<p>Hi,
long time lurker first time poster. I didn't see anything similar to my situation so I thought I'd ask.
I dropped out of high school and never took the SATs. Flirted with a couple of sales/merchant services jobs and realized I had a skill, but that I'd always hit the glass ceiling with out a degree. </p>
<p>I enrolled at a california community college in the bay area at 22 (I'm 23 now) and began learning about finance and investment banking. The goal of breaking into investment banking or something similar has kept me motivated over the last year, until I was told that Banks won't look twice at my resume after they see "high school drop out/GED and community college transfer"(not to mention, I'll be 26 when I graduate-- not 22).
That was a very sobering conversation, and I've been exploring every avenue to find out if it's true. </p>
<p>If it is, what about management consulting?
Will the BCGs of the world also not give me the light of day?</p>
<p>I have a 4.0 gpa, work experience in finance, strong extra curriculars= business clubs, speech and debate (and have won medals) community service, and plan to transfer into the UC system </p>
<p>Give it to me straight. Am I setting myself up for disappointment?
-High school drop out/got GED
-Community College Transfer
-26 when I graduate
-competitive gpa (as of now)
-strong extra curriculars
-work experience
-UC transfer</p>
<p>High School GPA and SAT scores mean absolutely nothing once you’ve entered college life, which you have by going to a CC so universities won’t look at that at all just your CC transcript, age doesn’t matter, your GPA is good, consider TAG.</p>
<p>You effectively start with a clean slate in community college. Like Matt said, your HS GPA, SAT, none of that matters at all and CC/UCs don’t care about that when you’re applying as a transfer student.</p>
<p>Also, whether or not you’re a community college transfer student won’t matter either because at the end of the day, your diploma will have your university’s name on it. Your community college won’t be mentioned at all, nor will it matter.</p>
<p>Note, however, that the well known investment banks tend to be rather school prestige conscious in their recruiting. Berkeley is supposedly at the edge of their recruiting radar, but one needs to be a top student in the business major or a math-heavy major (as opposed to a merely good student at a super-selective school, most of which do not accept a lot of transfer students, unlike Berkeley and other UCs).</p>
<p>You’ll do just fine, man. Employers don’t get to know that you went to community college, and I doubt they care if you have a GED as opposed to a high school diploma. What matters most is that you’re doing well in your studies and that you’ve gotten your degree. You’re doing just fine, and I highly doubt that banks care that you’ll be 26 when you will graduate. Seriously.</p>
<p>Your extracurriculars are amazing as well. I’d say that if you keep it up, you’ll be a strong candidate for any investment banking position.</p>
<p>The only recommendation I have is to major in Economics. That might be attractive to banks. Or math/physics if you’re really good at math.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.
I heard that companies WANT to see h.s. transcripts but if that’s not the case, awesome.
The age thing is in comparison to other analysts that would be 22-23. I would imagine anyone that is 26 is already an associate, but I would like to think that it won’t count against me.
Thank you ucbalumnus for the link; it was very informative!</p>
<p>TeamAmerica, Haas may have a 6.6% acceptance rate, but your 4.0 gpa gives you a fighting chance to gain admission. I’d say that you have a decent shot. Also, keep up the good work in your business extracurriculars!</p>
<p>When I went to a panel of transfer students at Berkeley - they included successful transfer students who were high school dropouts, teen moms, homeless and also just struggling to get by before going to a UC. EVERYONE has a story of struggle - but you can definately overcome it and succeed. </p>
<p>You have an extremley impressive GPA and great extracurriculars. You shouldn’t have any problems being accepted to a UC of your choice (Well, Business Econ is a ***** to apply to at UCLA…and don’t get me started on Haas). Best of luck.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the replies and encouragement.
