<p>I would rather not have responses from those who are not familiar with the industry.</p>
<p>As Wharton is mainly a feeder for wall street, I would like to know a few specifics about i-banking in particular. After reading the “Running of the Bulls”, I’ll admit: I’m intimidated. Why put in 100 hour work weeks for only 90k or so? Seeing the hourly wage, I can’t make sense of it. Why not just go into medicine where you’re guaranteed 500k+ if you’re a speciality surgeon and you have job stability?</p>
<p>Before you thing money is my only motivation, the impetus for this reconsideration of my career path came from my talking to a successful businessman who climbed the corporate ladder. Although he is now an executive, he stated that, if he had to do it again, he definately would have chosen medicine due to its high salaries, freedom, and stability,</p>
<p>After this, im rethinking my desire to enter business.</p>
<p>Because money isn't my prime motivator, because I have a natural love towards business (I probably won't be using Wharton as a feeder to Wall Street but rather as a true learning experience - If I get in of course)</p>
<p>Get into business if you have a natural love towards such work and feel you can be happy with sub-par income.</p>
<p>"Before you thing money is my only motivation, the impetus for this reconsideration of my career path came from my talking to a successful businessman who climbed the corporate ladder. Although he is now an executive, he stated that, if he had to do it again, he definately would have chosen medicine due to its high salaries, freedom, and stability,"</p>
<p>You realize you just contradicted yourself to an insane degree?</p>
<p>Before you say "money isn't my only motivator...freedom and stability are too!!!11" those are basically all tied to the same idea of entering a career SPECIFICALLY so it can cater to a lifestyle. With a Wharton education (among many others), you can lead a life with all of these things. To think your choice is a) Wharton or b) Doctor is so ridiculous.</p>
<p>I guess passion for a subject is just right out the window?</p>
<p>any line of work that earns six figures will require a "hellish" period following graduation. for doctors, its four years spent in medical school cramming information and fighting with your classmates for the best residencies; then, you spend years in internship/residency doing small tasks for very low pay (as you struggle to pay off your education). the two or three years that you spend in ibanking is like a "residency" in that regard.</p>
<p>i think the main point of these experiences is to gain experience. everybody needs to start from the ground up; you're not going to get a corner office, a month of vacation, and a million dollar bonus just because you graduated from wharton or m&t. you have to earn it. wharton is a great starting point; you have a launching point for great career opportunities; however, the rest depends on our own motivation.</p>
<p>also remember that from the people that i've talked to, the running of the bulls book is def exaggerated. i read it too, and to tell you the truth it freaked me out too (but at the same time it made me want to go to wharton even more). there are a few ultracompetitive people at wharton, as there will be at all schools, but most of the class is (at least somewhat) friendly and collaborative.</p>
<p>Also, don't feel that you are "locked" into finance. Many are initially drawn to the thought of making almost 100k out of college, and they will dedicate the next few years of their lives to doing that. even those who spend a few years on Wall Street then go on to explore new career paths, including entrepreneurship or graduate school. consulting is also an option, and it probably fits an m&t education well. in the end, its not how much you make but how much you enjoy your job. the business world is broad enough for you to find that job.</p>
<p>I'm not saying im only considering medicine; it was only an example that the guy told me. Furthermore, those advantages of medicine vs business also came from him, not me. As for passion, I definately think that my interests and my way of looking at the world are very much aligned with the business world.</p>
<p>Every single field out there has it's pros and cons; i realize none are perfect. The point of this post was that it got me thinking whether I really want to attend Wharton. its probably not unusual to have doubts before making a major life decision. The i-banking careers, which so many wharton grads vie for, however, really do not make sense to me. although this is probably due to my current parochialism, i wanted to hear the i-bankers perspective.</p>
<p>Ok, I agree, my views are limited; I'm from a small rural town. But I never stated I wanted to do i-banking exclusively. I only wanted to hear the i-bankers perspective for my personal edification.</p>
<p>Truthfully, I don't think I could ever work for someone else. I have no idea what I want to do; I plan on keeping an open mind. I only wanted to hear the i-bankers perspective. </p>
