Once you get into a T10 school, the competition really begins

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The pyramid narrows as you go to the top. There is room for only so many at each level. At any given level, you will find some are due to connections and others are due to their soft and hard skills. For those who rely solely on their skills, it gets harder but not impossible. Fortunately for them, there are application submissions through firm websites and Hireview screenings[b]. You get through them, you will be called for phone interviews. A little bit of luck along the way never hurts. But for luck to favor you, you will have to try first!

It is not impossible but extremely hard.  I've been working in the financial sector for five different employers and each year I've seen so many qualified students from Ivies and Northwestern get passed over for other students from lesser known universities because those students have connections with my employer.  For example, I recently interviewed two students, one from Brown and another one from Cornell, for an internship position, only to be told that the position will go to someone who is less qualified (yes, I interviewed that person as well) from VATech because it comes from the top.  The candidate who got hired, his best friend is the son of the company CFO. In other words, I was told to interview those two candidates from Brown and Cornell for "show only", to make the hiring process look "legit".  This is one of many examples that I've seen throughout my working career that the closer to decision makers, the more likelihood that you're going to be successful.  Going to Northwestern is not going to help you if you don't have the skill to take advantage of that opportunity.  Unfortunately, most people do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern University- great school. Econ major has tried twice (fall and winter quarter) to get into a competitive finance club and was rejected. He wrote essays, gave presentations, and had to sit and answer very hard questions. Just a reminder that getting in is really half (or a quarter) of the battle.

Not quite a top 10 school.

[Anonymous]

I am grateful to this thread for revealing to me that there are exclusive college-kid finance clubs and thereby confirming that I made the right choices in my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son joined chess club without any difficulties. Maybe op’s kid is not very smart.

Don't think the chess club is where the "popular frat guys" are hanging out.....

I think a guy in the chess club would make a better partner than some hedge fund frat boy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at another T10 school and yes one of the biggest surprises was that so many of those things that you could just decide to do in high school (debate,MUN.) were highly competitive at the college level. There’s even a pop uo cooking club that’s tough to get into! She addressed it by trying out for a gazillion things freshman year and just went with the options she had after everything shook out. It worked out great. She’s not doing all the same things she did in high school but there’s a lot of overlap and she is enjoying new and different activities.

Yale?

[Anonymous]

Why do some of you have to be so juvenile with these ignorant frat boy finance bro comments? Grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son joined chess club without any difficulties. Maybe op’s kid is not very smart.

Don't think the chess club is where the "popular frat guys" are hanging out.....

I think a guy in the chess club would make a better partner than some hedge fund frat boy!

The frat boy has the soft skills to raise capital. The actual investing part isn't the hard part about finance, it's the getting people to give you their money that's the hard part

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son joined chess club without any difficulties. Maybe op’s kid is not very smart.

Don't think the chess club is where the "popular frat guys" are hanging out.....

I think a guy in the chess club would make a better partner than some hedge fund frat boy!

The frat boy has the soft skills to raise capital. The actual investing part isn't the hard part about finance, it's the getting people to give you their money that's the hard part

+1

Agree that soft skills are very important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah but you’re still a Wall Street douche!

I bet you and your spouse don’t have employer sponsored retirement accounts and you both don’t invest in any index funds or mutual funds. Because they are managed by the Wall Street douches that you snicker at. But if you and your spouse rely on them to manage your investments, they you are the smelliest garbage douche!

My index funds are managed by a company based in valley forge, pa

You are the most disease prone douche that did humanities in college and mathematics challenged pea brain. Your index funds are being managed mostly by computer programs. The very little human oversight required is provided by employees who studied finance. But of course, it’s beyond your douch comprehension.

Yes, if only the rest of us could have your pedigree and impressively sprinkle the word “douche” into our communications!

You are a poster child for what many of us do not want our children to become.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern University- great school. Econ major has tried twice (fall and winter quarter) to get into a competitive finance club and was rejected. He wrote essays, gave presentations, and had to sit and answer very hard questions. Just a reminder that getting in is really half (or a quarter) of the battle.

Not quite a top 10 school.

