Senior in a Quandary Thinking About Future in Investment Banking On Wall Street

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello, I am a grade 12 Canadian student currently studying in Toronto. I am a hardworking student who has been studying and focusing on both academics and extracurricular. Ever since last year, I’ve set my heart in majoring in finance and possibly one day break into i-banking on wall street. I always knew that it would be easier to break into i-banking on wall street from an American university, however I decided to attend a Canadian university because of many reasons. However recently, I discovered that recruitment for i-banking is exceptionally stronger at the top American universities, and now days if you are from Canada, you do not really stand a good chance.

I have already been accepted into the top business programs in Canada, including Queen’s Commerce, Mcgill Business, Laurier+Waterloo Dual Degree, U of T Rotman, UBC Commerce… I am also most likely to get accepted into Western’s Ivey (Already got into BMOS), although you never know for Western.

So my dilemma is that I really want to study at a prestigious American business school, however it is obviously too late for me to start preparing to apply now. So my question is do you think I can get accepted into a prestigious American business school, and if so, what is the best path to take in order to do so. Here are a couple that I have been thinking about.

  • Attending a Canadian university for a year and try to transfer over
  • Take another year of high school in order to prepare for applications to American universities (SAT Prep, etc...)

If I can’t go to an American school, my only option is to just study at a Canadian university and then try to go for an i-banking gig on wall street, although this path is extremely difficult and I would prefer not to take this path.

Some prestigious American business schools I have been thinking about are, NYU Stern, Georgetown Business School, Cornell Business School, Northwestern Business School, Ross School of Business, Haas School of Business.

I understand that as an international student, I will have extremely high tuition and fees, however money is not a concern of mine.

Here is some key information about me,

Averages Per Year:
Grade 9 : 92
Grade 10:93
Grade 11:96
Grade 12:96.6

For my averages, in Canada since only your top six grade 12 marks matter, I focused more on sports and other extracurricular activities during grades 9 and 10.

I have a lot of extracurricular in leadership positions, including athletics, band, camp counselling etc

Although you never know for sure, I believe I can yield great results on standardized tests

If you need any other info, please comment below.

Conclusively, by considering the situation I am in and the information about me that I have stated throughout the article, please tell me if you think I can get accepted into prestigious American business schools, and if so, then what do you think is the best path is for me in order to do so. Also, if I were to choose one of the two options of staying in Canada, then which Canadian school in your opinion will be the best for each option (Option 1: Try to transfer over from one of the most prominent Canadian business school to a prestigious American business school, Option 2: Attend and graduate from a reputable Canadian business school and try to get an i-banking gig on wall street - although this path is a pipe dream and as a result I would prefer not to take this path.

I really appreciate to those who have read up until now and I would be extremely grateful any guidance or propositions to help resolve my quandary. Thank you.

2

First off, I don’t know anything about the Canadian business schools, so I can’t help you there, but I do know something about investment banking. Investment banks don’t expect undergrads to study business, and except for the most elite undergrad business programs (e.g., Wharton) they probably prefer students who went to top colleges like Princeton and Harvard and are smart rather than someone who majored in business. That is because business schools teach a lot things like management, supply chain or marketing that have very little relevance to success in investment banking. The investment banks would rather train you themselves, and recruit for the qualities they value. That is why business school is primarily a graduate degree option in the US.

In any event, it sounds like the timing is largely guiding your course: you are best off going to the best Canadian school you can and planning on business school in the US after you’ve worked a couple of years. If it really seems like investment banking jobs are not available from a Canadian school, then you can always transfer in a year or two, but I think you will find that if you are a good student, the recruiters will find you regardless of which country you went to school.

3

Is it a concern for your parents?

If you have the qualities that an I Bank is looking for you will get to Wall Street whether you go to an American or Canadian school. If not it doesn’t matter where you go to school.

4

I-Banking is a grueling profession. Great pay, but extremely unforgiving hours. Many get burnt out in less than a year. However, if you’re set on it, you could take a gap year after high school. If you do this, I wouldn’t use it for SAT prep. If you want to do the SATs, study now and take them by the time you graduate. During your gap year, find an internship with someone who is in a finance-related career, get a job at a bank, or something else very constructive and related to your intended major, then apply. American universities like students who’ve taken a gap year, but only if you’ve done something with that time.

