goldman alumni here; if youre interested in business listen up

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>listen guys. I was once a retarded high school kid browsing these forums trying to figure **** out. so i will make this post and open myself up to questions for a few days to help you guys out. i have a lot of free time this christmas eve and am feeling generous. I also would love to see my NU brethren stink of sweet success. </p>

<p>i see a lot of people talking about MMSS and **** as being very prestigous etc. people freaking about about which college is best for which job. what they should major in etc etc.</p>

<p>listen kids. none of this crap matters in terms of getting a job just do what you like. if you go to Northwestern and do well, you will get job offers from top employers in NYC and Chicago. if you have a hard major- math, mmss, iems, etc then all you need is maybe a 3.4 and some decent activities and previous internships. with an easier major like econ or history you will be fine with 3.6. The average GPA at NU is prob around 3.4 so these numbers are not unreasonable. you should be more focused on drinking and making a lot of friends. </p>

<p>to address misinformation here: MMSS is not that big of a deal. The classes are ****ing hard and everyone respects that but they accept almost everyone who applies. The same can be said about people who major in math or physics or engineering or something. MMSS is a great academic program but do not do it just to get a job because no one cares. Goldman and Mckinsey do recruit for MMSS but they also recruit for the rest of the school. no advantage of MMSS over engineering or math. As a matter of fact i know several Comm majors with no doulbe major or minor who are at JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley because they had good GPA. The point here is that any regular Northwestern major is good enough to get you top jobs. Everything else is dependent on the particular combination of grades/major/activities. </p>

<p>For investment banking: Northwestern dominates Chicago and does respectably in NYC. No one wants to work with those nerds at UChicago so they do not get jobs. It is almost shocking how few University of Chicago alumni make it into banking. I know details of a few banks in chicago for their chicago office. over half of all analysts are from Northwestern. The other half is split between michigan, notre dame, and some random midwest nontargets and a few uchicago. UChicago has no presence within banks and thus no one pulls to recruit there thus no alumni at banks to pull for undergrads etc. In reality people care more about personality than academics above a certain threshold. 3.6 vs 4.0 who gives a ****. do i like you or not, is the question. Northwesstern kids are chill as hell and thus get jobs. For NYC NU compares to other schools like Cornell/Brown. plenty of alumni here but by no means domination such as chicago.</p>

<p>for trading: Northwestern does well in trading likewise with schools such as Brown or Cornell. Again personaility matters a lot here and NU kids are chill. Prop trading in chicago, which often pays better than trading at an investment bank, has deep roots at Northwestern due to location. check it out. Bank trading is is target for just about everything except crap like structuring where they need the MIT nerds. That being said, these crazy quant places like DE Shaw and Jane Street will give interviews to Northwestern people if you want it. And if you perform you will get a job. Though admittedly not a lot of alumni do this route. This is more about correlation of interests than a limiting factor being involved.</p>

<p>for consulting: This is NU powerhouse. Compare to Harvard/Yale/Princeton. Kellogg is the absolute **** for making consultants and they pull heavily to get NU undergrads who pull for more NU undergrads. Again personality matters bigtime and NU kids know how to socialize so they do well. McKinsey last year had a nearly excessive number of on campus recruiting events.</p>

<p>for doing anything else: i dont know or care</p>

<p>so in sum: the most important thing to get into finance is to be really *<strong><em>ing cool as long as you are above a certain threshold. Finance is not rocket science, it is still all about the people even for more complex trading. The school you go to matters a lot less than you think after around the top 25 usnews so go somehwere you like. and do not be a nerd. University of Michigan vs NU vs Duke makes no difference at all to get a job. It is about who you are and how you perform at your school after that point. The doors are equally wide open at all of these places and no one is going to give a *</em></strong> or be more impressed by Duke rather than Michigan. We reject plenty of Harvard grads and have all gone to top schools. we are not impressed by brand name as long as it is good. Its all about who has deepest and most loyal alumni base and NU is right up there at the top in this regards.</p>

<p>feel free to ask questions for a few days.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
MMSS is not that big of a deal. The classes are ****ing hard and everyone respects that but they accept almost everyone who applies

[/quote]
</p>

<p>MMSS is no longer the little obscure program just for nerds. I think it has become less self-selecting and no longer accepts everyone who applies. A CC member told us his friend with a 3.8 GPA (first 4 quarters at NU) got rejected for sophomore admission. Its relationship with the Kellogg cert program has also made the competition more fierce. That said, I second your advice: do it only if you truly love the challenging curriculum or it can backfire (lower GPA).</p>

<p>Thanks for sharing the tips and insight.</p>

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<p>well thanks for so much insight, first of all.</p>

<p>i hope this is still open to discussion seeing as it's been a few days - i'm still wondering how to really be liked, say, during an interview, without appearing too casual? also, if you're just below this threshold of 3.4 with a decent major, will your CV just never land on the desk or are you just gonna end up having to really claw your way in?</p>

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<p>Have you seen many Stat majors make it into trading or banking? Would that be considered an easier major than Econ? I'm considering doing either Econ & Stat or just one of them. Which would give me a higher advantage, if any? Thanks!</p>

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<p>hahah those poor nerds at UChicago</p>

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<p>interesting to hear Sam Lee... I still see absolutely no advantage of this program over math or industrial engineering though</p>

<p>being liked during an interview just depends on being a smooth talker. best practice is going out at night and meeting girls. if you are smooth enough to pickup hot chicks you will be smooth enough to get a job. just be able to ******** and read off what your interviewer is thinking to keep him happy.
as for gpa: there are no cutoffs. If you have below a 3.4 you will simply need something that no one else has to offset it. examples: good previous internships, sports, leadership, etc.</p>

<p>probably less stat majors than econ only because it is less common at undergrad level.
if you do stat prob should do a minor in econ just to convey interest. no benefit of one or other though. maybe slight benefit to double major. again, does not really matter.</p>

<p>and thats all from me, good luck.</p>

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<p>Really? Even a sociology major, albeit with a high GPA, could work for Goldman Sachs or McKinsey? What are the pre-requisites though? How much do you have to know about economics?</p>

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<p>How hard are the academics at NU? I'm thinking for Political Science or Economics.</p>

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<p>Economics is very popular and difficult if you don't have a strong math background. The professors weed out potential majors in the introduction courses.</p>

<p>Political science is another popular major, and I've heard mixed reviews when I was still attending there.</p>

<p>The quarter system can be quite intense. Stay organized and you'll do well in your courses.</p>

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<p>I would say that Econ here is more difficult than Econ at most other top universities. And it doesn't get easier as you get to upper level Econ courses either... unfortunately.</p>

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<p>goldman alum had a lot of time over the holidays likely because he was laid off. All things are cyclical and the ibanking and consulting gigs are dead and will remain so for a good while. The business of america is no longer business; it's government. The growth areas under a democratic regime, assuming it doesnt crash and burn, are law, government and medicine. Possibly engineeering. good luck</p>