<p>As many high schoolers seem to be gearing up for their senior year, I have been doing the same here. </p>
<p>I will be graduating this year from Stern and would be happy to answer questions any incoming freshmen or potential applicants might have about NYU and Stern. </p>
<p>If you have questions you want to ask, but don't want to post, feel free to PM me as well.</p>
<p>Finally, for some perspective, I am a Finance and International Business major and have been working in investment banking this summer.</p>
<p>This is so helpful! lol
If I'm in Stern - 1. How pretty much set/official is it that you WILL end up in finance (ie is it that odd for people to go in a slightly different direction after graduation,like med or law school?)
and 2. Are you only stuck with Stern kids? or is there an overall NYU sense of community?</p>
<p>mterry: I'm not sure what the official number is, i think that something like 70% of kids major in finance, but that does not mean we all end up in it. Doing something else though, definitely not odd, and is encouraged.</p>
<p>You do spend a lot of time with stern kids when you get older, but freshmen and soph year, you take classes outside stern, and a lot of kids have minors in other schools</p>
<p>quag-mire; recruiting will be difficult, summer recruiting was tough. However, business is cyclical, so as bad as it for my graduation year, most people agree that it will be back to normal and better starting in 2009. No idea how many seniors are doing IBD/S&T, but I can say that we are represented at pretty much every major bank in both divisions.</p>
<p>zoolander: I went abroad for a semester as did a bunch of other kids I know, but I don't know anyone who went 2 semesters. Not saying you can't, but I don't know any stern kids who have.</p>
<p>I'm thinking about working my first semester at Stern. What is the optimum number of hours I can work without it conflicting with schoolwork and my social life? (about 10 to 15?)</p>
<p>I've worked everywhere from 5 hours a week to 20 hours a week during semesters. Obviously it depends on your schedule and credits you are taking, but I'd say your pretty on point in the 10-15 hours a week.</p>
<p>As a side note, I also think a social life freshman year is crucial for enjoying NYU, so when you get here, go out!</p>
<p>JimmyC: Depends on what class your talking about, but for the early Stern classes, I liked Bakos for IT and lieberman for economics. And for Writing the Essay, well, most of the professors suck, sorry.</p>
<p>Catalysis: I don't know much about Haas or the program there, however I will say this, both schools are great business schools and if you do well at either school, you'll be in a great position for jobs or grad school afterwards.</p>
<p>Stern certainly gives you a boost if you want to eventually work in New York, many smaller New York companies will come downtown, but will be less inclined to fly cross country and recruit.</p>
<p>Finally, as a cali kid, I'm sure Berkeley will probably be cheaper than Stern, and it would be difficult to give that up.</p>
<p>Simply: A language is actually not required for an International Business major or for any Stern student.</p>
<p>Arabic and mandarin are both difficult, so you should take whichever you'll be more motivated to learn. From a business standpoint, mandarin will likely be better than Arabic, but for a political standpoint, Arabic might be more interesting.</p>
<p>I personally would take mandarin and take the opportunity to study abroad in Shanghai. China is an amazing country and is on the road to becoming a global superpower to rival the US.</p>
<p>Honestly, how difficult is it to have fun while still trying to compete for the best full time offer at the more prestigious bulge brackets? Are the students that receive those offers at Stern the type that study nonstop?</p>
<p>no not always. one of the fulltime investment bankers at goldman thi syear was also a president of the business fraternity. all you need need to maintain is a 3.7 (maybe 3.5). that is not that hard considering the median stern gpa is just below a 3.4.</p>
<p>epiper: I agree that you can have fun. When it comes to the students getting prestigious bulge bracket offers, I've found that kids who worked really hard have gotten amazing jobs and kids who definitely had fun also received great offers. </p>
<p>Good grades are helpful in getting the interview, but after that, you need to carry yourself.</p>
<p>How have your interviews been so far? I would expect them to grill you pretty hard since you're in the finance program at Stern, but were you well prepared with what you learned in class or were you going through Vault guides and stuff in your free time?</p>
<p>And thanks for the responses to my first question.</p>
<p>in Stern, do the majority of the students tend to lean toward IBD or S&T? I've heard that the majority of finance majors want to go into IBD. If this is true, can one assume that there is relatively less competition for S&T at Stern?</p>
<p>the internviews at smaller firms are not bad, most are behavorial type questions. the interviews at bulge brackets are a lot tougher and are usually 2 rounds at least. they ask you a lot of technical questions, but none that are impossible. i am not a fan of wall street oasis or vault and to be honest i dont read about finance outside of school, but i was still able to ace most of the tehnical questions from what i learned in class. the people just want to know that you understand some basic principles. if you got an A or A- in the finance and accounting classes you should be fine. just read the job description and flip through your notes before the internview. like i was interviewing for fixed income securites so i just reviewed the section about bonds in my notes and was fine. </p>
<p>i dont think it will be easier to gain entrance by saying your a marketing major, since they will probably assume you will switch to finance. the marketing department is strong and it is the most popular major after finance/accounting. </p>
<p>most students lean to IBD. S&T is not too popular with the people i know and talk to, but i wouldn't go so far as to say there will be less comeptition for it. there are enough driven people at stern that there will be competition for any presitigouis job posting.</p>