contemplating a career in investment banking.

Career Opportunities & Internships Investment Banking
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<p>I am sort of in a complex position, and was wondering if you could help me out. I just recently graduated out of a state school with a degree in Biology. All this time I was in Pre-Med, however recently my interest in the corp.-finance field has been growing. Although it has been my hobby for quite some years to check out Wall Street journals on the rack at Barnes and nobles, I haven’t taken any substantial courses in the econ/finance area. My interest in investment banking has led to some research and led me to believe that only the top schools are targets to these big banks and I believe the GPA requirement needs to be around in the 3.7 area. My plan for now is that I have recently enrolled as a postbac in University of Pennsylvania and decided to take some finance/econ/math courses to just to gain some educational background in the field. (I only opted for a post bac and not a MBA because I am on the polar end of the spectrum here and don’t possibly think I could attain any sort of a business MBA.) Also, I intend on getting a 4.0 this term. My question for you is does this sound like a crazy plan? Could this possibly work with some big banks: (although I haven’t gotten a degree from Upenn, I would be taking some finance related coursework and doing well in them)? Should I be sticking to med schools? </p>

<p>My state school my GPA is around a 3.5 (I don’t know how the finance industry views this but in the science world, it’s considered pretty good considering they are all core sciences.) </p>

<p>My plan of action with this is to somehow manage an internship this summer and join fulltime hopefully in spring. I haven no finance experience whatsoever and I am thinking an internship is probably the best bet to get my foot in the door. Please let me know if you have any advice for me...I appreciate your time.</p>

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<p>Realistically, you'd be much better off working for two years and going for an MBA, then try to get in through summer recruiting. Going back to Penn for a couple of classes is almost a complete waste of time and will not help. Honestly, your plan is not sound at all and it is extremely unlikely you will be able to land an internship, especially in this market.</p>

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<p>Just do what you want to do. You're not gonna go hungry if you decide to <em>gasp</em> not go into investment banking.</p>