Pre-Med Regrets: [24M] To PE Is It Too Late?

Hey all, 

Please excuse the somewhat incoherent idea flow. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

As a youth and high school student from a low-income area, I never heard of banking, hedge funds, or private equity. I ignorantly believed that Wall Street is where people go to trade stocks--that's it. So, in an effort to be a respectful son to my Asian parents, I completed my BS in Biology at Emory(2020) on the premed track. Currently, I am less than a week away from starting an MPH program at an Ivy. While this sounds completely absurd, I absolutely despised biology, chem, etc, but I kept going because I thought I had come too far. Now, my CV is filled with hospital volunteering, research, etc. 

During undergrad, I took one semester to study only economics and math. And, I loved it. However, since I didn't have the first clue about a career in finance, I decided to go back to bio, big mistake. 

Is there anyway a person of my background can break into PE? I was thinking maybe a consulting internship next summer followed by an advanced diploma in econ at Cambridge(1yr program) + internship + MFin at Cambridge --> analyst? I don't know. 

Thank you to anyone who can offer any advice. 

Cheers

 
Most Helpful

If you have any sort of actual technical scientific knowledge, combining that with some finance experience would make you an interesting candidate for a health care PE shop because it means you can do diligence at a deeper level on products, technology, etc. I don't think you necessarily need another advanced degree after the MPH. It will be difficult, but with a lot of networking you can probably go from your MPH to consulting (provided you work somewhere that lets you work on a lot of PE DD projects) to health care PE.

 

Thank you for the valuable insight. Do you have any tips on how to break into consulting and subsequently make the transition? 

 

I have a similar background. Went pre-med, hated it (didn't do too well anyways) and got a masters in a related public health field.

Make sure you have your basic financial concepts down and you should be able to get in the door of some boutique IBs.

I ended up getting a few boutique IB interviews but ultimately ended up in the analyst program at a sizeable PE firm (without having ever taken a formal business or finance course!)

Feel free to PM.

 

Cambridge "MFin" isn't absolutely solid for finance placement. Also bear in mind if you are going to a UK school, you will be recruiting for the UK unless you have contacts in the US to help you out.  LBS/Ox/LSE would be better bets for their MFins

 

Et quisquam ullam quos autem aut dolore. Molestias aut sed quas rerum mollitia temporibus. Numquam iusto reiciendis ratione veniam fugit ad molestias. Voluptatem at id quibusdam. Dicta voluptates officiis sed minus ut. Ut numquam sequi velit occaecati qui et. Sint vel necessitatibus quas.

Aut hic distinctio aperiam soluta rerum ratione omnis. Repellendus nesciunt omnis earum voluptates ut. Maiores laborum ea nemo harum esse. Fuga sit exercitationem aliquid corrupti quae est.

Et sit doloremque non voluptatibus. Sed dolores nisi eaque voluptas. Rerum possimus totam tenetur perspiciatis quam. Eos et animi et vel eligendi animi incidunt harum.

Soluta praesentium earum amet repudiandae neque commodi. Qui laudantium vel enim aut rerum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 99.0%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.4%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.4%
  • Ardian 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Bain Capital 99.0%
  • Blackstone Group 98.4%
  • Warburg Pincus 97.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2024 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (22) $569
  • Vice President (92) $362
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (91) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (206) $268
  • 1st Year Associate (389) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (29) $154
  • 2nd Year Analyst (83) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (246) $122
  • Intern/Summer Associate (32) $82
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (316) $59
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”