Enlighten me about finance, investment-banking, business, etc.

Career Opportunities & Internships Investment Banking
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<p>Before I begin bombarding you with inquiries, I have an initial question: it is the summer between freshman and sophomore year of high school. I have the most rigorous schedule one can have and I ended up with a 3.85 UW GPA and a rank one or two spaces from being in the top 5% (out of a total of 900 freshmen). Is there anything I could have done up 'till now other than making good grades that would help my chance for admissions to top colleges? Anything I can do right this moment (other than taking tennis lessons so that I'll be varsity by senior year)? And also anything I can do to help in a future in business?</p>

<p>Now, the category of business. Is business different from finance? I know that the big money is in these categories. No matter what anyone says, the guys that are actually handling the money always will get more of it than the guys getting paid (doctors, lawyers, engineers). Now, what specifically is the path to becoming a young, big money player? What do you have to do in high school, what tier of colleges should you aim for, what undergraduate degree should you get, do you have to go on to business school, if so what tier of business schools, what undergrad colleges and business schools are considered the best, if you have to go on to business school what degree should you aim for in business school? Also, what classes in high school should you take and/or focus on for a future in business? Should I take business electives? All business electives are classes taken by slackers at my school, and seem to be too easy, i.e. learning how to use Microsoft Office and other ridiculous stuff that I can already do.</p>

<p>Is there complex math involved in business (like engineering)? I used to want to be an engineer, but I concluded that I abhor mathematics (my Pre-AP Geometry class was like no other) so that was an easy way to eliminate a major career choice, and I eliminated lawyer because I don't want to be a shyster (lol) and I don't like the nature of the work, and I was left with business and medicine.</p>

<p>Science is one of my strong points and I have some docs in the family so that justifies medicine, but the thing is, why would you work oh-so hard to become a doctor when the guy in business/finance was richer than you whilst in his 20's? I like the prestige of being a doctor, but not what I just mentioned.</p>

<p>The thing about business is that I like to tell myself that I have a mind for business (in my own crazy world :P) but I don't like the fact that you have to figuratively, ahem, <em>please men</em> above you in rank until you ascend the corporate ladder. If it is not that way, please somebody tell me and I will be relieved. I also like finance because it seems to be a job on the edge, what with the stock market that causes suicides and all. I also like it because I saw this article ----> Busted</a> Bankers: Investment Bankers Nabbed in Supercar-Laden Road Trip - Wide Open Throttle - Motor Trend Magazine <---- </p>

<p>When you are considering becoming a doctor, a million people will harp on you about "being passionate about people" and saying you shouldn't do it for the money, and I am precisely one of those people that harps on others, but I don't like that people will constantly annoy a potential MD about it. If I only wanted money, medicine wouldn't be one of my options. </p>

<p>When you are considering becoming a person in finance, you can say "I love money" all you want and nobody will care. I also wouldn't mind being this badass banker, played by William Fichtner :) YouTube</a> - The Dark Knight: "You and your friends are dead!" But somewhat relative to that, a classy office and a nice suit just sounds more like me than long hours in a hospital, but maybe there are some classy hospitals out there, I know very little about these things.</p>

<p>By the by, don't be intimated by this wall of text, this is simply how I quarrel with my inner self and ramble about it. Thanks for any input.</p>

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<p>Hell, don’t even read any of that. I know walls of text deter people from answering the main question. The main question is this: IB or other similar high-earning business careers vs Doctor. Massive risk vs stability.</p>

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<p>Business is easy, probably the easiest field with a high reward track (assuming you go to a target). The risk is that you have to be able to network and get those high reward jobs, which are somewhat scarce. Pre-med/doctor is stable but really hard. You can also say that its risky too because of its difficulty. If you really believe in your abilities to conquer college-level sciences then it might even be the better path. However, some people say you really need the passion to become a doctor since u need to get through years of difficult sciences and then more years of med school and residency.</p>

<p>I actually didn’t read your post, but if you really want to be a doctor and you believe in yourself then I would suggest that. If you just want doctor for the money then… pre-med might be even riskier than just business.</p>

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<p>Depends on what field. Actuary science is math intense advanced calc. Finance is pre-calc but you will probably take upper level financial economics which includes calc., accounting is algebra and mostly basic math. Operations management is logic problems that include basic math. You will know statistics and know it well. </p>

<p>Economics, which is not business but business related, is heavy calc at the graduate level. less so in undergrad unless you’re in the b-school as opposed to the liberal arts school, or in the math and sciences school.</p>

<p>Most business is math and logic. If you have a problem with math you have a problem with business.</p>