You also could go to a Canadian university and then transfer after one or two semesters (preferably two). Do well in all classes, have some focused ECs (business-related), then apply. Also, keep in mind that @spayurpets is right about not needing to major in business. Finance is the best major for i-banking, though recruiters seek talent, not just a major. With your grades, you have a decent chance, but just be aware that the really prestigious programs in America can be a bit of a crap shoot, even with stellar grades. So make sure you apply to a couple safeties.

My personal advice would be to go to the school in Canada then transfer. Keep your grades up, particularly in math, economics, and writing courses. Good luck.

5

Hey, like the others, I would recommend going to the best Canadian school you can, then either transferring, or graduating, do some work, then get an MBA from a US school.

6

Thank you everyone for the help. @spayurpets I didn’t really consider not majoring in business. Could you tell me what other undergraduate majors are recommended for i-banking. Also, a lot of people here suggested that I go for an MBA in the US but according to my research, in i-banking, an MBA is not that much of a help in landing a gig. I heard the most important thing is getting recruited after undergrad. Please tell me if I am wrong.

7

Well, the best candidates for people who want to go into finance or investment banking are math whizzes. So, I’d say that math, applied math, economics are the areas that you will find a lot of investment bankers have majored in, especially those who went to schools like Harvard and Princeton, which do not have undergrad business-related majors. But that’s not exclusive by any means. Some of the top investment bankers I worked with (partners at Goldman, managing directors at JP Morgan etc.) were liberal arts majors, e.g., my friend who is a Vice Chairman of Goldman majored in art history. In other cases, specialization in a particular field leads to a career in investment banking. My brother in law is a PhD in Biology and he has spent most of his career doing M&A for drug and biotech firms. Others have a legal background. It really takes all types; their only thing in common is smarts. Investment banking is also a relationship building business, so often people are hired because of their social connections, athletic prowess, fraternity etc. You’ll meet a lot of bankers who were on the Dartmouth football team or the Princeton lacrosse team or is the son of the Minister of Finance of Thailand. It is not at all a meritocracy.

8

As to your second question, I’m not close enough to the business to know what the hiring process is these days for investment banking, but it is historically true that investment bankers are initially recruited and enter the analyst training programs as college graduates. Summer internships on Wall Street are also important to identify talent. Some people succeed right out of college and rise without ever needing an MBA or other advanced degrees. Some banks pay for you to get your MBA after a couple of years and then expect you to return at a higher level and run your own team. Or you get your MBA while you continue working. And some fresh recruiting is done at the B-school level; but this is getting less and less common as the B-school grads seem to favor Silicon Valley and management consulting equally well today. I would say that at the senior levels of an investment bank, 2/3rds of them have an MBA or other grad degree but that fact alone won’t tell you at what stage in their career they got the MBA and how they entered the business.

9

OP, also be aware that some of the American colleges you are looking at do not accept (or rarely accept) freshmen into their business schools…or do not even have undergraduate business schools at all.

NYU Stern: accepts almost all of its undergraduate business students as freshmen; transferring in is difficult

Georgetown/McDonough: accepts its undergraduate business students as freshmen; transferring in less common

Cornell/Dyson: accepts virtually all of its undergraduate business students as freshmen; transferring in is difficult

Northwestern/Kellogg: does not offer an undergraduate business degree, but does offer a certificate program to its undergraduates (that said, there would be no problem getting a gig on Wall Street with an undergraduate degree from Northwestern)

U Mich/Ross: accepts a very select few freshman into Ross as “direct admits” although the actual business school courses do not begin until sophomore year; most students apply after their freshman year with (I believe) about a 60/40 chance of admission to the business school

Cal Berkeley/Haas: accepts no freshmen into Haas; students apply after sophomore year and business school courses begin junior year. The admission is difficult (50/50 or fewer?)

10

For IB, Ivey is the best choice. Next would be Queen’s, although the Waterloo/Laurier quantitative major will have choices too.