<p>Just wondering, what GPA would need at Princeton to be able to go into investment banking straight out of college?</p>
<p>Are there any statistics out there?</p>
<p>The better question is why would anyone be looking seriously at investment banking right out of high school at this point? The industry suffers from a gross overcapacity, and most young people have little idea of what investment bankers do. </p>
<p>If you like finance, great. There are several majors which can facilitate a finance career, including math or economics or any of the science fields. Plan on obtaining a CFA - worth the time and effort in obtaining it. And above all focus on obtaining the best education you can - if investment banking is in the offing, so be it. But to myopically pursue that field at this point in time makes little sense.</p>
<p>2.0 and knowing the right people. Which since you have to ask, means you don’t.</p>
<p>So otherwise 4.0</p>
<p>CFA? Lol? Don’t know much about a CFA, but not sure what the point of it would be.</p>
<p>Good GPA for someone who wants to work at a place like Goldman or JP Morgan is around a 3.7, but that doesn’t guarantee jack s***. You have to be smart, you have to be good at networking, and you have to be a good thinker.</p>
<p>Also, ChairmanGuo’s a freshman here, right?</p>
<p>LOL^^ So true. This recruiting season is showing that the economics students with 4.0’s are not getting the interviews or jobs unless they have connections from family, eating clubs or final clubs.</p>
<p>Well, there certainly aren’t many people with 4.0’s getting good jobs from Princeton. Especially since there are probably fewer than 3 seniors who have 4.0’s at Princeton.</p>
<p>I had a GPA slightly below average. After screening resumes, its fair to say that so long as you meet the minimum GPA requirements as listed on Tigertracks, other factors like your activities and summer experiences are far more important when determining whether or not you get an interview. In the end, we (corp finance) are looking for specific skills, intellect and whether or not we get along with you. </p>
<p>The reason we reject lots of people with high GPAs (3.8+) straight off is mostly because they have nothing else on their resume other than their high GPAs and some token activities or experiences. Even if you do get a first round, there are many other factors that we take into consideration to decide if you get a second round and so forth.</p>
<p>If you have specific questions, let me know. Meanwhile, I have several decks to turn before 6.</p>
<p>thanks for the helpful response guys! I’m thinking of joining some business related clubs, as well as some internship over the summer. Are there other opportunities out there to help build these connections? I’m probably not going to join an eating club so I don’t know what else there is besides clubs and internships :(</p>
<p>@Randombetch
yeah i’m a freshman, thinking about majoring in econ; what about you?</p>
<p>Junior in the econ department - dooo it! Econ is such a great field. It’s the only truly objective analysis of society. (Sociology and Poli Sci = bs)</p>
<p>ORFE for the win.</p>
<p>^?? You’ve taken at most 1 ORF class so far.</p>
<p>There are two major tracks in investment banking- one is the investment banking division (typically IBD) and the other is sales and trading (S&T).</p>
<p>IBD raises money for corporations and advises companies on mergers and acquisitions. There are two ways to raise money- 1) sell stock (also known as equity) in the company
2) sell debt (bonds) where the investor loans money to the company which has to be paid back by a certain date with a certain interest rate, say 2020 maturity at 6% a year. </p>
<p>IBD is kind of like the PBS telethons. Senior bankers get on the phone and hit up institutional investors (pension funds, mutual funds, endowments and insurance companies) to invest in their clients. During the tech bubble, the big thing was IPOs, initial public offerings, where new companies sold their stock. I’m guessing 95% of those companies are out of business now. </p>
<p>Sales and trading refers to the “secondary” market, i.e. stocks and bonds already in the market place. IBD focuses on “primary” issuance. Similar to bankers, sales people are on the phone all day to institutional investors, trying to get them to buy or sell something. When the sales guy gets the go ahead, the trader will execute the position. The job of a trader is to make markets, basically quote a price at which they will buy, and a higher price at which they will sell. </p>
<p>It is similar to the foreign exchange booth at the airport. You have to be careful because if the market goes against you, you could be stuck with a lot of inventory and lose a lot of money.</p>
<p>In terms of major, for IBD you can major in anything at Princeton. Try to maintain a 3.7-3.8. For sales and trading, GPA is not quite as important (3.5-3.6) but for trading it helps to have a technical major like ORFE.</p>