Just curious. If I decided to apply to Stanford as well, where they want high school transcripts and sat/acts, would my past hurt my chances since I really don’t have anything to give them from high school?</p>
<p>Going to offer some personal experience here (work in finance/consulting). In general, 98% of companies do not care about your high school grades or if you attended a CC… most don’t even have to know you attended CC. The other 1-2%? Yeah, that’s the top investment banks and consulting firms. </p>
<p>I’m not saying you absolutely cannot enter the industry, but it is going to be a HUGE reach to join one of the top firms just given your “off-the-path” record. Top students at UCLA and UCB rarely get looked at or interviewed by BCG because they are not Ivy League/“elite private schools.” I graduated from Cornell and my classmates didn’t have much luck either. Harvard/Yale/Princeton prevails in this sort of territory.</p>
<p>Should you give up? ABSOLUTELY NOT. You seem motivated and you have a goal in sight, there is no reason why you shouldn’t keep pushing forward. California has several investment banks, financial firms, and consulting companies that love to take UCB/UCLA students. One of my best friends graduated from UCB and is working in management consulting at a great firm. His compensation package is something that most UC students dream about.</p>
<p>So will you get to work at a company on the same tier as BCG? Probably not. Can you still work in the industry and receive a great paycheck? Yup! :). Let me know if you have anymore questions about transitioning into the industry from college or anything in general.</p>
<p>Thanks Midnight,
This insight is awesome.
So essentially you’re saying I’m not setting myself up for failure, but getting into the top of thetop is unlikely. I think I can live with that. </p>
<p>However, to my understanding BCG does actively recruit UCB/UCLA?</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking, what company did your friend land a position with? What kind of hours/time traveling?</p>
<p>I believe there are extra money for the people over 24 or so that’s rejoining the university system. I’m not 100% sure about this, but nonetheless, having that age will help you with your personal statement.</p>
<p>IE : I took an extra year on transferring, but I had to work and take care of my autistic little brother. I talked about this during my waitlist application to UCSD, and now Im a bone-a-fide Triton starting this Fall. Im 100% sure with your insight on the jobforce, you’ll be able to talk about something from it.</p>
<p>3.2 is a competitive GPA for the mid-tier UC’s : Irvine, Davis, Santa Barbara, (Maybe UCSD). 3.5+ is what you really need for LA/Cal/and possibly SD. But you seem to have good grades anyway with a 4.0. A friend of mine had a 3.8~ and got into Haas with near full scholarship. Don’t give up!</p>
<p>This is turning into a gem of a thread. All my questions are being answered and then some. Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>Congrats TransferDK on the admission!!</p>
<p>I’ve applied for fafsa at my cc and I’ll continue to explore all options as I continue my school.</p>
<p>The 4.0 is strong, but I say “for now”. Because I havent taken calc one or two yet and I’m pretty nervous about those two.</p>
<p>If anyone was wondering, or anyone was in the same boat about trying to transfer to Stanford. I spoke to a stanford admissions counselor today. They don’t care about high school either. They do however want to see SAT/ACT scores (which I haven’t taken yet)
However, with that being said, 1600 people applied this year, and they accepted 32.</p>
<p>I know a guy who transferred from a CC to a midtier UC(Davis, Irvine, Santa Barbara)</p>
<p>These were some of the job offers he got:
IB Analyst @ Citi
IB Analyst @ Houlihan
IB Analyst @ JP Morgan
Associate Consultant @ Bain
Corp Fin @ Johnson & Johnson</p>
<p>for what it’s worth he was VP of the finance association, interned at JnJ, a hedgefund, a PE Fund of Funds, Volunteered Prisoner’s children and pulled off a 3.8GPA.
I’m probably leaving something out.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about looking old, stay out of the sun and wear sunscreen. </p>
<p>If you’re worried about bombing interviews, then apply to 100 places, get 50 interviews and do 50 free practice interviews.</p>
<p>Shoot high, even if you fail here it’ll prepare you for a promising career.</p>
<hr>
<p>And to those wondering SAT and ACT matter. The majority of consultants at McKinsey, Bain and BCG have around an 800 on the math section. The person who I listed above networked to hell and got interviews by backdooring more or less. Apparently being highly competent and having a strong record of success is enough to offset a so-so SAT.</p>