<p>If a candidate is attending a school which is not HYP+Wharton, but still one of the USNWR top 10 schools, how important are these for an aspiring IB hopeful who is majoring in economics? </p>
<ul>
<li><p>ECs while in college: assuming they are important, what kind of ECs are good ones to have on resume?</p></li>
<li><p>GPA: does it have to be near perfect??? Or, above average at that school is good enough? Assume it's a college with very rigorous curriculum. </p></li>
<li><p>Internship with major WS IB firms as a rising sophomore and a junior. It's well understood that internship as rising senior is a must. I am wondering if hefty internship even earlier is also a requirement. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks for your advice in advance. It will be very much appreciated. I learned a lot on this board and my thanks to all thoughtful posters.</p>
<p>Regarding your questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>ECs are not terribly important given you attend a target or semi-target school, and that you have some solid work experience - the less experience you have, the more your school name, GPA, and ECs will count - strictly because that is what they have to evaluate you. Regarding the specific types of ECs, I would focus on activities that allow you to step up as a leader and demonstrate your ability to work well in and lead teams/organizations, as well as being actively involved (ideally holding a position) in banker-type school clubs - such as an IB club, a wall street club, a finance club, a PE/IB club, etc. </p></li>
<li><p>GPA does not have to be a perfect 4.0 by any means, but of course, the better your GPA the better for your candidacy. I have broken this up in numerous articles on my site, but essentially, above a 3.3 will get over the required initial hump for any BB firm. From there, anything above a 3.5 looks great, and anything above a 3.7 looks outstanding - so once you get a 3.82 vs a 3.91, the difference in what it will do for your candidacy is pretty flat - in other words, you won’t have much of an incremental benefit between a 3.81 and a 3.92. </p></li>
<li><p>An internship as a rising senior definitely helps, but nothing in this business is a must by any means. I would focus on landing an IB internship to build a solid skill set and enhance your resume over, say, any position within a BB just to be in a BB (PWM, Back Office, etc). Next, you do not need outstanding internships as a rising soph or junior, of course, if you have them, that’s fantastic for you - but it will be much harder since 1) there are plenty of talented rising seniors going for the spots and 2) those spots are generally saved for rising seniors since they are offered with the intention of those candidates receiving offers, if they are good, for FT employment at the end of the internship for the following summer, not to start in 2 or 3 years. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me or email me. Good luck.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>BOB,</p>
<p>thanks for your answer. It is much appreciated.</p>