Inquirer001

Hello again,

So essentially in an effort to understand IB recruitment and help myself and other collegebound students make college decisions I am looking for your thoughts on which of these two students would more likely be selected for an IB position.

Student A:

Undergrad: Wharton
GPA: 3.2
Single major
Little EC's, due to the difficultly in attaining a Wharton degree.
One Summer internship, one summer of additional classes to meet reqs
Interview skills are average
Some club participation
Very focused on major, despite inadequate amount of time.
Has good alumni connections

Student B:

Undergrad: SUNY Bing
GPA: 3.9
Double major
A lot of ECs, including career oriented clubs
Three summer internships, one in PE, one in Accounting, and a third as an FA
Interview skills are above average, student articulates well
Passionate about major
Little alumni connections

I'm fundamentally asking; How much do you need to stand out a low tier school to be selected for such a competitive position? How much can you "slack," or I guess struggle is a better word, at a 1st tier school and still have a good chance? Which is better?

Thanks,

-Matt

FutureVpFinance

Obviously the second guy. If your interview skills are average you won't impress enough to get an offer. Student B has prior experience that blows student A out of the water.

Personally I hope to be student C, a combination of good grades, ECs, experience, connections, and intangibles. Even at top schools only the best will have a decent shot.

Inquirer001

Yeah we all want to be Student C haha...

How much does school name carry? I've been told at state schools it is generally more difficult to interact with alum. How much does where you go actually matter in IB?

angryelf

Without any alumni connections, student B's resume would be thrown out without a second glance.

If student A had a good story and was likeable, they may stand a chance at getting an interview.

FutureVpFinance

But student B has internships and can actually interview well.

angryelf

It's relatively easy to get an unpaid internship at a no-name ibd or pe firm and most people realize this. It's sort of pointless to debate this though, as these aren't real people, nor is this situation likely to occur. Very few people put in the work required to get into a school like Wharton only to flat out give up trying once they get there.
Unfortunately, without some type of connection, anyone from a non-target(regardless of whether it was WUSTL or John Jay College of Criminal Justice) will probably not get an interview as no one will actually ever seriously consider their resume.

theyoungboi

The better candidate is whoever can spin their story better and can reach out/expose themselves to the most opportunities.

astonmartinDBS

Student B's problem is not that he doesn't stand out, but rather that it's very hard to get your foot in the door (i.e. get an interview or even have your resume looked at seriously) from a place like SUNY. The Wharton student, on the other hand, is going to get a lot of recruiting attention.

ECs matter very little for jobs btw, especially for Student B who already has a lot of internship experience.

Inquirer001

So get into the highest school you can, that you also enjoy being at, and bust your ass to do well there.

Thanks a lot everyone.

angryelf

If you came to that conclusion based off of what I posted, you misunderstood my intentions.

From my (relatively minimal) experience, where you go to school ultimately doesn't matter all that much, so long as it's a school where banks recruit at.
In my mind, you have nearly as good of a chance at getting into ibd from a school like stern or uva as you would at Princeton. While it may be true that Princeton may take a greater percentage of people who apply, Princeton's applicant pool is undoubtedly much stronger.

Inquirer001

You are suggesting the reason Harvard, Princeton, Wharton do so well at getting kids into IB is because the kids are themselves succeeding. Thus, succeeding at any recruiting college can get you into IB?