currently in community college

Graduate School Business School - MBA
1

<p>Is it even possible to get into i-banking or any wall street job for someone who has attended a community college.</p>

<p>basically what im asking is should i even bust my ass to maintain a high gpa (3.8-4.0) or should i just wing it and get like a 3.5 because i have no chance. is there anyone on here who went to cc and now works on wall street </p>

<p>are my dreams to far fetched? </p>

<p>Chances are i will have to transfer to a school that doesnt have campus recruiting for these big firms so im already off to a bad start</p>

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<p>Would anything less mean your a failure? Why?</p>

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<p>unless you are talking about a "back office" position, IMO your chances of landing an analyst job are virtually zero - even if you had a 4.0 and were the best student ever to come out of your school --> at least for an analyst position at a "bulge bracket" investment bank (GS, MS, ML, LEH, CSFB, JPM, CITI, UBS, etc.)</p>

<p>remember that HR depts at the top tier firms pride themselves on their ability to attract the best and brightest from the elite colleges across the country. needless to say that competition for a spot is extremely competitive (demand way outstrips supply) even if you are coming out of an Ivy (or Ivy equivalent).</p>

<p>so, yeah, the harsh reality is that your chances of edging out some superstar at an Ivy for a potential analyst spot is slim to none ... and slim just left town - its just better to understand that reality sooner rather than later.</p>

<p>my advice if you are really committed and really have your heart set on entering i-banking:
- Keep up your grades as high as possible
- Take the GMAT - and get a very high score (700+)
- Beef up extracurriculars (leadership positions)
- Land the best job that you can
- Work your tail off and excel there
- Get great recommendations
- Apply to a top tier MBA program</p>

<p>Then you'll be in a much better position for the next entry level (Associate). Yeah its a long hard road and there's no guarantee that you'll even make it - but by then your priorities may have changed or other opportunities may come along.</p>

<p>I kind of get the feeling you are looking for an excuse to "slack off", of course, that is your choice. But you have to ask yourself, why you ended up at a CC in the first place, did you not work hard enough (or were there some extraordinary circumstances)? Either way, isn't that a lesson learned? Sorry if I come off sounding harsh, but I'm not one to tell you that you can just take it easy in life and everything will come up rosy for you.</p>

<p>Even if you work your tail off, things can go bad - why take a chance with your future? </p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

4

<p>the prestige....cc is only for 2 years then i have to transfer, so if i maintained 4.0 at the university i transfer to you stil think its basically a zero chance</p>

<p>the reason why im going to a cc is because of money reasons and it being local so i thought it why not for my first 2 years not thinking about the consequences of not landing the job i want out of college</p>

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<p>I think "the_prestige" doesn't understand that you are planning to transfer out of the community college.</p>

<p>It depends on which school you are transfering to.</p>

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<p>what if he's transfering to Berkeley?</p>

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<p>the_prestige has no idea what he is talking about, imo</p>

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<p>prestige's opinion squares with the experience of hundreds of Columbia, Brown and Princeton students whom I know (the vast majority at Columbia). I know people who work at Goldman who attended, say, WashU in STL, or Wesleyan, but zero who went to community college - even only for 2 years.</p>

<p>Prestige's recommendation - find success elsewhere, get into a top MBA program, and then get recruited by the big banks - is your best bet. B-schools offer you a second chance at high-level career switches.</p>

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<p>"find success elsewhere, get into a top MBA program, and then get recruited by the big banks - is your best bet."</p>

<p>Yeah, sure that might be your "best bet" but do you really agree that someone who started off at a community college, then transferred to UMich or Berkeley, maintained a high gpa, and got involved on campus, couldn't get a job in IB?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
the_prestige has no idea what he is talking about, imo

[/quote]
</p>

<p>i see, please enlighten us, Quoth the raven, from your vast investment banking experience how are things different? In your experience, I guess investment banks are just chock full of community college graduates?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Yeah, sure that might be your "best bet" but do you really agree that someone who started off at a community college, then transferred to UMich or Berkeley, maintained a high gpa, and got involved on campus, couldn't get a job in IB?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Anything is possible. You could get hit by lightening tomorrow...</p>

