I am about to graduate at a low tier no name state school think under $10k a year tuition. I have a 3.4 GPA and will finish my communications major with two more classes next semester. Due to pre-requisites I won’t have my economics degree until Dec 2016.
I have founded two small businesses. One was in nightlife and was bringing in over 100k a year for a few years but is now not doing good. The other is very small and makes me under 10k a year. I have not much desire to run the nightlife business any more other then the occasional show to keep me afloat while I finish school.
Have done a communications internship (Press releases, social media, etc.) and one internship with a small commercial real estate firm. I have an investment banking internship with a no name firm lined up for next semester. I am applying for summer trying to get with a big firm and they mainly want target school kids which is worrisome I might not get anything.
I want to work in commercial real estate or finance. Economics is where my passion is not communications. Only 1 person from my school made it into finance after doing a linkedin search. Is this because the students are under achievers or because firms won’t let anyone from a no name state school on? I love the rush of working on big deals and being around big money clients. This is what I want to do with my life.
I am having HUGE regrets. I am looking through the team sections of firms and everyone has gone to a much better school then me am I screwed even if I get the economics degree? I would litterally kill to go back in time. I could of got into a better school but was focused on my business and did not wake up and realize how important school was in time.
I could go to grad school at DePaul in Chicago. For a 1 year master of finance or master of economics. I would have to do two pre-req classes being a non finance major. How hard is grad school? Part of me really wants to and part of me just wants to be done with school sooner and just get the econ double major which finishes me atleast 8 months earlier. I have 0 debt and my parents will pay for grad school or atleast part of it.
Could I make it through DePaul grad school? I failed accounting at a community college but now am more serious and have a 3.4 gpa here but it is very easy at this school. What to do? .
I could even just become an agent now with the communications degree. But I really do like economics and want the econ degree regardless of if I need it or not.
Never before in my life have I regretted something like this. It sucks being an over achiever stuck in an underachieving college!
There are two questions here - one about whether you can have a lucrative career after attending a less well-known state school, and a second about whether you should go to graduate school at DePaul. I think the answers are “yes” and “not right now.”
Post-college success is less about where you went to college and more about your achievements and accomplishments. I’m not saying that Ivy-type alumni don’t have a leg-up on recruiting and connections. But that doesn’t mean they have the monopoly on good work and good careers - most successful people didn’t go to fancy private schools or top-flight publics. I work at a technology company in Washington and some of the most-represented colleges here are UW, Washington State, but also the branch campuses of Central and Western Washington. The head of my research group here got his PhD from a school that’s not well-known in my field.
For a young person who founded two small business that are successful in their own ways, and have done several internships…that sounds like a young person with ambition and drive, as well as some business savvy. That’s what employers are looking for, not only the pedigree. That alone won’t get you anywhere. And after your first or second job, where you went to undergrad won’t matter anymore at all.
You may have to work your way into a big firm after working at a smaller one first, because in banking and consulting the big firms are known for recruiting at top schools.
Don’t panic and go to graduate school. First of all, if your goal is to get into a top firm, DePaul frankly isn’t elite enough to make a huge difference from where you are. (Not that it’s not a great school…it’s just not a target school). If your goal is elite firms with big money clients, your better bet is to work hard and go to a really top business school for an MS in finance or an MBA - one of the ones where top banks/firms recruit at.
You may be one of those rare good candidates for going to a top MBA program straight from undergrad given your extensive business experience for someone your age/stage in life. So you may try to apply to just a few top MBA programs as a senior to see if you can get into any of them. Many business schools will also let you in now but let you work for 2+ years first to come back with experience. Harvard has a formal 2+2 program - you apply as a senior, and get in on the condition that you spend at least two years working before coming back. Other programs don’t have it formally instituted but will allow you to defer for the right opportunity.
But the simpler option is to at least try to find a good job out of college and work in it for a few years before returning to graduate school. I think this is especially important for you, because you don’t really seem like you want to go to grad school - you just have a little fear of the unknown.
You think success happens because you went to the right undergrad school? Seriously?
Yes, people at selective schools where the big companies recruit and a connected alum network have a leg up for the first job out the gate. And a presumption of some basic amount of intelligence and ambition. But after that, it’s all about what they have actually produce. At a company that recruits regionally or locally, you have the opportunity to shine. Find those places and plan to work for 4-7 years while you build that resume. Then apply to business schools that will set you up for your next steps. And don’t waste time on regret. It’s such an unproductive emotion.
it is true what other folks have said … look in the mirror to see where your success will come from. your schooling will give you some skills but not your future success or failure!