<p>ive been checking out a lot of the posts on this board and i was wondering something. from what everyone has said, its starting to seem as though if youre not in the top schools for either economics in the small colleges, or business in the top universities, youre not going to get any recruitemnt or job placement thats worth anything. i see all the time people saying unless youre in stern, ross, wharton etc or unergrad econmic major at the ivy's and the like, you cant make it into investment banking, or other higher level business careers. i just wanted to know if everyone really believes this, and if its really impossible to make it in higher level business careers/master degree programs not graduating from those TOP, TOP tier business/economic schools? what would someone from the second tier (my case UMD, but also places like Umiami, PSU, BU etc) do if they wanted that kind of career?</p>
<p>there's hope but still very difficult, u've seen persuit of happyness lol, true story</p>
<p>lol is that really the only way?</p>
<p>You can definitely make it into I-Banking from almost any "good" school. It does not have to be elite, but like ilovebusiness said, it is much more difficult. I go to UC Davis, I have been told by a VP of a Bulge Bracket Investment Bank that he personally knows a person that graduated and went to a small boutique firm and subsequently changed jobs to where he's making a quarter million per year less than 5 years after graduation. Also, you can do a profile search of the Presidents/VPs/etc of different offices of investment banks (I know this works for Morgan Stanley) and you'll see that a lot of these people never went to an elite school. I noticed quite a few from state schools: University of Arizona, Sacramento State University, etc. It may take you a little longer to get there, but if you work hard you will get there.</p>
<p>No offense, but someone at Miami, PSU, MD, etc...is probably not as smart as the kids at Wall St. feeder schools. The top ibankers that came from the aforementioned state schools were probably the type that got into Ivies or were smart enough to, but didn't/couldn't attend for one reason or another. We're talking about a very small subset of people at these schools: those who try really hard to get a job crossed with smart people.</p>
<p>So it's not a case of your chances being slim. If you're really smart, your chances are better. If you're not, they're probably zero.</p>
<p>If you're not smart, you're probably not going to make it into Wharton/etc in the first place... What I am saying is that the top schools are recruited because they have a high concentration of smart people, and the firms don't have time to visit every other school to pick out the fewer number of smart people there. However, if you're smart and hard working, you will be able to make it. Your work ethic determines your success, the school that you go to does not.</p>
<p>I think some people on this forum tend to forget that not everyone is willing to wade in debt up to their eyeballs with a big smile on their face, just so that one day they hold a piece of paper with some name brand school's name etched across the top. Work hard and prove yourself, maintain a high GPA and snatch any opportunity that comes available. If you do so, you will be recommended for opportunities based upon your performance. Surely you are not so insecure to believe that just because you don’t go to some target school, you will automatically be marked a failure in life. The sooner you learn that very few things in life will be handed to you, the better off you will be. </p>
<p>Btw….Assuming that someone isn’t as smart as another just because of the school they attend is INCREDIBLY and offensively ignorant. Think about that for awhile.</p>
<p>Not going to a target doesn't necessarily mean that you will never make it into ibanking or another competitive field. However, this will probably be determined by what grad school you go to. You might end up working for some startup out of undergrad, go to HBS, and then get into ibanking. </p>
<p>What people sometimes also forget is that they are getting advice from MDs and VPS saying, "don't worry if you go to ASU, I know a guy at this firm who went there, you'll be fine"--which in this case, isn't the best person to give advice. The reason being that Ibanking is a different animal now than it was when they were getting into the industry--its more competitive, there are more people who want to do it, and there are more people out there willing to kill themselves to get into the industry. Also, these VPs and MDs aren't the ones picking your resume for interview time--its the analysts and associates who came from target schools (and who generally believe that only people from targets are smart enough to do the job).</p>
<p>Going to a non-target will not make it impossible for you to get into ibanking, but just think about the kids who go to schools like Wharton and Stern and don't get offers for a summer at a BB. If it's so competitive that they can't get in, you have to be that much better to break into the industry. It certainly isn't impossible, but your road to ibanking will be infinitely more difficult than someone at a target.</p>
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[quote]
ive been checking out a lot of the posts on this board and i was wondering something. from what everyone has said, its starting to seem as though if youre not in the top schools for either economics in the small colleges, or business in the top universities, youre not going to get any recruitemnt or job placement thats worth anything. i see all the time people saying unless youre in stern, ross, wharton etc or unergrad econmic major at the ivy's and the like, you cant make it into investment banking, or other higher level business careers. i just wanted to know if everyone really believes this, and if its really impossible to make it in higher level business careers/master degree programs not graduating from those TOP, TOP tier business/economic schools? what would someone from the second tier (my case UMD, but also places like Umiami, PSU, BU etc) do if they wanted that kind of career?
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Hello fellow Marylander, I feel you pain brother! Haha, anyways yea its damn near impossible to get a bulge bracket IB job out of here. The only way is either to be the president of FBIS and network you butt off, or be a minority (not asian) and be a top student.</p>
<p>Hey ilikeoranges. Can you post the link for the employee profiles for Morgran Stanley?</p>