<p>I'm right now a freshman at a community college and then going to transfer to NYU. I was wondering if investment banks look down upon community college students during hiring or internships.</p>
<p>Alright thanks!</p>
<p>The short answer is yes, for elite investment banks since they receive applications from so many qualified applicants. Transfers often are at a disadvantage. If a firm has the choice between a Yale student and a student who transferred to Yale (assuming they are about equally qualified in all aspects), the firm most likely would take the student who has been at Yale for all four years. However, if the choice is between a Yale applicant with 3.7 and a transfer at Yale with 3.8, the firm may well choose the transfer. So my advise to you is don’t worry about being at a disadvantage, just do your best to get the highest GPA you can get.</p>
<p>I have to disagree. I have seen many resumes of students who go to Target schools and those who transfer to Target schools, and I couldn’t care less. If someone attends Columbia, for example, is against someone else from Columbia who is a transfer, I see them both as the same - frankly, it is harder to get into a target as a transfer than to start - the person may have slacked a bit in HS, but now got on track and made it into a strong target. Bottom line, if you attend a target, work on the network and keeping your GPA - whether you are a transfer or not, you are in good shape.</p>
<p>If you are at a community college, are your SAT scores high? Most IB recruiters will want to know your SAT scores plus your GPA.</p>
<p>And who says you have to tell them you’re a transfer? ;)</p>
<p>moochies:</p>
<p>NYU is a good place, work hard and get a transfer from the community college. Do not worry, you will be fine, good luck. I know few community college transfer who have done well. There are not many but there are so keep working hard and read as much as possible. Do not take answer for no and do not believe the naysayers. :)</p>
<ol>
<li>People on the street don’t give a ch*t (and they especially don’t care about a 3.8 vs 3.7)</li>
<li>Only after all interviews have been conducted do IB’s ask for transcripts and it’s sole purpose is to verify GPA, not individual course grades or the fact that you transferred</li>
</ol>
<p>Just keep in mind one thing–the Investment Banking division places great emphasis on extracurricular accomplishment and you may be hindered in this regard as you’ll be two years behind yours peers at NYU. My suggestion: become a leader at your CC (it’s far easier) and network your butt off when you get to NYU.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>^^ In regards to EC’s at your CC, it is indeed easier. I’ve accomplished more in my two years at my CC than most do at a 4 year their fresh/soph years. I am in the process of applying to stern as a transfer and feel I have a decent shot.</p>
<p>Sorry, have to disagree with most here. Banks are looking for lots of things–important among them is leadership and a strong network formed in college becuse of it. This would be very dificult for a transfer to aquire.</p>
<p>I also don’t agree that it’s harder to get into NYU s a transer than as a freshmen. In this environment Sternies need to be top to get a banking job, a CC trasfer there would have a tough time.</p>
<p>This environment is not nearly as awful as it was a year and a half ago. Hiring is up - no we’re not in the boom again, but it’s definitely not mass slashings and complete hiring freezes. Banks do not care if you were a transfer, and, honestly, probably won’t know unless you tell them or they see your transcript and by then they won’t care anyway. Banks care about your school brand, your GPA and any relevant work experience - only after that will they really start to look at EC experiences and leadership - yes it matters, but definitely less than the other 3 criteria - the exception here is if you have leadership experience in a club that allows you to build strong networking connections - then again, the networking is what matters not the leadership.</p>
<p>Also, as a transfer, you will have plenty of time to build your network - I am assuming you are planning to transfer ahead of your junior year. There is no reason why you can’t hit the ground running when you get there - reach out to alumni, join the clubs, make an impact - it’s not as hard as some might think. Lastly, yes there will be students who start early as freshman, but, frankly, they are still waiting until juniors (an occasional rising junior might get an internship in BB IB) to really go for it and call on the network - you can certainly build a decent amount of support by that time as well - if not, there is always pushing for boutique and MM shop opportunities while you continue to build your network and then push for FT BB. </p>
<p>Good luck and feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>IBanker, according to your CV on LinkedIn, you only graduated from college in 2006, so you are 25 years old? If you are an ibanker at a BB firm, how do you have so much time doing a newsletter, advisory service and posting here?</p>
<p>My son, also a BB ibanker at age 25, was working about 70 hours a week, had no time for anything else.</p>
<p>I also agree with hmom that acceptance in a target school as a freshman is infinitely harder than as a transfer.</p>
<p>Many people that I know don’t have time for much else. I don’t publish nearly as often as I’d like to, and I first started my site when the market collapsed and I had much more free time. I write some articles, or at least parts of them while at work when I’ve got down time, I answer emails through my blackberry and so on - it is possible if you want it. </p>
<p>And, honestly, whether it is more difficult to get into a target school as a transfer or not, is irrelevant - you will not be at a disadvantage if you attend a target school as a transfer or or not.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Were you laid off?</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, people were actually working harder when the market collapsed to avoid being laid off.</p>
<p>I would imagine not since studies show that community college students who go on to four-year universities tend to achieve higher GPAs than those who started at four-year schools.</p>
<p>As well, I have a dear friend who was involved in GBS admissions at Stanford and UC Berkeley and said that the community college stint is actually seen as a plus, that someone had to work that much harder to land in a four-year university.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>No, I was not laid off, thankfully. </p>
<p>That, for the most part is not true - there were stints when analysts were getting slammed, but most groups were pretty down, especially when the bottom completely fell out before the pieces began to be picked up. Some groups had several months of real easy days, others had a few weeks, then a bit of an uptick, then a slowdown, etc.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Having been an MD at a BB firm for 26 years, I never missed the fact that someone transferred on a resume.</p>
<p>^ You’re the exception, not the rule.</p>
<p>I agree that there are obvious disadvantages for transfer students, mainly that they have to establish EC’s and leadership positions in a much shorter amount of time. But there is no bank/group I know of that explicitly discriminates against transfer students. Every single transfer I know (a handful at Stanford and many more at UC Berkeley and UCLA) who wanted a banking job got one. @OP, just apply, and if the subject comes up, be honest and open. 99.9% of the time, they won’t care.</p>
<p>^Can you give us a source for this? Most kids I know at UCB and UCLA who started there can’t get front office banking jobs. </p>
<p>At the top bank I worked at for thirty years and managed thousands of folks all over the world, I can recall one single CC transfer with a very compelling story/skill set. We are mostly looking at hires who are the top 10% from a handful of schools.</p>
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<p>And I know for a fact that some of those people who ended up at BB’s are transfers. I guess some banks aren’t as elitist as yours is.</p>
<p>We can argue for pages about who is or is not heavily recruited, so to get back to the original topic: @the OP, I would recommend taking these steps in preparing for banking recruiting:</p>
<p>1) You can try disguising your transfer on your resume. Don’t have any reference to the CC you attended, and simply list a graduation date from NYU, with no start date.
2) If the subject comes up in an interview, be honest and have a good story for transferring. In particular, talk about the challenges you overcame. If you attended CC for financial reasons, say so - there’s no negative stigma attached to that. If you were a slacker in high school, talk about how you much you improved (I’m assuming your GPA is pretty high, considering that it’s really difficult to transfer without a solid freshman GPA) - banks love to see steady and consistent improvement. Spin it in a positive way.
3) Some banks will request unofficial transcripts in addition to a resume and cover letter when applying. For these banks, it’s even more important to have your story prepared about why you transferred and having it spun in a positive light.</p>