<p>Wow, you have bought into some myths!</p>
<p>First, there are few people cut out for both S & T and Corp fin/M & A. Typically they know young who they are. Since you like stereotypes, I’ll play along…S & T guys are MIT/Chicago quant jocks whereas Corp fin guys are Harvard/Dartmouth/Princeton frat presidents/football captains.</p>
<p>Corp fin types have mostly stopped getting MBA’s if they have an offer to move up to associate. </p>
<p>While S & T may be shorter work hours, it is very taxing and stressful. Personally, give me M & A.</p>
<p>Hedge funds are now the golden jobs. Greenwich is the new NY. Most do their time at a BB first, but if you’re truly exceptional some are hired right out of college.</p>
<p>As for the running deals at 20 and lying, you’ve watch too many movies. There are some guys who do walk in the door in their early 20’s ready to run. One young Dartmouth guy I hired two years ago had done phenomenal research while in college that taught us an important tax strategy in structuring deals. No client cared that he was 22, believe me. Yet we don’t put any jokers out front, really.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what stage you’re at but don’t worry about what will challenge you just yet, get into a top college, graduate in the top 10%, get great prof and internship references, do some research or something else to make yourself stand out…and you’ll find a challenging job that suits you at an ibank.</p>