<p>Alright I am a junior in high school who is interested in a career involving finance. I will most likely be attending either UCLA/Berkeley next year and I want to pursue career in investment banking. I don't know much about IBanking, but I am certainly interested in it, but I have heard that it is exteremely hard to go into ibanking with a UCLA/Cal degree. I also expected that Business Econ would be the major that feeds most student into ibanking, but I heard that, that is not the case. So what major should I go into if I really want to do Ibanking? And is it near-impossible to get an ibanking job with a Cal/UCLA degree? I am interested in a lot of fields: engineering, econ, history, math.. so choosing a major that I won't like will most likely not be a problem.</p>
<p>I think it'll be more difficult to get an ibanking job in New York with a degree from Berkeley/UCLA simply because the two schools are so far away. With places like Penn and the other east coast schools, the NY banks can drive. But for the SF, LA locations, I read that they are filled with Berk and UCLA alums.</p>
<p>really startraksfinest? I heard ibanking jobs are dominated by ivy alums. </p>
<p>How well would NYU stern do for ibanking?</p>
<p>Are LA, SF locations lowly regarded in the ibanking industry than NY locations? What are the differences?</p>
<p>NYU Stern is 3rd/4th nationally in Finance</p>
<p>Oh okay.. where did you find out the rank? Can you tell me the link?</p>
<p>In general, i-banking from Cal is hard just because it isn't as big on the West Coast. While i-banking is HUGE at my school--all the top graduates here go to banks, including the valedictorian...who was a classics major--I think it's pretty small on the West Coast. I grew up in the area, and really had no clue that i-banking was 'the job' for many college students. Silicon Valley is the i-banking of the West Coast. I can't comment too much more on it, since I don't go to Cal (anymore), but it REALLY helps if you're at a target school. If Cal's a target school for California i-banks, then you'll be okay. If not, it'll be near impossible, and the only thing that'll give you a chance will be a disturbingly high GPA (but you'll want this regardless of school...). </p>
<p>A serious question though: why are you interested in i-banking? It's an absolutely miserable lifestyle--I've known people working 80-100 hour weeks their first few years, and by the hour, that's not even amazing. It's certainly not fun either; try finding someone who enjoys ibanking...there really aren't very many of them.</p>
<p>Income, quirkily. I know that i-banking is not the most enjoyable job in the world and the work hours are horrendous, but I just want a high paying job.. the rigor of the job doesn't matter to me. </p>
<p>Thanks for the insight quirkily. Does anyone else know if Cal/UCLA grads go into i-banking in the west coast?</p>
<p>i find it extremely hard to believe that a number of haas students don't end up in ibanking every year. if you want to go to cal or LA and are interested in ibanking, cal >>> LA because cal has haas and LA has ... bizecon. now, i'm not sure how math/econ grads from cal fare, but many econ grads have similar job profiles to haas grads, so there you go ...</p>
<p>san francisco is the second highest paying area for ibanking in the US, right behind NY. (the median salary is around $350k.) i wouldn't be worried about ibanking prospects in SF. LA, on the other hand, is a little further down the ladder. (i get this from usnews' best careers list.)</p>
<p>but really, is getting paid well going to make up for the hours of slaving away and hating your job? i'm not saying that you will (in fact, i may decide to try out ibanking myself because it sounds interesting to me), but i really wouldn't choose a job just for the money. do something that pays a little less and that you'll actually like.</p>
<p>cenire, thanks for the info.</p>
<p>Oh and I am not choosing ibanking just for the money, I am interested in finance and business and although I am not sure whether I will end up liking it or not, I can't think of any job that I might like other than ibanking and some other jobs in the finance sector.</p>
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san francisco is the second highest paying area for ibanking in the US, right behind NY. (the median salary is around $350k.) i wouldn't be worried about ibanking prospects in SF. LA, on the other hand, is a little further down the ladder. (i get this from usnews' best careers list.)
