<p>I will matriculate to UT Austin as a freshman this fall and will be in the BHP program. When I attended the program's open day, those running the program essentially implied that the financial industry conducts significant recruitment at UT (see BHP</a> Top Recruiters | McCombs School of Business | The University of Texas at Austin), with progress being made in IB (our keynote was a twentysomething graduate who worked for GS and left voluntarily to pursue other passions outside of the financial realm).</p>
<p>How can I better my professional person to prepare for internships? What should I pursue in college to make me more attractive for IBs? How much QA experience/expertise should I have to be an entry-level analyst?</p>
<p>to be honest if you are thinking wall street then the prospects are already not looking too good. people will talk on and on about the one kid from indiana for the graduates from ohio but the truth is IBs hire and recruit mostly in the northeast. in college i would say courses in finance and economics and the such would be clear choices for IB. work really hard and try to be the best in your class to increase your chances.</p>
<p>Cool…so I’m already disadvantaged because I don’t go to an upper echelon institution. I’ve seen that already. I’m looking for ways to compensate for the lack of brand name appeal…</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m planning to work hard in obtaining a high class rank in finance and econ - I already know that general information… </p>
<p>Do you or anyone else have any specific advice?</p>
<p>You should have no problem with getting to NY from BHP</p>
<p>You definitely want to network and build your experience by interning with regional IBs - even boutiques, just to build your experience and skill sets. You need to build up your resume to have a good shot. Coming from UT you’ve got a good shot at IB regionally, but to get up to NYC, you’ll need a strong resume with experience. </p>
<p>PM me if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>Exactly what BankonBanking said.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that UT-Austin is one of the three very good state schools outside of Cali for IBD (Umich & UVA are the other two). There’s relatively good representation on the street and as long as you make sure to 1) Keep up your GPA, 2) network and 3) grab relevant W/E you should be good.</p>