<p>I was just wondering how people decide on becoming a investment banker in HS without any hands-on experience. What are your reasons to become an IB? Is it solely for the money?</p>
<p>When you say IB do you mean International Baccalaureate ?</p>
<p>Sorry. Ignore my last post.</p>
<p>Models and bottles</p>
<p>The prestige</p>
<p>The image</p>
<p>Exit opps. into HF</p>
<p>It’s the same problem for every career. Unfortunately we have system where an 18 year must choose a life path with little or no knowledge about what he is getting himself into. Some people have their calling very early in life. Most of us go by trial and error an never really know what we want to be when we grow up until we finally grow up.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine why somebody would decide to become anything in High School lol. I’m assuming the issue is picking your major when you apply to colleges? If so, the only real qualifier is that you pick a quantitative major in college, and that’s only really to make your life easier when trying to get internships and a job afterward. </p>
<p>Don’t stress about picking anything. If you think you might want to be an IB then I’m assuming you like math, so pick a math-related major. There is huge course-overlap for nearly all majors as you get your GEs out of the way your first 1-2 years of college, so you have that entire time to decide what exactly you want to do.</p>
<p>This same question can be, and is, applied to every single career choice of college attendees. This would be why many, many people change their major at least once. It’s also why many people will entirely change their schools. The sheer number of people who end up doing something different from what they intended their senior year of high school is testimony to how easy it is to change, and how you really don’t need to pick anything lol. If you just have a general idea then you’re leagues ahead of others.</p>
<p>Good Luck! =)</p>
<p>Those that know (or I should say think they know) usually know based on what they’ve heard or read in a forum about money, prestige, and opportunities. </p>
<p>In reality there is absolutely no reason to be convinced until it actually comes time in college to start pursuing the networking avenues, gaining internships and taking courses. Many students say IB and then move to S&T, consulting, even back office when they do more research and actually talk to more bankers. Many students don’t know what IB really is until college when they join some clubs and do some research and end up breaking into a solid BB. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about definitively knowing where you want to be right now - have a basic plan to sell to colleges, and then figure it out when you get there and are exposed to the opportunities and avenues.</p>
<p>Good luck and don’t forget to actually enjoy your summers and time in college.</p>
<p>it was the $$$ for me and the realization that languishing away in a cubicle for a F500 isn’t for me.</p>
<p>One question, do you need to go into an undergraduate business program and study finance at one of the Top 10 business programs or can you major in something like economics at somewhere like UChicago and still become an investment banker?</p>
<p>^ Harvard is one of the strongest schools in terms of IB placement and it does not have an undergraduate business school or a finance major.</p>
<p>To OP: you say you only know IB is for you with hands-on experience. But what makes you pursue that hands-on experience? Thinking that maybe IB is for you. This comes from reading books, talking to other ppl, etc. I know i became interested in I-banking upon hearing about it from a friend in junior year of HS. I got curious and began reading stuff like dealbook and mergers and inquisitions and got interested inthe industry. While I agree that knowing IB is definitely the path one’s life will take is a stretch, but merely choosing it as a profession one wants to have is no stretch at all.</p>
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<p>It is highly beneficial to know what you want to do while you’re still in high school. In general, it’s always beneficial to think two moves ahead. If you’re in high school and you know you want to do banking, you aim to get into target schools. Once you get into college and realize that you want PE to be your next move after banking, you aim to get in bulge brackets/top boutiques, ideally in either the Financial Sponsors, the Leveraged Finance, or the M&A group. Knowing what you want to do two steps ahead allows you get pick your next move accordingly.</p>
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<p>IB does not require math beyond algebra. You need to be good with numbers, but it’s not like you need to major in Math/Stats/Engin. Economics and Finance are the most popular choices.</p>