Kind of a IB "chances" thread: more of a hypothetical

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>Here's my question. It's a hypothetical but obviously refers to me.</p>

<p>Let's say you have student A. Student A's major has little to do with econ, though you can somehow connect the two (say Psych). Student A is a sophomore who just got hosed from SEO. His GPA is low, but because of stupid classes (low grades in Introduction to Anthropology, Music Theory, high grades in Calculus, economics, psych-related classes). His extracurriculars are not related to finance or economics at all. In fact, only course selection justifies any interest in an IB/finance job.</p>

<p>What is this student's (my) chances of getting such a job upon graduation? Right now my GPA is 3.04, obviously I'm shanked. This is my plan for rectifying it.</p>

<p>-Work like hell to bring it up, but its hard because Princeton's grade deflation is legendary, and part of the reason why my GPA is so low to start with.
-Try to ride my ECs, which show dedication but which are unrelated to banking in everyway. I dance and play piano together for a combined 20+ hours a week, and I work in the psych department for another 10+ a week. I'm not skilled enough at either ECs to be a professional dancer or pianist, and I need money to feed myself because psych majors without Masters or PhD starve.</p>

<p>Now some questions</p>

<p>1) How much do IBs and big firms scrutinize applications? Do they look to cookie-cutter econ majors? Does it hurt you if your college activities and classes aren't all econ-related?</p>

<p>2) People talk about networking a lot. I know a lot of seniors/grads from my school that are IBanking now. Should I ask them to vouch for me? Isn't it a bit pretentious for new employees to nepotize me in? What other networking ideas are there?</p>

<p>3) As a sophomore who got rejected from most internships, is it too late to apply for stuff? I'm going to browse some internship things (inroads, SEO's over, maybe boutiques?) and try my luck. If nothing works out, what kind of summer job can I do to pad my resume. I'm sure just working at a restaurant won't cut it, maybe a bank as a teller? Irrelevant?</p>

<p>4) When padding your resume, how much do you include from high school? The only high school information I ever include is GPA if asked and some relevant AP scores. All the awards I got in HS are sort of irrelevant, because they were like 3 years ago. Do internship interviewers care about HS accomplishments? Because I don't have any in college, Princeton students are very capable and I screwed up my freshman year haha.</p>

<p>Please answer as completely as you can, I'm in the dark about the internship world, but if I don't turn on some lights soon, I'll be living under an underpass or in debt, using my Psych degree to wipe my @ss when I run out of toilet paper.</p>

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<p>1) Okay, I will answer some. Princeton is a huge target for finance; having said that, you do not need to major in economics in order to get a job on Wall Street. In fact, during my time on the Street, I met many kids from Princeton who were majoring in things such as History, Politics, etc.</p>

<p>Your activities do not have to be all econ-related; what is extremely important is that you demonstrate leadership, an ability to work in teams, and/or great success in these activities, whether it be music, sports, etc.</p>

<p>You, however, must find some way to illustrate why you have an interest in finance. This can be shown through coursework, ECs, and internships. The whole idea of your resume and interview is to be able to create a convincing story.</p>

<p>2) Networking is important. It can be done by contacting family, family friends, old schoolmates etc. Many college students will go about this method by contacting alums (via email, information sessions on campus) that work in the industry and establish and maintain some type of relationship so that these people will go to bat for you. It is true that analyst influence is limited, but they do have a minor voice. The more senior the individual you are able to establish a relationship with, the better.</p>

<p>3) It depends on the boutique. BBs will start recruiting season this January as will many boutiques. There are opportunities out there with boutiques. You just have to figure out how to contact them. Some will recruit on campus, such as Lazard, but these are the top-tier ones that typically recruit from the junior class. IBD boutiques typically take more legwork in order to secure an internship.</p>

<p>Try to secure something that has you dealing with analysis, working in teams, etc. Something that you can SPIN to show that you possess the qualities to succeed in IBD.</p>

<p>4) Rarely, do recruiters care about your HS performance. You attend Princeton, so it is assumed that you excelled at that level. I can only see recruiters caring about a reward if it is truly exceptional and relevant.</p>

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<p>"Work like hell to bring it up, but its hard because Princeton's grade deflation is legendary, and part of the reason why my GPA is so low to start with."</p>

<p>I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that many ivy leagues like Princeton have huge grade inflation. If you want to see legendary grade deflation try UC Berkeley, especially in engineering. I just completed a class where the class was curved around a C. In engineering everyone is super smart and hard hardworking so you really have to fight to achieve even the average grade, a C. I too hope to go into IB/Management Consulting, however am worried about my GPA, 3.3 (I'm a softmore, hopefully be higher when I graduate). This is actually a pretty good GPA for engineering at Berkeley but when compared to humanity majors at targeted private schools who have 3.8+ its not that good. I have gone through the career website and many internship openings will say 3.5 minimum GPA. I feel that is kinda rediculous for the min GPA to be 3.5 when in engineering at least a GPA like that would put you in the top 10-20% of your class at UC Berkeley. Does anyone have information that could support/refute this, im kinda interested.</p>

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<p>princeton has grade deflation</p>

5

<p>tivesrx,</p>

<p>Princeton instituted a grading deflation policy a few years ago.</p>

<p>Here is an article for you: Princeton</a> leads in grade deflation - USATODAY.com</p>

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<p>Very interesting, i did not know that. Makes you think about how stupid GPA really is. Obviously its important and does show a student's abilities and work ethic to a degree, but there is so much descrepancy between schools, departments, majors, even individual classes that its hard to really compare two students GPA and decide who is the better candidate. Plus when students pick every class based on whatever gives the highest median grade, it kinda defeats the purpose of grades. Its more based on beating the system and picking the right classes to maximize your GPA rather than working hard and studying. Then when firms place high GPA cutoffs, such as ZS Associates which is 3.5, they overlook very good candidates who get maybe a 3.4 from a very hard college and major. I guess this all ties back to the fact that life is not fair and you have to get over it. Ok, I'm done with my rant. I'm just applying to internships right now and am very frustrated over the whole system.</p>