Non-Target - The New Prestige
Coming from a non-target is the ultimate prestige. Think about how rare it is to break into IB from a non-target. It takes a superior human being to get into GS or MS, from a random school. We had to put in extra work and be overqualified just to compete. Why would I find HYP alumni prestigious, when my group is full of them? They're not special and their backgrounds are all the same. Non-targets hold yourselves higher than the common man, we are true prestige.
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There's been a number of users who got in without a college degree, actually. As you age, it is about who you know, too.
Nice
By this logic, being a sex offender is an even higher level of prestige because it’s even harder to get hired in IB after becoming a sex offender. Foolproof thinking!
Fraud is def A Tier, takes real intellect
Congrats on beastiality
I'm the only non-target in a "prestigious" group on the street and let me tell you by the way these kids try to talk to girls, they're the closest thing to a sex offender I've ever seen - and they all made it to the street pretty easily, so this doesn't work.
Grateful I went to a school where I learned how to talk to the opposite gender and still ended up in the same place; now THAT'S a valuable education
Unironically this is good advice for any college students reading.
cope
you cope, you're the one who tried hard earlier in life while we had fun and ended up in the same situation lmao
Thought this was in response to the sex offender comment…
tbh i've never seen a non-target MS analyst. I don't even think they hire diversity non-targets
Is this a joke? I am a current MS analyst who went to a complete non-target. I know of quite a few others in the bank as well
maybe a difference in offices
Am a non target analyst, work at MS, there are not very many of us compared to GS... but we're here!
Hey! Would love to chat with you about your experience in breaking into MS, could I reach you on linked in?
Seen that as well. Why does MS take very little non targets? It's crazy how GS has more non targets than MS
Kinda right. Generally non target kids aren't as smart as top tier targets (otherwise they would've gotten in) but they have an insane level of drive which more than makes up for it.
or we just dont care about paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for the same lame education
There's some non target schools that are harder to get into and better in every area except finance...
As an example compare Berkley and NYU (I don't go to either so not biased)
True tbf. In the UK Warwick is randomly a target even though outside of IB everyone would say its on the same tier as other semi-targets. It has a strong maths and econ programmes but for everything else it has higher acceptance rates than other semi targets. And it's even more dumb bcs in the UK the course you do is irrelevant for IB
Disagree. Know some kids who didn't have a good upbringing and guidance - doens't help that they literally only found out about IB in Uni and had no connections/money
Whereas at the ivys I've had friends who were literally guided into IBD/PE/HF by their parents - one kid "shadowed" an BB IBD analyst for a month at the age of 16 and another was the daughter of a politician who was good friends with a few MDs
Everyone in my family did engineering I didn't know it existed till halfway through my junior year
investment baking isn't rocket science. Above average intelligence, drive, and ability to take shit > being super smart in this industry
Einstein’s soul could be reincarnated into a kid, and if that kid isn’t some extracurricular having fiend say goodbye to that acceptance bro
I received a 35 ACT, a perfect SAT, and a 4.8/4.0 GPA.
I got into every school I applied to excluding Princeton, Northwestern, and Johns Hopkins. I do not come from wealth, and I could not afford those options - even with the highest scholarships they offered - so I now attend a nontarget because I received a full ride.
I am not the type to judge someone for their privilege, but the complete lack of awareness kids like you have is just pathetic. That, and your arrogance.
You feel the need to conflate wealth with intelligence because if you faced the facts and acknowledged you inherited success, it would destroy your self-esteem.
You think you earned your life, don't you?
You were born into it.
Life is not fair, and I accept that, I just find it irritating that so many kids born into fortunate circumstances fail to acknowledge their luck, then use the denial of luck to justify their exaggerated sense of achievement and self-worth.
Z
Cool story bro, we've heard it a million times. Want to tell it again so strangers will give you a pat on the back?
Yes, let me tell you again. I broke into IB from a non-target. We are the new prestige. Thank you for your support of non-target success
BROTHERS UNITE
Worked for close to 5 years in a BB and none of my colleagues ever talked about which college they have been to or ever remotely tried to flex about which yada-yada ivey league they have been to. Why do everyone crave so much validation and jerk off to a college name?
Because practically everyone here is 19
Hey, I am 18 thank you very much.
Non-target kids don't crave validation? What's the name of this thread again?
I would agree with this. Nontargets beat crazy odds to get into IB. You’ve gotta be exceptional at something to do that. Maybe you’re exceptionally good at being a clients kid. Or maybe you’re just a relentless hustler. Either way, it’s something special.
I went to an Ivy btw (a real one, not SUNY Cornell).
I’m exceptional at securing coffee chats with AN1’s 😎😎
Bunch of salty ass targets lmao
Jesus finance is such a dick measuring contest lmao.
I am a non-target and this is so cringey. Quality of school tends to correlate with how smart/competent someone is, it is NOT the causation of why they are smart/competent. Beating out target kids to ‘Break in’ proves that.