<p>The Running of the Bulls is a horrible book. The author chose to focus on some extreme examples and hyped it up to make it sound like it represented the entire student body. </p>
<p>I think it's great that you're thinking about this stuff now and that you KNOW that i-banking is not for you. Just don't lose sight of that. I think one of the biggest problems students have today (and not just Wharton students) is being so enamored by prestige - of schools, cities, jobs, salaries - and not really focusing on what they love.</p>
<p>If you think that you would love being a student at a place like Wharton then go for it. You will learn a tremendous amount about yourself and what you are capable of, and you will leave hear feeling confident that you can do anything. If you know you don't want to work for anyone, take advantage of the numerous entrepreneurship programs on campus. Network with alums and faculty and classmates. </p>
<p>I think you'd be surprised at just how much you can follow your passions if you just let yourself. That goes for all of you Whartonites.</p>
<p>It's easy for people to stand on soapboxes though and speak about passion when they're already in a position that so many are vying for. Sometimes passion won't even allow you to achieve such things -- I know many passionate people who weren't admitted to their schools of choice. It's like when people at Ivy League schools say that grades don't mean much or matter. Well, most of these same people sure as hell thought so in high school -- they probably wouldn't be at Penn otherwise.</p>
<p>Passion is important, but so is lifestyle and financial stability. Do you need to do ibanking if you go to Wharton? No -- I think the idea is to find something profitable yet in line with your interests. It's admittedly very difficult to find the right path... it takes a lot of courses and discussions and questions before one actually has a better idea as to how they want to spend time in college and what they wish to study. Make a list of absolute needs, as well as dislikes -- things you just will not negotiate. If you hate ibanking and have no passion for it, keep that in mind. If you can't live without computers, keep this in mind too. Through research and lots of questions can you more easily figure out where you are adaptive and where you best fit into the spectrum.</p>
<p>As someone who wants to have a future in investment banking, I think it's really something that comes from within you [a passion for business]. I have read books relating to the career, as well as talked to people who work/worked in the field. Thinking about 80-100 hour work weeks, the need for nerves of steel and ruthlessness turns me on. I want to be the next big thing to pop out of wall street, and I don't care what it takes.</p>
<p>Actually, what it takes drives me. Knowing I'll be rushing and working die-hard from day to night every day is something I like to think about. The nature of business springs natural interest in me. Maybe you should look into another career field before going into i-banking because it's hyped up to be the "get rich fast" job. I think sucessfull investment bankers get up there rolling in high cash, but they need to love the job. Besides, afterwards you have exit options.</p>
<p>I don't know, look for something you like to do and that doesn't just bring in the cash. I like to think most of the good doctors are good doctors because they like doing it; maybe I'm being a bit superficial/idealistic, after all we all want money. </p>
<p>Eh, well. That's my opinion, given it might not be too good try to maul over what I've said. I think it must make some sense.</p>
<p>But at what point do you draw the line and say, enough is enough. I mean, 80-100 hour work weeks?! Sure, you'll make 100K a year...but you'll also have no life. Who wants that? I'm going to Wharton next year, but I won't be caught dead working that kind of work week out of college, even if the money is good.</p>
<p>To put into perspective 80-100 hours per week in Ibanking</p>
<p>5 days x 24 hours each = 120 hours</p>
<p>Okay let's say you wanna sleep for... oh 3 hours a day</p>
<p>120 hours - 15 = 105 hours</p>
<p>Now let's say you wanna spend an hour eating/not working every day</p>
<p>105 hours - 5 = 100 hours.</p>
<p>There you have it folks --- to become a succesful analyst, you pretty much need to sleep 3 hours a day and spend 1 hour not working. I'm sure if you add in stuff like oh say... commute, showers, leisure reading,... or LIFE in general you won't make it as an IB Analyst at least.</p>
<p>^Which is why you eat while working and live in your office to cut down on the commute. Forget showers because you can just use Ax. There, 4 hours of sleep a night :)</p>
<p>Most i-Bankers do not have 5-day workweeks. They work all 7 days of a week (and maybe get one weekend off a month). That way, they can get a solid 4-6 hours of sleep plus 1 hour of commuting every day.</p>