 100% mentally capable (medically speaking, if you’ve been on WSO you’ve probably seen a number of mentally inept bankers) to work at a bank and b) that even if you present as full able bodied, qualifying for the Paralympics is probably as official of a testament that you technically have a physical disability as far as the bank is concerned.
That being said, even if you didn’t qualify, if I was on a campus recruiting team and you get some kind of technical finance experience your sophomore summer, networked early on, and skipped the junior year internship for the Paralympics, I’d definitely be flagging you for full time interview processes (obviously this is assuming your academics and knowledge meet the standards of the bank)
Do the CS disability internship for soph summer --> secure junior summer return offer --> tell CS u finna go to the olympics --> CS says ok bet, see you FT back in office --> profit
See comment above. Do you have any specific insight as to what “disability” entails? Who should I call to find out if I qualify? As aforementioned, my disability doesn’t affect my day-to-day activities — only affects my athletic capabilities. Just don’t know how this would look and if it would affect my reputation if some people had the opinion that I was “scamming” or playing the system.
Just defer your Junior year... That way you still get a full year of college that you can enjoy / junior year internship / mega cheeks clapped from olympian clout
paralympics clout doesn’t hit the same tho..
As someone who personally deals with disabled people, I find someone with a disability who made it to the Paralympics equally impressive as someone who got to the Olympics. Both require massive dedication, but disabled people always receive looks of people, even more when they are doing sports (thus, it requires much more courage). If we sometimes feel like we are being watched when we take slightly longer packing our food in the checkout or at the gym imagine these people who are looked at every day because they are just different.
I doubt OP's (btw congrats OP) situation is the same as the one of the disabled people I know, one being a close family member, who find ordinary activities as brushing their teeth challenging. Can you imagine how frustrating you could feel if you have to take 5 times more to do something as "easy" as, for example, putting your clothes on?
This video better explains what I mean:
;Interesting comment. Not sure what that would look like / implications of it. I’m actually on track to graduate 1sem early (December 2024); however, I was planning to use the extra credits I have to just take less credits and graduate in time, allowing me to dedicate more time to specific comments. Do you think — instead of taking 1 full year off — I should take spring semester of junior year off (Spring 2024) and try to pursue an internship then? I would then be able to graduate on track w/ the rest of my class May 2025. Not sure how that would work and the security of that.
Yeah deferring 1 semester also works. Just depends on when you want to graduate (ie. deferring your final sem of your senior year lets you have another shot at an internship)
Yes. Doing excel in a desk is great if you like your field, but life is a lot more than that.
Agreed, but kinda missed the point of my post. Looking more for how I can OPTIMIZE my chances of landing a job in IB considering that I’ll likely choose Paralympics. More so looking to work around it; apologies if that wasn’t clear in the post. Any further insights would be appreciated.
IMO you will get interviews easily with a decent Resume that has: represented my country in the olympics/paralympics
You can get valuable experiences in your sophomore and senior years, an Olympic experience would be great and super original. Is a no doubt choice. But first you have to qualify right?
Haha — qualifying won’t be an issue. Already looking at the times and I’ll comfortably make the finals. G/S/B placement is a stretch though, as there’s some serious amputee athletes that usually claim the T3 each year. Thnx though.
You will hate yourself if you give up a once in a lifetime opportunity to instead be a corporate bitch leashed to their computer. You'll do plenty of that for the rest of your career
Do the olympics. You can always get back into finance later on but the opposite isn't true.
Thnx for opinion. I think I’m on the same page w/ you and everyone else; I’d really appreciate it if you could read my current situation above and provide more insight as to how I can work around the Paralympics and any opportunities I should take advantage of to optimize my chances of landing SA senior year. My situation is pretty unique (I.e probably don’t qualify for diversity disability, have ability to graduate semester early OR take gap semester and still graduate on time, etc). Thnx again.
what event?
Won’t specify for personal reasons, as the information I’ve given above would lead to a pretty dead giveaway once I hit the Paralympics. Think sprints — 100m, 200m, 400m.
To parrot everyone else. No brainer… do the Olympics
Some personal thoughts. First of all, I strongly suggest you do the Paralympics; you'll regret the rest of your life if you don't. Also not going to sugar coat it, the junior year summer internship is key for getting a FT investment banking job. Sophomore summer internship + academic year internships MIGHT make up for it, especially if you know ahead of time you're going to compete. This is a real differentiator on your resume and will actually significantly help your recruiting, you just have to find a way around the "standard path." Getting a quality sophomore summer internship is extremely important.
I also think potentially exploring delaying graduating COULD potentially be an option (e.g. graduating in winter instead of spring, thus giving you an extra summer to do an internship, and starting FT the following year). However, it's really personal (to your budget and other life factors), and it's not guaranteed. The advantage is that you can start having these honest conversations with banks way ahead of time, particularly as you may have the option of going through special recruiting channels at some banks.
In general, a lot of standard recruiting advice applies: cast a broad net, do as many informational interviews as possible, master your technicals, have a unique selling proposition (easy check mark for you), be flexible and just get a foot in the door as the rest of your career will follow.
Without a doubt go to the Paralympics opportunity. You will have plenty of time to work in your life, this is a once of a lifetime experience and on top of that this will, more likely than not, make you a way more competitive job candidate than having an IB internship. There's thousands of kids that have IB internships, any Olympic experience makes you an absolute unicorn!
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Definitely do the Paralympics, this shouldn't even be a question
Also, to make this even easier, you can just take 1 semester off, or spread your studies over 4.5 years - so make yourself a junior a year later. If you graduate in December instead of June, you'll be eligible for SA 2025. Very very common to do this and what a great hook to say you're getting ready for the Paralympics during recruiting.
OP that is awesome.
Look at the entire list of comments, going to the Paralympics is a huge conversation starter and sparks genuine interest from people both athlete or not (what sport, how was the experience, etc.) Not to mention you will most likely remember the experience your entire life and will meet other paralympians all with unique backgrounds and some of which might also want to get into finance. If it were me I would go with the Paralympics, you have 40 years to work in corporate world, don't give up a once in a lifetime opportunity to do get a 3-month head start.
Not to mention there are thousands of people that will have the exact same resume (target/semi, 3.7+ GPA, IB Internship). Networking wise I would be much more inclined to talk to someone who is one of the best in the world in what they do versus a cookie-cutter finance student. If you're worried about getting into IB, your story would especially resonate with former college/pro athletes who lateraled into IB. Use that to network during senior year. As long as you have one other finance experience even at a no name boutique IB shop or search fund your sophomore summer or junior year fall, you are set.
If you know your technicals, have a solid "why finance" answer, and have anything finance related on your resume, you'll be in the 99% for IB internships
Do the Paralympics. Apart from the glory and the once in a life time experience, you will pretty much have your MBA applications done
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