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In general, i-banking from Cal is hard just because it isn't as big on the West Coast.
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<p>The problem with West Coast Ibanking jobs, relative to NYC, is that there are so few such jobs available, relative to NYC. When it comes to the sheer availability of banking jobs, especially entry-level banking jobs, NYC doesn't just stand heads-and-shoulders above every other city in the US, it stands heads, shoulders, chest, stomach, and legs above everybody else. Among world cities, only London can compare. </p>
<p>If you want to do Ibanking, even if you come from a West Coast school like Cal, the odds are that you will have to work in New York, at least for the first few years. Once you've established a track record of work experience, then you can try to transfer to a West Coast office. But getting a West Coast Ibanking job right out of the gate is quite difficult.</p>
<p>It should also be said that there is really no such thing as a "California Ibank" in the sense that there are notable Ibanks that operate only (or even predominantly) in California. Every single notable Ibank in the US has a major office in NYC, and for most of them, the New York office is their largest office. Let's face it. New York is the hub of the nation's investment banking industry, which means that every significant Ibank has to have major operations in New York. Otherwise, it would be like a major film studio that doesn't have any offices around Los Angeles.</p>
<p>sakky thanks for the above post.. you clarified the answer to my question. </p>
<p>Three more questions though. The west coast ibankers ARE usually from Cal/UCLA/Stanford and other top tier west coast schools right? So there are exceptional people who make it through the tough competition here at west coast with a degree from Cal and UCLA? And lastly, what major should I pursue?</p>
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Three more questions though. The west coast ibankers ARE usually from Cal/UCLA/Stanford and other top tier west coast schools right?
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<p>Stanford perhaps. But the others tend to be from the usual suspects - Harvard, Wharton, Yale, Princeton, MIT, etc. Keep in mind that a lot of Californians go to those schools too and they want to return to California afterwards. Heck, even many non-Californians prefer to work in SF or LA. </p>
<p>The way that Ibanking recruiting works is that you first recruit at a specific bank, and that bank will almost certainly have their biggest office in New York. During the recruitment phase, you are asked to list your preferred office locations, but with no guarantee that you will actually get what you prefer. I know quite a few people who requested to work in a regional office as their first choice yet still ended up with an offer in New York. </p>
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So there are exceptional people who make it through the tough competition here at west coast with a degree from Cal and UCLA?
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<p>In general, the California offices, especially the SF offices, tend to be highly 'impacted', relative to the number of openings available. Contrast that with, say, placement in Houston, which tends to be far less desired. Hence, to get a California placement, you will be competing against numerous other people, including plenty of Ivy and MIT grads, who also want those placements. I'm not saying that it's impossible to do; I'm just saying that you should know your odds. It's hard enough just to get any Ibanking offer at all, but it's even harder to get one in a California office. Like I said, you will probably end up in New York, at least to start. </p>
<p>Besides, I don't see that as a bad thing. What's so terrible about that? New York is a very interesting city, arguably the most interesting city in the world. Furthermore, a NY office is going to give you strong training and networking opportunities due to the sheer size of the NY financial industry. Personally, I think every Ibanker should work in New York for at least a couple of years. Otherwise, it would be like a movie actor who has never been to Los Angeles. </p>
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And lastly, what major should I pursue?
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<p>I actually don't think the major matters very much. Haas (if going to Berkeley) would probably the best major simply for the exclusive recruiting opportunities available to Haas grads that other Berkeley grads don't get. But other than that, it doesn't really matter. What matters far more are obtaining relevant internships and strengthening your public speaking and interviewing skills.</p>
<p>Actually, Goldman Sachs recruits at both Claremont and Pomona as well as Stanford and Berkeley.<br>
A lot of firms have office in SF, and there are quite a few Haas students working there.<br>
One of the guys who interviewed me for the Cal Alumni leadership scholarship graduated from Haas and worked as an ibanker in SF.</p>