The biggest mistake you can make is...

[student14x]

<p>@barrons, we should see some evidence on your part. The burden of the proof usually resides with those making counterintuitive claims(i.e you) </p>

<p>But I’ll be generous and provide backing for my stance. </p>

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Why is investment banking not a slam-dunk selection? First, because entry into the field is most difficult. The admission ticket to a job interview is usually a transcript from a designer-label college or an M.B.A. program filled with “A” grades and highlighted by quantitative courses.

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<p>[Investment</a> Banker: Executive Summary - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-careers/2007/12/19/investment-banker-executive-summary.html]Investment”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-careers/2007/12/19/investment-banker-executive-summary.html)</p>

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I agree with tom725 that it’s quite difficult if you don’t go to an elite school. And if you do go to such a school, it frankly doesn’t matter what you major in anyway if you want to be an Ibanker. That’s why Harvard English majors can become investment bankers (but the English major from Middle Tennessee State probably cannot).

post#4 by sakky
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/413845-engineering-major-first-then-go-into-investment-banking.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/413845-engineering-major-first-then-go-into-investment-banking.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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We would be lying if we said that employers aren’t the least bit influenced by where a job candidate went to school. Elite schools do give their students an advantage early in their career, primarily because these schools attract more on-campus recruiters than less prominent schools.

[College</a> and prestige - Feb. 6, 2002](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2002/02/06/college/q_collegeprestige/index.htm]College”>College and prestige - Feb. 6, 2002)</p>

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the results were split -- 49% said “not important at all” while 51% said it was “somewhat or very important.”

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<p>

“Because many entry-level candidates have little professional experience, hiring managers often consider non-work-related factors, such as the quality of the applicant’s formal education,” said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Human Resources Kit For Dummies…

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<p>[Does</a> university prestige matter in hiring? - Work in Progress - Worklife - Workplace - TIME](<a href=“TIME | Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates”>TIME | Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates)</p>

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Despite his lack of a strong background in business or finance, Sykes was offered a position at Goldman Sachs. “They felt that any student who went through Harvard had already demonstrated the requisite strengths,” he says. Excepting a stint at Stanford Business School in the 1980s, Sykes has spent his entire career at Goldman, where he is a managing director.

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<p>[USATODAY.com</a> - Does Harvard ‘brand’ matter anymore?](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-06-06-harvard-usat_x.htm]USATODAY.com”>http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-06-06-harvard-usat_x.htm)</p>

<p>

Tom Darrow, principal of Talent Connections, an Atlanta-based recruiting firm, said college prestige is important for certain industries, such as consulting and accounting. Some firms exclusively hire from major schools with histories of producing top quality employees, he said.

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<p>

With little work experience under their belts, college graduates often must rely on the name of their alma mater during job searches. The prestige of well-known schools such as Harvard and Stanford carries the weight they need.

[College</a> brand names How much they mater depends on who’s doing the hiring | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)](<a href=“Real Estate – Capital Gazette”>http://www.hometownannapolis.com/vault/cgi-bin/gazette/view/2007G/08/18-27.HTM)</p>

<p>All this basically means, all else being equal, prestige matters. It could matter very little in careers such as medicine to mattering a whole lot is financial careers such as investment banking.</p>