Do you need a college 4.0 at for a strong finance internship? (From an Ivy)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, for the days when an ivy kid with average grades and no finance background could still get a good banking job ... The current situation is just awful.

I remember when stupid, lazy kids could get jobs with little training and sell risky overpriced financial products to clients. Now they hire kids with good grades who signal their commitment and maturity by studying finance before working in the field.

This whole fiasco started when they required doctors to go to medical school instead of learning on-the-job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is a drama queen

OP here. No, kid isn't. Quite the opposite.
I know about this because he was grumpy about a test and I was like, 'chill out, you're doing great" and he shared that the upperclassmen talk about how "you need a 4.0 if you want XYZ internship" which may just be a very top finance internship but my kid heard as being any good econ/finance internship.
And I can share further that my DC is not even sure he wants to go into finance. But the social pressure to consider this career path is SO HIGH at the Ivies. It's all anyone is doing. My son is bright, naturally a STEM brain, doesn't want to be an engineer so he's considering it.

OP it takes what it takes, each ivy is different with regard to being top 1/4 or better.
At Brown, as A- and A are both counted 4.0, and 45-60% of any given class gets A range, yielding a median graduating GPA of 3.9, thus yes a 4.0 is needed for top finance, top law, top med, every "top".
At my kid's grade deflated ivy, Jane St and other top finance, or MBB, or top law/med, goes to 3.9+ all the time. Less than 15% of stem courses receive true A(4.0), thus having some A- or an occasional B+ are common. Median overall is around 3.7; 3.9 is quite impressive there. The engineers often get top (quant) finance over others even if a little below 3.9.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at an Ivy and says that the chatter is that you need a 4.0 through fall of sophomore year to at all be in the running for a strong finance internship after junior year. Is this true or similar to what you've heard?

My kid is working their tail off for this as As are 95+ and averages on most exams are 70s, 80s. Doing ok so far but it'd stressful--93/94 in several classes.

"Landing a Goldman Sachs internship as difficult as NASA astronaut acceptance"

Still, that didn't stop over 360,000 people from around the world from applying. Only 2,600 of them, or 0.7%, were accepted into the 2025 internship class.

Though not impossible, the odds have become increasingly stacked against candidates as the applicant pool continues to grow under CEO David Solomon's leadership.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/landing-goldman-sachs-internship-difficult-nasa-astronaut-acceptance

The majority of them were from Ivy and a handful of other target schools. The odds are much better from an ivy. OP needs to relax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You definitely don’t need a 4.0. It tends to be a lower gpa (3.5 bottom) is okay for STEM majors. Econ majors should be pretty high 3.8+ is the sweet spot

+++

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This entire thread just screams out loud that the best path is NESCAC athlete particularly at Williams or Middlebury. Great placement without all of the Ivy League club nonsense.

Huh?
Well first of all, you have to be an athlete. And if that gives an edge then being an Ivy athlete is certainly better than being a NESCAC athlete when it comes to recruiting. And finance club memberships are still competitive at the NESCACS and there are fewer jobs offers to go around at a NESCAC when compared to an Ivy.

There really isn't any school that has a secret hook to this tiny pool of opportunities. Being an athlete may give you an edge (or not--depending on the hiring manager). Being an investment club member may give you an edge (or not--depending on the hiring manager).

No school has a secret hook but if you understand the system there are ways to make the path a better experience. On a per capita basis Williams, Middlebury, CMC, and Amherst all place better than half of the ivies.

Being an athlete is a huge advantage. If you aren't an athlete Ivies might be better but if you can cross the hurdle you are potentially in a much better situation at a top NESCAC or CMC.

Ivy Athlete might be better but it's hard to really do the required club grind and be an athlete. Too much IB recruiting is dependent on the Finance Clubs.
NESCAC Finance and Investment clubs aren't insanely competitive like at the Ivies, if you want to join and put in the effort you'll be in without issue.
On Campus recruiting is great and the pool of kids shooting for IB/MBB is much smaller.
The alumni network is outstanding, especially for Middlebury and Williams. I know of a girls team at one of these schools which had 6 kids doing Finance internships last summer. GS, Jefferies, and BofA were three of them, I don't know the others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It should be easy to get 3.9+ gpa since schools like Harvard are handing out As like candies.

It was lot tougher 15-20 years ago. Average gpa back then was around 2.8-2.9 gpa not 3.5 gpa now days.

Grade inf;ation varies quite a bit across the Ivy League. Some are handing out nearly all As (Harvard/Yale/Brown) while others center grade distributions around an B+/B. Penn is reasonably tough with grading as is Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at an Ivy and says that the chatter is that you need a 4.0 through fall of sophomore year to at all be in the running for a strong finance internship after junior year. Is this true or similar to what you've heard?

My kid is working their tail off for this as As are 95+ and averages on most exams are 70s, 80s. Doing ok so far but it'd stressful--93/94 in several classes.

Unless your kid is at Brown, 4.0 is still rare at ivies, less than 5% maybe 10% max for Harvard(easiest grader next to Brown)

[Anonymous]

Aren't grading inflated at Ivies? Not an Ivy, but my DC was told to maintain atleast a 3.6 gpa for BB from NYU stern (which grades on a curve, no more than 35% of class gets an A).