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<p>I’m an impatient guy. I like business and finance more than medicine because of how much salary you can get in such little time. It only takes a mere three years out of undergrad to possibly earn up to $350k. If you’re on the medicine pathway, three years out of undergrad and you’re still in medical school paying a really high tuition. And even after medical school, you’d be stuck with a five year+ residency where you’d only get paid around $50k-$70k a year for over 70 hours of work per week. In medicine, you don’t really start getting the big bucks until you’re like 30 to 35. By then, you could still probably be paying off your medical school debts. :smiley: However, in business and finance when you’re 35 you may as well be an IB Managing Director or Partner. You would be making over a million dollars a year! Some of the most successful MDs or Partners can make 20 million a year!</p>

<p>Anyway, this is just from a financial standpoint. There are many other factors to consider such as what you said, risk vs. stability. You can tell, however, that I’m drooling over the rewarding prospects of the compensation in IB.</p>

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<p>Most starting salaries for bankers are around 70k. You may get a signing bonus but the amounts have decreased due to pressure from possible financial regulation. While yes it’s possible to earn 350k within your first 3 years or even more, it is not as likely as you would think. Don’t get too caught up in the wall street banker image. Unless you end up working at a bulge bracket or middle market firm the prospects are not very likely.</p>

<p>If you look at most rankings of highest paying jobs, doctors virtually always come out at the top. Bankers would be competitive, but I do not believe the rankings take into account bonuses. Especially with the large amount of layoffs in the financial industry the competition for jobs is greater than ever. All the real money comes from actuaries in the firms. They get paid huge salaries along with their bonuses, but it is heavily reliant upon math.</p>

<p>In business image is everything, for the most part. You should aim for top tier 3 schools such as HYPMS, Penn, Columbia, Cornell, NYU, Northwestern, Duke, Michigan, Chicago. The math will typically not go beyond calc 1 and statistics. I would take the business electives in your high school, regardless of how easy they are, the admissions offices will not know. It should help boost your applications.</p>

<p>Finally you mentioned about working long hours in hospitals. Most people criticize bankers for the amount of money they make but very few realize that they work longer hours than most. A joke that is often heard is that instead of working 9 to 5 they work 5 to 9. Which is not an exaggeration. Work hours will typically range from 80 to 100 hours a week, trust me it’s not as easy as you think.</p>

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Yes but at least bankers aren’t paid a measly $40k to $50k for working that long. Medical residents spend over five years after medical school working 70-90 hour weeks for that amount of money</p>

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<p>Then, when they land a job, they make bank, especially if they go into private practice.</p>

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<p>You are one of hundreds of posters here who think that way. However, only a handful of people who have “blue chip” qualities will get in. Most people who are motivated by “easy” money only don’t have what it takes to get in.</p>

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<p>You need to do so much research. I strongly advice you read <a href=“http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com%5B/url%5D”>www.mergersandinquisitions.com</a> in its entirety.</p>

<p>I just want to say that the guy in that video is not an investment banker, lol. That guy is probably a commercial “banker” (=much less prestige in the eyes of someone like you)… perhaps a manager of the branch. Haha wow. No banker, commercial or investment, would have the balls of that character in the Dark Knight to go after robbers with a shotgun all nonchalantly.</p>

<p>Bankers do not do calculus. Mostly addition and subtraction, with a little multiplication or division if things are getting fancy.</p>

<p>Don’t take business classes in high school. Take the hardest classes you can possibly handle, get into Harvard, major in economics, network and land internships during the summer, land a full-time Analyst position. Done.</p>

<p>But seriously, read that website cover to cover.</p>

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<p>Business does not automatically mean investment banking. I am amazed at how naive people are at how many different types of jobs there are in business.</p>

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<p>Hey, thanks for taking the time to post in this thread. I fear that your comment may be a bit misinformed; nowhere has anyone implied that investment banking is the only facet of business. My inquiries stem from not only the target career, the aforementioned investment banking, but the broad spectrum of business and finance. </p>

<p>If you are disappointed that investment banking is the main topic discussed in this subforum, entitled “Investment Banking,” I would point you in the direction of the “Business major” forum, where general and various business opportunities are discussed on a wider basis.</p>

<p>Thank you for understanding and once again, thank you for taking the time to voice your feedback.</p>

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What else can you be motivated by in IB? The desire to help the firm out? I guess.</p>

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exit ops .</p>

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But aren’t you motivated to take an exit opp because they provide greater money and an overall better lifestyle?</p>

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<p>yeah, the banks know that and they dont care. they just want someone to come and work their *** off for two years</p>

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<p>You sound like a business person. Explore it.</p>

<p>PS: Why do I think you sound like a female?</p>

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<p>I am curious; what makes me sound like a business person? Every little bit of info helps. As for the second part: you tell me :?</p>