<p>Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I would like to know if someone who can't even make the AIME should even consider ibanking as a career. </p>
<p>Fyi, I missed last year's qualifying with a 98.5 (11 correct, 13 blank), and this year with a 93 (13 correct, 10 blank). I'm starting to hate the discrete math course I'm in right now, but I was great at calculus and physics.</p>
<p>And which is more important in ibanking - being a hardcore math genius or having good social/networking skills? (I know the two are not always mutually exclusive btw)</p>
<p>You don't need crazy good math skills in Ibanking. Your mostly going to be crunching numbers and doing excel spreadsheets. If you did good in calculus in physics in high school and do good on them in college your set when it comes to math.</p>
<p>Thanks, that helps some. But are you talking about surviving the 2 years as analyst or advancing quick in the BB firms to make the big bucks? (The latter was what I had in mind)</p>
<p>Both. You won't do THAT much math even as an analyst. You mostly put data on excel and use formulas and stuff. And as far as math goes, the farther you go up, the less math you do.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and the amount of **** you have to put up with is inversely proportional to your compensation package.</p>
<p>Most non-math majors can't get into the AIME...heck I bet they can barely get over 50 on the AMC. I would think over 99% of bankers could not qualify for the AIME. Most people who do well on the AIME become strict math majors, and go into like hedge funds or something straight out. They usually get PhDs, and skip the mind-dulling number crunching that most analysts do.</p>
<p>Yeah, so you definitely don't need to qualify for the AIME. The fact you got such a high score on the AMC is more than good enough.</p>
<p>I am not a math major, and I normally got around 120~130s in AMCs....</p>
<p>AMC just tests your calculator skills, I think...</p>
<p>I was the school winner in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade...</p>
<p>I took AIME three times with scores of 9th: 0, 10th: 0, 11th: 1 (because it is a "no calculator" test!!!)</p>
<p>yet I was the person who got 3 on Calc AB test... muhaha
(which is the reason I had to take it again as freshman)</p>
<p>My conclusion: AMC has nothing to do with your math skills -_-;;; AMC, except a couple of problems, can be solved with plugging in random numbers into your calculator.</p>
<p>If I have my Ti-89 with me, I am a god. (note I said "a" god, not "the" god).. but without it..... buahbajhka...</p>
<p>As long as you can put up with those dreadful hours, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to do IBanking. Also, scores like 98.5 are not bad on the AMC 12!</p>
<p>If you had done a shred of research before asking this question, you would would find that I-Banking at all levels requires little beyond basic calculus skills. If anything, you will rely less and less on it as you move up within the company.</p>
<p>corp fin/investment banking division/m&a
= very basic math (arithmetic mostly)</p>
<p>capital markets/s&t/credit products/risk management
= could be VERY extensive math depending on the group/product (i.e. structured credit product traders might have doctrate degrees)</p>