<p>I’ve been reading other threads and it seems to me that for someone that wants a finance job (ibanker), they must even go undergrad at a school such as Virginia, Indiana, Texas Austin, or Michigan. Then get your MBA at a better represented school such as Wharton or Stern.</p>
<p>Would it be possible to get your bachelor’s in finance at a lesser school such as University of Houston, Drexel University, or Arizona State? Then get a job as an analyst and possibly get an MBA from a school such as Wharton, Stern, or Haas?</p>
<p>To me, it seems that an investment banker is the hardest job to get because you have to attend a college, even for undergrad, that has a top finance department with recruiting. While, if you wanted to become a pharmacist or engineer you could attend an easier school and still get the job. I would really appreciate if this could get explained to me better :)</p>
<p>Im far from an expert on this subject but it seems that Ibanks look for the very best talent they can get. This means that A) a top finance department is not required, nor does finance even have to be your major in order to go into finance (ex. the best person for the job may have majored in economics or even english, the major doesnt have a tremendous impact) and B) Because the banks look for the top talent the automatically turn to top schools for it, thus it is hard to get a good ibanking job from a lower tier school (it is possible just harder).</p>
Engineers make $50k out of college. Pharmacists need to go to 4 yrs of pharm school after 2 to 4 yrs of college. Ibankers make around $100k straight out of college. Supply and demand - a lot of people want the job.</p>
<p>You don’t need to major in finance. If it’s a top 25 school without finance ideally major in business economics or economics. However, other majors are recruited.</p>
<p>People are rarely recruited if their school is not on the ibank’s list. Ibanks simply want the best and the brightest. What other career allows you to make that much right after you graduate from college?</p>
<p>
Yes it is possible. MBAs enter as associates instead of analysts.</p>
<p>Ibanking is an “elite” industry which is very competitive. They have an image of having the best and brightest, and they live up to it by only recruiting at select schools. It also why they take econ majors from Brown over finance majors at lesser schools. </p>
<p>There are two primary paths into Ibanking:
Major in econ at an Ivy or similar caliber school. These are all feeders.
Major in finance at a top 10 business school (like Michigan or Stern).</p>
<p>Or option three.
3) Go to a place like U Houston, work locally in a financial area for a company, apply to an MBA program and hope you get into a top 15-20 school, and then while you are in that MBA program work hard to get into banking.</p>
<p>so then lets say you attended a half-decent college say Lehigh, Fordham, State University,Bentley/Babson, 50-20 LAC, etc (schools that are very good, just not recruited by Investment Banks. Now you manage to attain a decent GPA and you land an average job out of college, not one in investment banking or consulting. </p>
<p>Would one still be competitive for admission into a top 15 MBA program?
How much would your undergrad school affect you for admission?
Would you still work at the same time as you are getting your MBA?
Do most people hold down jobs as they attend school?
How difficult is it to move into banking when you’re competing with analysts recruited directly out of college who have relationships with the companies from before?</p>
<p>I read a HR case study for a particular IBank firm and how they recruit. They get so many applications for so few positions, it would be too time consuming to interview all of the candidates. So, all they do is look at your GPA and what school you came from … if you have a good GPA at an ultra-elite school, you’ve made the big cut. From here, most comes down to intereviews and so forth. </p>
<p>IBanks really dont have much time to sort out the good and the bad candidates … they rely on the ultra-selective schools to do the sorting for them. Face it, if you can get into a school like Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard in the first place, you’re probably incredibly smart and among the top few in the US when it comes to intelligence. Ibanks want these people.</p>
<p>Your undergrad school will still matter, but there are people who didn’t go to top schools at top 15 MBAs- but often those are the people with decently high GPAs, who got high GMAT scores, and worked for longer than their Ivy plus counterparts. Test scores count for alot. My advice if you want banking but weren’t a top student in high school is to go to a place in NYC like Fordham and try to network your way into a financial job not at one of the big banks while getting a 3.5+ GPA. Then after about 4 years you should be set for a top 15 MBA if you can do well enough on the GMAT</p>
<p>It’s like any other highly desireable job. Top law firms only recruit from top law schools. Top engineering want engineers fom the elite programs. Head residents in the wanted medical fields have top grades at top programs. And on and on.</p>
<p>It also depends where you wanna work…bulge brackets on the street like Goldman Sachs, Merril, and Morgan are all in competition to be at the top. GS is considered at the top so in order to stay there they must hire the best possible people to work for them. Very rarely will you see someone working at one of these bulge brackets or even an elite boutique bank hire an analyst from a sub par school…you undergrad study doesnt need to be in bus/econ but i certainly helps… From what i hear, having GS on your resume opens endless amounts of doors accompanied with tremendous amounts of negotiating power. This too will gelp you get into a top MBA program.</p>