How are these nepo babies in these summer finance internships able to keep up with the work

[Anonymous]

Really frustrates me as DS is very hard working and going into senior year at Bucknell. Many of his classmates with loaded parents with connections on Wall Street have gotten their kids internships for the summer at companies like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, even Goldman Sachs. Kid feels discouraged. He has a 3.8 gpa, good extracurriculars but got shunned away in favor of kids whose dad golfs with the vp of wealth management and has a 3.0 gpa and subpar involvement in college besides frats. It makes me feel like I'm wasting my money on bucknell as these schools only pay off if you have prior family wealth and connections to launch your career in investment banking and finance. Also, how are these kids who barely ut the work in during the school year manage to work these long, long hours in these internships? Are these repo babies given a pass if daddy is there at work today supervising?

[Anonymous]

There are others there hired to actually do the work.

[Anonymous]

Anyone can do one of these jobs. It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to understand financial markets and work on PowerPoints. I once was an intern. It’s kind of like how there are millions of kids who would do perfectly fine at Princeton.

The ones who don’t have what it takes won’t get offers after the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone can do one of these jobs. It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to understand financial markets and work on PowerPoints. I once was an intern. It’s kind of like how there are millions of kids who would do perfectly fine at Princeton.

The ones who don’t have what it takes won’t get offers after the summer.

Not true

[Anonymous]

Life isn’t fair. They aren’t trying very hard in college because they know they don’t have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: It makes me feel like I'm wasting my money on bucknell as these schools only pay off if you have prior family wealth and connections to launch your career in investment banking and finance.

Well yes, that’s why regardless of how much this forum preens about SLACs, they are useless for most middle class families. These schools are too small and too far away from metro areas to attract any interest from major employers.

If you wanted a more meritocratic recruitment process, you’d have your son do engineering at a major state school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone can do one of these jobs. It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to understand financial markets and work on PowerPoints. I once was an intern. It’s kind of like how there are millions of kids who would do perfectly fine at Princeton.

The ones who don’t have what it takes won’t get offers after the summer.

Not true

How is this not true? Have you ever been an investment banking analyst? Half of your time is spent waiting for feedback on decks and working on excel models. It’s not very challenging work. I met many analysts who disliked the lifestyle but don’t recall meeting anyone who thought it was too intellectually challenging. It’s just not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really frustrates me as DS is very hard working and going into senior year at Bucknell. Many of his classmates with loaded parents with connections on Wall Street have gotten their kids internships for the summer at companies like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, even Goldman Sachs. Kid feels discouraged. He has a 3.8 gpa, good extracurriculars but got shunned away in favor of kids whose dad golfs with the vp of wealth management and has a 3.0 gpa and subpar involvement in college besides frats. It makes me feel like I'm wasting my money on bucknell as these schools only pay off if you have prior family wealth and connections to launch your career in investment banking and finance. Also, how are these kids who barely ut the work in during the school year manage to work these long, long hours in these internships? Are these repo babies given a pass if daddy is there at work today supervising?

To be fair, who wants to go into banking these days? I only went into banking because faang didn’t exist or was in its infancy and I didn’t want to go to law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really frustrates me as DS is very hard working and going into senior year at Bucknell. Many of his classmates with loaded parents with connections on Wall Street have gotten their kids internships for the summer at companies like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, even Goldman Sachs. Kid feels discouraged. He has a 3.8 gpa, good extracurriculars but got shunned away in favor of kids whose dad golfs with the vp of wealth management and has a 3.0 gpa and subpar involvement in college besides frats. It makes me feel like I'm wasting my money on bucknell as these schools only pay off if you have prior family wealth and connections to launch your career in investment banking and finance. Also, how are these kids who barely ut the work in during the school year manage to work these long, long hours in these internships? Are these repo babies given a pass if daddy is there at work today supervising?

The problem is your son didn’t understand the point of attending Bucknell…it’s not to get a 3.8 (but that’s great)…it’s to become friends with the rich kids you lament…and get hooked up with a job.

[Anonymous]

It’s clear that your kid doesn’t understand how to get these jobs. It’s not as simple as applying. It’s also not as simple as “nepo baby.” Unfortunately, career services at even better privates are oftentimes almost useless and don’t help students plan their future and act accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone can do one of these jobs. It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to understand financial markets and work on PowerPoints. I once was an intern. It’s kind of like how there are millions of kids who would do perfectly fine at Princeton.

The ones who don’t have what it takes won’t get offers after the summer.

Not true

How is this not true? Have you ever been an investment banking analyst? Half of your time is spent waiting for feedback on decks and working on excel models. It’s not very challenging work. I met many analysts who disliked the lifestyle but don’t recall meeting anyone who thought it was too intellectually challenging. It’s just not.

NP. I don't know anything about banking -- not my line of work -- but one of DS's friends (one of the smartest kids I know) did the summer analyst program at JP Morgan and decided she didn't want to work in banking because she was "a little bored by the slow pace of the internship."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone can do one of these jobs. It doesn’t take a lot of intelligence to understand financial markets and work on PowerPoints. I once was an intern. It’s kind of like how there are millions of kids who would do perfectly fine at Princeton.

The ones who don’t have what it takes won’t get offers after the summer.

Not true

How is this not true? Have you ever been an investment banking analyst? Half of your time is spent waiting for feedback on decks and working on excel models. It’s not very challenging work. I met many analysts who disliked the lifestyle but don’t recall meeting anyone who thought it was too intellectually challenging. It’s just not.

NP. I don't know anything about banking -- not my line of work -- but one of DS's friends (one of the smartest kids I know) did the summer analyst program at JP Morgan and decided she didn't want to work in banking because she was "a little bored by the slow pace of the internship."

+1 these summer jobs are not hard, most kids can do them..probably this 3.0.kid isn't dumb, just hasn't bothered trying. If he puts in a bit of effort he will be fine.

[Anonymous]

DH went to Bucknell and works on wall street as do three of his frat brothers from there that he’s still in contact with. I wouldn’t worry about it. Bucknell kids do very well. He should be networking with his friends next winter/spring to inquire about opportunities though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH went to Bucknell and works on wall street as do three of his frat brothers from there that he’s still in contact with. I wouldn’t worry about it. Bucknell kids do very well. He should be networking with his friends next winter/spring to inquire about opportunities though.

Also tell him to work the alumni network.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really frustrates me as DS is very hard working and going into senior year at Bucknell. Many of his classmates with loaded parents with connections on Wall Street have gotten their kids internships for the summer at companies like JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, even Goldman Sachs. Kid feels discouraged. He has a 3.8 gpa, good extracurriculars but got shunned away in favor of kids whose dad golfs with the vp of wealth management and has a 3.0 gpa and subpar involvement in college besides frats. It makes me feel like I'm wasting my money on bucknell as these schools only pay off if you have prior family wealth and connections to launch your career in investment banking and finance. Also, how are these kids who barely ut the work in during the school year manage to work these long, long hours in these internships? Are these repo babies given a pass if daddy is there at work today supervising?

The problem is your son didn’t understand the point of attending Bucknell…it’s not to get a 3.8 (but that’s great)…it’s to become friends with the rich kids you lament…and get hooked up with a job.

+100. Your kid isn't showing the kind of networking skills that are truly valued in jobs like this. That's the real reason he's not being hired.