<p>Look, first, why are we assuming that he's going to get into UMich or Cal, I say we take one assumption at a time... Even still if the OP does manage to get into UMich / Cal, he still faces an uphill battle. </p>

<p>For example, why would an i-bank choose someone who only has 2 years at Cal vs. someone who has 4 stellar years at Cal? The supply / demand ratio is way on the side of the i-banks - they can fill all of their analyst positions multiple times over without ever having to accept a transfer from a CC. It's just that simple.</p>

<p>As it is, his chances for an analyst spot are extremely unlikely based on my experience in i-banking - and as harsh as that reality is, he should know that right up front. </p>

<p>I'm not telling him to give up his dreams of working for an i-bank, I am merely suggesting a route that gives him the highest possible chance to prove himself and try and even the playing field a bit.</p>

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<p>btw, here is a small sample of Quoth the Raven's extensive i-banking experience:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=187318%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=187318&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>even if he transfers into UCB for only two yrs cant work expericence and internships make him competitive?</p>

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<p>grats, you figured out how to search through threads that are 8 months old</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=187318%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=187318&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>all that shows is that I do research when I'm not sure of something; as apposed to you who makes ignorant statements pretending you know what you're talking about</p>

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<p>"even if he transfers into UCB for only two yrs cant work expericence and internships make him competitive?" </p>

<p>I personally know a cc transfer student who got an internship then job offer from citi group. Though he turned it down to work at his uncle’s software firm :O</p>

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<p>I always wondered this question of course being a community college planning on transferring to Berkeley. Of course I in no way intend to go into Investment Banking whatsoever.</p>

<p>Long ago someone said that he came from a state school and managed to land a job at citigroup as an analyst. I believe he attended a Cal State school but I am not too sure. Of course more intelligent students have been attending California Community Colleges recently and here in California the students that attend the good community colleges aren't necessarily failures. I am not sure how it is for other community college systems however. If students from lower schools do make it into bulge bracket it is of course something very unique. Yeah, your chances straight out of undergrad will be very slim but I doubt they will be as slim as being hit by ligthning. But then again you said you're transferring to a school that isn't even recruited highly from... hmmm.</p>

<p>My point banks dont necessarily get the creme of the crop students from Ivy League schools or schools of such caliber only--being a student at those schools will only get you an interview.</p>

<p>But really I can't say I know anything.</p>

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<p>if you were in charge of recruiting for an IB, and you interviewed a kid who aced his interview and had outstanding grades, but came from a cc, would you not higher him because of that? maybe the reason why there are such few kids that transferred from a cc in IB positions is not because banks are discouraged from hiring them, but because a lot of the kids don’t strive as hard as kids who entered the school from high school</p>

<p>edit:
"Long ago someone said that he came from a state school and managed to land a job at citigroup as an analyst"</p>

<p>a guy I worked with just graduated from San Jose State and recieved a job offer from Merrill Lynch as an analyst</p>

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<p>Yea, it's possible. I know Berkeley is obligated to accept a certain number of transfers from cc and Stanford, though not obligated, accepts a small number also.</p>

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<p>This thread seems a bit out of place, for one, but I'll let it slide...for now.</p>

<p>However, community college is an additional "issue" at job application time-- it is not, however, an insurmountable one. Though I have not tried, at any time, to work in i-banking, I know some who have had luck after transferring. It can be done!</p>

<p>Do you have a bit of an extra uphill? Yes. Is the_prestige a bit too grandiose in some posts? Yes. Should you all calm down? YES.</p>

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<p>
[quote]

I personally know a cc transfer student who got an internship then job offer from citi group. Though he turned it down to work at his uncle’s software firm :O

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Here at USC, i know a guy that transferred in and got a summer internship at citi</p>

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<p>gg thread.</p>

<p>So, moral of the story: op, work hard, anything is possible.</p>