Majoring in investment banking?

[Wall7486]

Is the IB field really that competitive? A lot of people told me that you need to be in one of those IVY league schools and graduate in the top 5% to even have a shot. If that's the case should I be more realistic and pick another business major?

 

[wasserkool]

yes, its a field that has lots of $$ potential but 100 hours of work week. Usually people just last a few years inside before burning out.

I am not sure if you have to go to ivy league school to have a shot but grades and marks definitely matter.

with that said, there are many other business field less stressful with good pay too

 

[bradruth]

Maybe you should invest in major banking. Think about it.

 

[ghostman]

There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Advanced Search > investment banking

for more "I wantz teh big money!" threads.

 

[Wall7486]

Originally posted by: ghostman
There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

Ah you're correct I just typed the topic name without thinking. Yeah most of the IB I heard are finance major as well. I'm just curious what other jobs can a finance major do?

 

[DaWhim]

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: ghostman
There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

Ah you're correct I just typed the topic name without thinking. Yeah most of the IB I heard are finance major as well. I'm just curious what other jobs can a finance major do?

financial analyst.

 

[Taggart]

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: ghostman
There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

Ah you're correct I just typed the topic name without thinking. Yeah most of the IB I heard are finance major as well. I'm just curious what other jobs can a finance major do?

loan officer, security analyst

 

[Wall7486]

Originally posted by: Taggart

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: ghostman
There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

Ah you're correct I just typed the topic name without thinking. Yeah most of the IB I heard are finance major as well. I'm just curious what other jobs can a finance major do?

loan officer, security analyst

All these analyst I heard about graduated from harvard with MBA degrees =(
I'm currently going to Baruch and probably most of you have never even heard of that because is a city college. I guess I'll do my best and tryta rack a 3.8 at least and apply to a good grduate school.

 

[ghostman]

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: Taggart

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: ghostman
There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

Ah you're correct I just typed the topic name without thinking. Yeah most of the IB I heard are finance major as well. I'm just curious what other jobs can a finance major do?

loan officer, security analyst

All these analyst I heard about graduated from harvard with MBA degrees =(
I'm currently going to Baruch and probably most of you have never even heard of that because is a city college. I guess I'll do my best and tryta rack a 3.8 at least and apply to a good grduate school.

Well, I've heard of Baruch because I'm from NYC. Unfortunately, you're right that many companies (on Wall St., that is) will not actively seek graduates from city colleges. Baruch has a decent business program, but these companies only recruit from tier 1 (Columbia) and some tier 2 (NYU) schools. I think your best bet in trying to break into the financial industry is to: A. Search hard and apply to all available summer internships. Some companies won't take a sales/trade analyst on unless they were first an intern. B. Try to graduate with a latin honor. GPA is useless after your first job, but it's damn important for that first one. C. Consider other options, such as an operations analyst. It's less glorified and pays less than IB, but it gets your foot in the door.

I'm not entirely sure graduate school is "worth it" in terms of your return on investment in the financial industry. Many masters candidates walk the same path as the bachelors candidates (MBA and PhD are a different story). If you're doing it for the school name alone, try transferring instead.

 

[Wall7486]

Originally posted by: ghostman

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: Taggart

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: ghostman
There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

Ah you're correct I just typed the topic name without thinking. Yeah most of the IB I heard are finance major as well. I'm just curious what other jobs can a finance major do?

loan officer, security analyst

All these analyst I heard about graduated from harvard with MBA degrees =(
I'm currently going to Baruch and probably most of you have never even heard of that because is a city college. I guess I'll do my best and tryta rack a 3.8 at least and apply to a good grduate school.

Well, I've heard of Baruch because I'm from NYC. Unfortunately, you're right that many companies (on Wall St., that is) will not actively seek graduates from city colleges. Baruch has a decent business program, but these companies only recruit from tier 1 (Columbia) and some tier 2 (NYU) schools. I think your best bet in trying to break into the financial industry is to: A. Search hard and apply to all available summer internships. Some companies won't take a sales/trade analyst on unless they were first an intern. B. Try to graduate with a latin honor. GPA is useless after your first job, but it's damn important for that first one. C. Consider other options, such as an operations analyst. It's less glorified and pays less than IB, but it gets your foot in the door.

I'm not entirely sure graduate school is "worth it" in terms of your return on investment in the financial industry. Many masters candidates walk the same path as the bachelors candidates (MBA and PhD are a different story). If you're doing it for the school name alone, try transferring instead.

Well I don't know I really want to stay in Baruch for all 4 years because i'm doing pretty good and I like the facility. But yeah you're right about getting a job. It will hurt me on the long run because once they see "Graduated from the City University of New York" they will roll their eyes on me. Hence, that's why I'm wondering if I should stick in the financial field. I know that they hire a lot of accountants from Baruch. In fact initially I wanted to major in that, but i'm taking a course on it right now and i'm really not feeling it. So yeah I'm in a time of frustration you can say.

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: ghostman
There is an investment banking major? Most IB'ers I know are economics, finance, etc. majors. No, it probably doesn't need to be Ivy, but you have to be pretty damn smart. If I ever chose to do IB, it would only be for a year or two to get some cash. I wouldn't be able to take the hours.

Ah you're correct I just typed the topic name without thinking. Yeah most of the IB I heard are finance major as well. I'm just curious what other jobs can a finance major do?

Ehh going into investment banking is risky, it's alot easier though if you have family money to help you get started (assuming you aren't joining an established firm)

 

[SuepaFly]

Originally posted by: wasserkool
yes, its a field that has lots of $$ potential but 100 hours of work week. Usually people just last a few years inside before burning out.

I am not sure if you have to go to ivy league school to have a shot but grades and marks definitely matter.

with that said, there are many other business field less stressful with good pay too

My fiance was a ibanker for 4 years, and at a top firm, my roommate too. You dont HAVE to go to an ivy, but have a lower chance of getting your resume looked at. And you should show up to a nearby school that does have ibanking recruiters. Let's see, UCLA, Penn, Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, etc... Any firm that recruits always goes to the same schools, and the people that are working there usually come from those schools. Super competitive.

Edit: Most bankers go into private equities or hedge funds afterward. Better hours, better money.