Congrats on being one of the five people who placed somewhere in your school, but get over yourself.
Actually, the non targets tend to be more competent in IB because many of them have taken finance and accounting classes as well as have the proper skill sets needed. There is no correlation of a target grad being a stronger performer. This is just lazy recruiting. I am not saying target grads are idiots but many of them are not properly screened to see if they are right for IB.
Also there has been an increase in non targets in the last 10 years. The real problem is that many non target schools do not have enough students interested in IB. I am sure you can find plenty of interesting talent at Montana State, but how many students want to go from wide open spaces to a tiny apartment in Murray Hill working 80 hours a week? If a grad from Montana State wants to be a banker, they just go to Denver/Boulder or work in Oil and Gas. There is technology that can reach out to students from other schools. I am not saying there is not still an elitism factor, but it is a lot more complex than that.
Oh boy…
I just said that more prestigious schools tend to CORRELATE with talent. Talented kids tend to be at targets, but talented kids aernt talented because they’re at a target. So yes, there are plenty of kids at semi and non targets that are just as talented.
With that, you are delusional if you think the talent bell curve at Harvard is not significantly to the right of the talent bell curve at Montana state…
I don’t get the non-target copium thing that goes on. I can be talented and still have the wherewithal to admit that target schools tend to have a higher concentration of talent than my school… it’s not a knock on me.
You’ve got one thing wrong, bro. The reason why ibanking is so prestigious and sought after is because this industry is filled with privileged, preppy, and attractive target school kids who come from wealthy backgrounds and have powerful connections (often by birth right or by alumni ). The job itself is nothing challenging nor special ( being able to remember 100 excel shortcuts is not some remarkable intellectual achievement ) . Without those target school kids making powerful connections and securing deals, ibanking is just another big four audit job that gives out cash in exchange for grunt labor workers.
Due to the strong association between ibanking and polished HYSMP kids, non-target people often regard ibanking as an extremely challenging and outstanding achievement. But the harsh reality is, polished top school kids flood into ibanking simply because the industry is heavily relationship-based (non-meritocratic) so that they can take the best advantage of their privileged alumni networks (or even family connections ), not because ibanking is some remarkable skillset that will suddenly transform a non-target diversity hire into a wealthy, well-connected deal maker.
Breaking into ibanking often gives a non-target student a delusion of becoming one of those prestigious target school kids, but at the end of day, target school kids make the prestige of ibanking, not the other way around.
You seem to imply most analysts are hired for their powerful connections.
Not necessarily family connections, mostly alumni connections. Family connections are sensitive and on the verge of nepotism, but yeah it happens in subtle ways (For example, family legacy gets you into Harvard, then Harvard gets you into ibanking, on the surface it’s alumni connections but at root it’s family connections)
Wtf are you on lmao.
Banking is prestigious bc it pays you 100k+ right out of college with no extra education needed beyond a bachelors. And you get to wear a suit.
No one sees bankers as whatever it is you are describing, most people consider us public enemy #1 after the GFC tbh
🫡 my hero
I broke into banking from a non-target over a decade ago and I think the only reason I even have a chip on my shoulder about being from a non-target is that I used to participate in WSO so regularly back then.
Hey! I would love to hear about your experience breaking into banking from a non-target. Please kindly PM me if you have the capacity! Thanks in advance
Landed a MM IB M&A role with an Associates Degree from Blue Mountain State. Anything is possible!
Tbh as someone from a non-target, I'm not sure how much target vs. non-target matters. I go to a non-target and am non-diverse but ended up landing EBs, and BBs but decided not to take them to join an MF out of undergrad. Don't mean this as an arrogant flex, just want to show that if you do work hard and with some luck (similar to kids at target) you can achieve a good deal of stuff out there
How rare is non-target at FTP?
Common, a bunch of the analysts are from non target schools
couldn’t agree more
We had to put in extra work to get into a target in the first place.
I believe you’re fundamentally misunderstanding what prestige means…
True prestige is to end up on Wall Street by not trying. By knowing people. By being in the right family. As much as we can all try to earn that and sit next to those people. And hold the same positions as they do. It’s just a different level of prestige.
You can out prestige them by passing them up
I just broke into IB for a non-target cuz I got that dog in me.
Big dawg status right there.
This is my goal, but my credentials only hinder me. Lack luster gpa because of one semester, no finance experience yet. Still grinding though, currently a junior, goal is IB, doing my best to make sure I can break in from my non-target lol. If I can't land an IB job, I'll make the jobs. Time to start an IB company strictly for non-targets. That's my ultimate life goal.
Feel that but there are firms that hire mostly from non-targets. Don’t know if you’re from the states, but specifically the South. Smaller firms, but IB is IB.
Yea from the states, looking at local firms in my state. Don't know if I can make it to NY but we'll see.
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