[Anonymous]

It's like college admissions now. You need very good grades and test scores (for those that ask for them) but you also need extras, like the right leadership roles, competition trophies, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is at an Ivy and says that the chatter is that you need a 4.0 through fall of sophomore year to at all be in the running for a strong finance internship after junior year. Is this true or similar to what you've heard?

My kid is working their tail off for this as As are 95+ and averages on most exams are 70s, 80s. Doing ok so far but it'd stressful--93/94 in several classes.

My lower ivy kid with barely 3.5 got a wall street internship and return offer (and is now employed there). Their major was computational econ. So much more mathematical than regular econ, and their thought was that they got wiggle room on the gpa due to that. But who knows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid is a drama queen

OP here. No, kid isn't. Quite the opposite.
I know about this because he was grumpy about a test and I was like, 'chill out, you're doing great" and he shared that the upperclassmen talk about how "you need a 4.0 if you want XYZ internship" which may just be a very top finance internship but my kid heard as being any good econ/finance internship.
And I can share further that my DC is not even sure he wants to go into finance. But the social pressure to consider this career path is SO HIGH at the Ivies. It's all anyone is doing. My son is bright, naturally a STEM brain, doesn't want to be an engineer so he's considering it.

A bear market will make a big dent here….I see many middle managers in finance acutely vulnerable in 26-28 period… may make things easy for next gen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot imagine being this invested in my kid’s employment prospects. Pathetic.

I think this might be the dumbest dig I've read to-date on DCUM.

Truth hurts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's like college admissions now. You need very good grades and test scores (for those that ask for them) but you also need extras, like the right leadership roles, competition trophies, etc.

+1. This can’t up in the recent Harvard study on why kids didn’t go to class or participate in class - they are too busy running the business clubs in order to secure internships

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This entire thread just screams out loud that the best path is NESCAC athlete particularly at Williams or Middlebury. Great placement without all of the Ivy League club nonsense.

Huh?
Well first of all, you have to be an athlete. And if that gives an edge then being an Ivy athlete is certainly better than being a NESCAC athlete when it comes to recruiting. And finance club memberships are still competitive at the NESCACS and there are fewer jobs offers to go around at a NESCAC when compared to an Ivy.

There really isn't any school that has a secret hook to this tiny pool of opportunities. Being an athlete may give you an edge (or not--depending on the hiring manager). Being an investment club member may give you an edge (or not--depending on the hiring manager).

No school has a secret hook but if you understand the system there are ways to make the path a better experience. On a per capita basis Williams, Middlebury, CMC, and Amherst all place better than half of the ivies.

Being an athlete is a huge advantage. If you aren't an athlete Ivies might be better but if you can cross the hurdle you are potentially in a much better situation at a top NESCAC or CMC.

Ivy Athlete might be better but it's hard to really do the required club grind and be an athlete. Too much IB recruiting is dependent on the Finance Clubs.
NESCAC Finance and Investment clubs aren't insanely competitive like at the Ivies, if you want to join and put in the effort you'll be in without issue.
On Campus recruiting is great and the pool of kids shooting for IB/MBB is much smaller.
The alumni network is outstanding, especially for Middlebury and Williams. I know of a girls team at one of these schools which had 6 kids doing Finance internships last summer. GS, Jefferies, and BofA were three of them, I don't know the others.

You don't have to be an athlete at a NESCAC to place well
- Incoming at MBB, non-athlete at a NESCAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This entire thread just screams out loud that the best path is NESCAC athlete particularly at Williams or Middlebury. Great placement without all of the Ivy League club nonsense.

Huh?
Well first of all, you have to be an athlete. And if that gives an edge then being an Ivy athlete is certainly better than being a NESCAC athlete when it comes to recruiting. And finance club memberships are still competitive at the NESCACS and there are fewer jobs offers to go around at a NESCAC when compared to an Ivy.

There really isn't any school that has a secret hook to this tiny pool of opportunities. Being an athlete may give you an edge (or not--depending on the hiring manager). Being an investment club member may give you an edge (or not--depending on the hiring manager).

No school has a secret hook but if you understand the system there are ways to make the path a better experience. On a per capita basis Williams, Middlebury, CMC, and Amherst all place better than half of the ivies.

Being an athlete is a huge advantage. If you aren't an athlete Ivies might be better but if you can cross the hurdle you are potentially in a much better situation at a top NESCAC or CMC.

Ivy Athlete might be better but it's hard to really do the required club grind and be an athlete. Too much IB recruiting is dependent on the Finance Clubs.
NESCAC Finance and Investment clubs aren't insanely competitive like at the Ivies, if you want to join and put in the effort you'll be in without issue.
On Campus recruiting is great and the pool of kids shooting for IB/MBB is much smaller.
The alumni network is outstanding, especially for Middlebury and Williams. I know of a girls team at one of these schools which had 6 kids doing Finance internships last summer. GS, Jefferies, and BofA were three of them, I don't know the others.

You don't have to be an athlete at a NESCAC to place well
- Incoming at MBB, non-athlete at a NESCAC

In fact three of the people who helped me most in my recruiting processes were alumni of my school's track, football, and lacrosse team respectively