<p>Both IBD and S&T can get you to hedge funds, though S&T is far preferred for quantitative hedge funds. IBD allows you to get into private equity which S&T doesn’t. Private equity people like Mitt Romney invest in private companies, i.e. their stock is not traded on the NY Stock Exchange, Nasdaq or any major world market.</p>
<p>The CFA is not as useful for IBD, but is very useful for S&T and almost mandatory for research jobs. Research generally falls under S&T recruiting at most banks. To get a job on the buy side (mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies, university endowments, pension funds, etc.) it really helps to have the CFA charter. It consists of three tough exams and four years of relevant professional experience, so the youngest charter holders are typically 26 or so. Most are in their early 30s when they complete the requirements.</p>
<p>ORF OR econ. As a former ORFE major, I can say that most of what’s in the ORFE core classes just builds your quantitative/analytical skillset (which is essential for IBD in the sense that you do lots of analysis). Most of the econ/finance concepts that you are asked about in the interviews are from econ classes (ECO362, etc.). </p>
<p>As a senior who is going through the process currently, I don’t think it’s as bad as some people are making it out to be. I’d say you have a good shot at getting interviews with a 3.5+, an almost guarantee of interviews with a 3.85+. That being said, interviews are much more than just your GPA and resume. I doubt there are ‘statistics’ regarding what GPA you need (I’m sorry, but that’s a very naive question to ask) because so many other factors are important (how well you vibe with interviewers, how you’d fit into the culture, how good a team player you are…). People get and don’t get banking offers for a variety of reasons. </p>
<p>At the same time, in no way have I experienced this whole ******** about how only people with connections and lots of money can get an IBD job. This is purely anecdotal, but out of my friend group, many are going into banking and trading, and the majority have 0 connections and got their offers through internships or interviewing this year. I have 0 connections and didn’t have an issue getting interviews when I was interested in banking. It’s still a difficult, selective process, but to the best of my understanding, not improbable.</p>
<p>I also agree that you should know what you’re getting yourself into. I opted out of IBD when I realized just how demanding the hours are (do you know what an 80-100 hour work week consists of? You barely have time to pee much less sleep or eat or do anything human). The money, compared to the amount of work you’re doing, is not necessarily a compelling reason. Similarly, networking and being able to play well in a business environment is very necessary and not everyone is happy with that. </p>
<p>Good luck with this if you really want it, but I just hope enough people caution you and remind you about choosing a career and job about how much it will satisfy you that you take some time to think about it. Of course, if banking’s advantages really do make you happier than other things, pursue it by all means. Aside from the big banks that recruit early on,Tthere are a lot of boutique banking firms out there as well so you have many opportunities.</p>
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<p>They’re bs because they’re not truly objective or bs because you think they’re crap and have no worth?</p>
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<p>my my, do we have a bs sympathizer here? BS is just BS. these majors require no real skill other than the ability to read lots of material and BS beautifully, and then call the BS “analysis”, even if all of it is pure speculation. which then makes these majors “crap and have no worth”.</p>
<p>^ funny you mention that. so i would conclude that your analysis of bs majors is just like what you said: bs analysis and speculation. my my, and in the princeton forum, but its investment banking so it’s no surprise.</p>
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<ol>
<li>what kind of a comeback is this? what is this, preschool?</li>
<li>my sources are the people who major in those BS themselves. perhaps you can’t tell the difference or perhaps even BSing seems too difficult for you, but really, it takes no particular genius to be good at these majors.</li>
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<p>Usually you would get a business undergrad degree (although a lot of companies and top MBA programs LOVE to recruit math and science prodigies) and then work for several years in a field. After you have some success you apply to an MBA program at a top school. </p>
<p>I would suggest getting close to or higher than 3.5.</p>