Anonymous
11/29/2025 00:35
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
No. If you're talking quant, USAMO/USACO/USAPhO is a good enough testament to intellectual chops. For IB, they don't really care how smart you are above a certain threshold, beyond that it's all about how you can present yourself. (Sound familiar?)Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If grade inflation is happening at elite colleges or Ivy League schools, as reported by the New York Times and other outlets, how do on-campus recruiters distinguish between applicants? I’ve also heard that some hedge funds and investment banks actually ask for or look at applicants’ prior math-competition results (such as USAMO or AIME). This was mentioned in the Chinese social media—is that actually true?
USAMO gets you in the door. Colleges are not important, they recruit USAMO qualifiers even from state flagships. Jane Street, Citadel, DE Shaw, all doing this.
That's good to know. I also heard that recruiters also look at high schools to access background because college grade inflation, is that true?
Anonymous
11/29/2025 00:30
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Me again. No big banking or consulting employer "relies solely on college names." Even if we are looking at a candidate from a target school, we are going to be looking at the relevant coursework. We're familiar with the course catalog at the target schools.
What “relevant” coursework? Kids with English and History and all kinds of humanities degrees from top schools get hired in banking or consulting.
Less often these days. There's a lot more interest in engineering students and others with hard majors, math and so on. Banking and consulting do want some raw brain power. No one floats through an engineering degree regardless of grade inflation. Any English or History major that gets hired by these firms today likely has a parent that's a Managing Director and so on somewhere on Wall Street. Or they are the offspring of a prominent and wealthy family. Generally, an English degree doesn't fly unless they're bringing the connections and the wealth.
+1
Humanities majors who get MBB & IB jobs out of college largely have connected parents or are athletes. Your average English major from Dartmouth is not getting a job at Bain. But I still think they hire lots of not connected Economics majors, so not purely STEM.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:57
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Me again. No big banking or consulting employer "relies solely on college names." Even if we are looking at a candidate from a target school, we are going to be looking at the relevant coursework. We're familiar with the course catalog at the target schools.
What “relevant” coursework? Kids with English and History and all kinds of humanities degrees from top schools get hired in banking or consulting.
Less often these days. There's a lot more interest in engineering students and others with hard majors, math and so on. Banking and consulting do want some raw brain power. No one floats through an engineering degree regardless of grade inflation. Any English or History major that gets hired by these firms today likely has a parent that's a Managing Director and so on somewhere on Wall Street. Or they are the offspring of a prominent and wealthy family. Generally, an English degree doesn't fly unless they're bringing the connections and the wealth.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:46
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Family member worked at a hedge fund in his twenties had to provide his SAT scores. This was about ten years ago. Assume this common in some fields where prestige matters a lot, especially now with even more grade inflation.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:40
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Me again. No big banking or consulting employer "relies solely on college names." Even if we are looking at a candidate from a target school, we are going to be looking at the relevant coursework. We're familiar with the course catalog at the target schools.
What “relevant” coursework? Kids with English and History and all kinds of humanities degrees from top schools get hired in banking or consulting.
The days of art history majors getting hired in banking and trading are gone.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:39
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Me again. No big banking or consulting employer "relies solely on college names." Even if we are looking at a candidate from a target school, we are going to be looking at the relevant coursework. We're familiar with the course catalog at the target schools.
What “relevant” coursework? Kids with English and History and all kinds of humanities degrees from top schools get hired in banking or consulting.
This has become MUCH rarer, especially as the top schools’ student bodies become more pre-professional.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:36
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Never heard of that and my kid works in tech…how would they know much about the thousands of HSs that kids attend and why would they care? These jobs require kids pass lots of technical interview questions…so if they don’t care much about college, why would they care about HS?
Some of these high schools are known for their concentration of high-achieving students, who often go on to form strong networks after graduation.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:27
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Me again. No big banking or consulting employer "relies solely on college names." Even if we are looking at a candidate from a target school, we are going to be looking at the relevant coursework. We're familiar with the course catalog at the target schools.
What “relevant” coursework? Kids with English and History and all kinds of humanities degrees from top schools get hired in banking or consulting.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:25
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Never heard of that and my kid works in tech…how would they know much about the thousands of HSs that kids attend and why would they care? These jobs require kids pass lots of technical interview questions…so if they don’t care much about college, why would they care about HS?
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:24
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Me again. No big banking or consulting employer "relies solely on college names." Even if we are looking at a candidate from a target school, we are going to be looking at the relevant coursework. We're familiar with the course catalog at the target schools.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 22:13
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
High school doesn't matter if your kid got in to a selective school AND is taking classes with a decent amount rigor at that college. If both of the above are true, I am going to assume you are the type who must have challenged yourself in high school as much as you could have given your circumstances and you have a solid base of skills/knowledge to build on. And that's all that matters, because most high schoolers, even brilliant ones, have little say in where they go to school.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 21:57
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:PP here who posted about exec functioning skills and about how high school doesn't matter. I worked in recruiting for IB and also for consulting (after actually being a consultant myself). Happy to answer questions.
Thank you for the kind and detailed information. I spoke with my child’s school counselor, and they mentioned that some tech companies—at least here on the West Coast—look at applicants’ high schools in addition to the the academic competition to get a sense of their background, since they don’t rely solely on college names anymore. I found that interesting and was wondering whether a similar trend exists in the financial industries in the East Coast.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 21:46
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Generally they are looking for the opposite of math competition results: charisma, high EQ and good looks.
Err. Even English news media said the opposite from what you said, are you sure? - If you want a job at Citadel or Citadel Securities, enter these competitions https://www.efinancialcareers.de/en/news/citadel-olympiad?utm_source=chatgpt.com
This person isn’t talking about Quant, IB is mostly what they’re talking about.
In IB, what they are looking for is the ability to grind for long hours, not make mistakes, respond quickly to calls and emails, manage your workload, and get things done on time. So I would say more important than all the things mentioning above are high "executive functioning" skills (those skills that help you plan, organize, and complete tasks).
Also, you do not need to be great looking to be in IB or have naturally amazing charisma. However, you do have to come off as authoritative and competent, which again goes back to those executive functioning skills.
These are…normal job things. A low level sales person does this. It’s jarring to me that people in IB make this much for what sounds complete automatable years ago.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 21:41
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Generally they are looking for the opposite of math competition results: charisma, high EQ and good looks.
Maybe if you want to be in Private Client Services or Investor Relations.
Anonymous
11/28/2025 21:39
Subject: Grade Inflation at Top Schools and Its Impact on Campus Recruiting?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Generally they are looking for the opposite of math competition results: charisma, high EQ and good looks.
Err. Even English news media said the opposite from what you said, are you sure? - If you want a job at Citadel or Citadel Securities, enter these competitions https://www.efinancialcareers.de/en/news/citadel-olympiad?utm_source=chatgpt.com
This person isn’t talking about Quant, IB is mostly what they’re talking about.
In IB, what they are looking for is the ability to grind for long hours, not make mistakes, respond quickly to calls and emails, manage your workload, and get things done on time. So I would say more important than all the things mentioning above are high "executive functioning" skills (those skills that help you plan, organize, and complete tasks).
Also, you do not need to be great looking to be in IB or have naturally amazing charisma. However, you do have to come off as authoritative and competent, which again goes back to those executive functioning skills.
I'll add one more. They're also looking for fast learners. The work isn't really difficult, but they want you to get up to speed fast, and it is a lot of stuff that is new (even if you studied business or finance in college). I've seen people get left behind in banking and consulting if they can't learn and apply certain things fast enough.