Rhodes Scholar vs IB?
I'm in a bit of a weird dilemma but curious what people on here think.
Worked at a top EB this summer, liked my team, got the return, and signed on.
However, my school encouraged me to apply to post-grad fellowships, which I did without thinking too much into it (they encourage everyone with a certain GPA).
Somehow, I'm now a Rhodes finalist and have an interview coming up with a pretty high chance of becoming a Rhodes scholar.
What would your thoughts be on doing the Rhodes? It's a 2 year program, so I'd have to either somehow beg my bank to let me wait two years before starting or renege.
I'm also super torn because I've always seen myself as going into banking, and doing the Rhodes delays that by 2 years. I'm also not sure how much it gets me- I'd be in grad school and probably do either economics or math, but it wouldn't do much for my finance knowledge. I think there's a decent chance I would just do the Rhodes and then go into banking in 2 more years, which kind of seems like a waste to me?
That being said, being a Rhodes scholar is incredibly prestigious. Previous recipients have gone on to be presidents, CEOs, and all sorts of other stuff. I have to imagine that having this on my resume will literally differentiate me from my peers for the rest of the career, and I expect it would be a huge asset for everything from MBA admissions, PE recruiting, and career moves in the future.
Anyone have thoughts? I'm super conflicted.
If you choose IB over becoming a Rhodes Scholar, you're a goddamn fool.
You can always come back to IB, but you'll never get the shot of being a Rhodes Scholar (which is 100x more selective) again.
Rhodes is fucking prestigious. Do you just want to start at the EB and become one among dozens of no-name analysts? See if you can smooth-talk the firm, but even if they refuse you'll have plenty of opportunities to get back into IBD, either in the UK or the US.
If you choose IB over being a Rhodes Scholar then you don’t deserve to be a Rhodes Scholar in the first place lol
Jesus Christ you dolt, fucking Rhodes over EB analyst 8 days a week
Doing it for the "prestige" is so dumb. If you spend your whole life chasing prestigious awards you'll never get around to actually doing what you want to do. First actually get the scholarship offer, then if you do decide whether you're really interested in spending time studying some subject at a grad level. Taking a couple years off to learn something cool will have no impact on your career but could be really rewarding assuming you're actually interested. If your only interest is the prestige involved then you'd probably be better off just following your career interests.
Longtime lurker here. I was in a similar situation; had received a return offer to a top-tier BB and was waiting to hear back from the Rhodes and Marshall.
While I'd echo the sentiments of the posters above (taking the Rhodes is unequivocally the right answer here), I'd push back on your concern that you'll need to "somehow beg my bank" to let you wait before starting. I had exactly that concern and was worried that my fulltime offer would disappear before I heard back, but a conversation with the staffer and partner of my group quickly alleviated that--they were incredibly supportive and kept my offer firmly in place until the selection processes ran their course, and also expressed support to delay the offer on the off chance I did receive the scholarship (one or two years, no problem either way). If your EB doesn't understand the value of a Rhodes, then they don't deserve you (and you'll have zero problem locking down a spot elsewhere).
Unfortunately I didn't make the cut and so straight to the desk I went--wouldn't have thought twice of heading to Oxford if offered the chance. Go put your best foot forward on the finalist process, and best of luck!
I'll be joining an EB FT next year and would drop it in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity to be a Rhodes scholar
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