Factually incorrect regarding US News ranking and with respect to overall endowment (not including system-wide endowments which combine endowments of many universities--UC system, Texas system, & Texas A&M system).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern University- great school. Econ major has tried twice (fall and winter quarter) to get into a competitive finance club and was rejected. He wrote essays, gave presentations, and had to sit and answer very hard questions. Just a reminder that getting in is really half (or a quarter) of the battle.

It is like that at many schools though. Not just top 10. Lots of gatekeeping.

Yes but if that gate is closed, and it is because you only get in if you schmooze the right people, there are other ways. Keep at it.

Ok but I don't really care. My point is that OP thinks it is just like that at "top schools". It's not.

That is fine. The point was that the journey through college is high difficulty. That is not much discussed on here.

Eh depends. A connected parent could easily get the kid a great unpaid internship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am grateful to this thread for revealing to me that there are exclusive college-kid finance clubs and thereby confirming that I made the right choices in my life.

I think that we all agree & understand that there are many different paths in life. Do you have the same feelings about a chemistry ot biology club or a writers' group ?

Universities are typically composed of multiple "schools" or "colleges" including non-pre-professional ones such as a College of Liberal Arts. Attending U Penn, Cornell, Duke, Northwestern, or any large university whether public or private does not limit one to pre-professional study. OP started this thread out of concern for his/her student who has an interest in finance.

[Anonymous]

Idk sometimes I question people’s reality on here. My H is a CIO at a wealth manager with 50B under management. He didn’t go to a top 10 school and from what I hear, relatively few of his colleagues did either. Not that it comes up that often but occasionally in conversation over dinner someone will briefly mention where they went. Lots of places I’d never heard of before. He makes over a million a year and works ~ 40-45 hour weeks with a high degree of flexibility, wfh as much as he wants, 6 weeks vacation, etc. It’s a great gig.

If he can do it, idk why OP’s kid can’t. He wasn’t in a finance club in college either. He was in a frat but not one that helped his career. Never had to work on WS pulling 80-90 hour weeks either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The pyramid narrows as you go to the top. There is room for only so many at each level. At any given level, you will find some are due to connections and others are due to their soft and hard skills. For those who rely solely on their skills, it gets harder but not impossible. Fortunately for them, there are application submissions through firm websites and Hireview screenings[b]. You get through them, you will be called for phone interviews. A little bit of luck along the way never hurts. But for luck to favor you, you will have to try first!

It is not impossible but extremely hard.  I've been working in the financial sector for five different employers and each year I've seen so many qualified students from Ivies and Northwestern get passed over for other students from lesser known universities because those students have connections with my employer.  For example, I recently interviewed two students, one from Brown and another one from Cornell, for an internship position, only to be told that the position will go to someone who is less qualified (yes, I interviewed that person as well) from VATech because it comes from the top.  The candidate who got hired, his best friend is the son of the company CFO. In other words, I was told to interview those two candidates from Brown and Cornell for "show only", to make the hiring process look "legit".  This is one of many examples that I've seen throughout my working career that the closer to decision makers, the more likelihood that you're going to be successful.  Going to Northwestern is not going to help you if you don't have the skill to take advantage of that opportunity.  Unfortunately, most people do not.

A family member is an MD at a large, well-known investment bank. They have a high school junior, and asked a contact in HR if there was a list of target schools from which said bank recruits (so they could firm up the kid's college list.) HR basically laughed in their face and said don't worry about it -- your kid will have a spot in the summer internship program no matter where they go.

So that's what the non-connected students are up against.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Idk sometimes I question people’s reality on here. My H is a CIO at a wealth manager with 50B under management. He didn’t go to a top 10 school and from what I hear, relatively few of his colleagues did either. Not that it comes up that often but occasionally in conversation over dinner someone will briefly mention where they went. Lots of places I’d never heard of before. He makes over a million a year and works ~ 40-45 hour weeks with a high degree of flexibility, wfh as much as he wants, 6 weeks vacation, etc. It’s a great gig.

If he can do it, idk why OP’s kid can’t. He wasn’t in a finance club in college either. He was in a frat but not one that helped his career. Never had to work on WS pulling 80-90 hour weeks either.

Because, times a changing! I bet your H is at the minimum two, more likely three decades older than OP’s undergrad student. Consider your H to be lucky for being born early.