High School dropout to BB IBD
Just wanted to post this up here; thanks for all the help WSO!
I dropped out of high school and spent two years working as a shift supervisor at Starbucks. I went to community college for a year and then managed to transfer to a target business program. I worked a non traditional internship that got me a lot of social exposure to wall-street types, and spent a lot of time in my junior year on phone calls and cutting class to take trips to Manhattan to have coffee and lunch with bankers. Along the way I landed a gig at a hedge fund where I learned the majority of my technical skills.
I secured one S+T offer and three IBD offers for this summer, and I signed with a top 5 (non-GS) BB and will be returning after graduation. Turned down a FT offer with the same hedgefund to do so and declined accelerated interviews at the other banks.
The only advice I can give to anyone is: network! When recruitment rolled around my contacts would text me inviting me to interview - it was as simple as that. I've made a lot of solid contacts in the most unexpected places - and I have a lot of wacky, non-traditional networking stories that made for some solid relationships.
My grades are good but not great and I have stellar internship experience - that said, I find that being personable and likable goes a long way towards getting the job.
fuck cc to a target.......... seems so surreal
Happens a lot more than you think...
The reason it seems so surreal is the negative connotations people give cc kids.
love it haha
I keep telling my one friend that dropped out of high school that it's definitely not too late or impossible to make big and better changes in his life. I'll be using you as an example the next time I talk to him about it haha.
Pure win, sir.
Some target schools specifically only take transfer from CCs. Stanford for example.
surreal
Congrats by the way, you made something for yourself. Not many can say that in their lives.
Unstoppable.
congrats. Any tips on networking for wannabe monkeys?
that. is. fucking. amazing.
congrats on the offer.
Yeah... I've went to a cc with with quite a few people who have ended up going to cornell/columbia/michigan (most people end up going to UMich due to being instate), one's going to harvard for her master's right now. CC's are a good way to get your intro classes over with and save a shitload of money. A decent amount of the kids there are plain stupid, but it's still not tooooo hard to find a bright kid. There are some very motivated students that could make most target kids look lazy and there's kids transferring to these schools every year from my old cc.
The head of the honors program at my cc told me he could pretty much guarantee me admission to UMich if I kept a certain gpa and followed his advice. Although this is different since admission to UMich is easier if you're instate and LSA isn't as much of a target as Ross/CoE (he couldn't guarantee Ross but CoE was included), but whatever, I'm a lucky guy for growing up in Michigan.
Great job sir.
I'm currently in a CC and looking for a transfer once I complete my AA degree.Over the past year,I have been truly disappointed with the status mainly due to the chances I have breaking in to banking front office albeit joining a 4yr university after finishing CC. The connotations that I perceived is very negative and very disheartening.
Looking on the bright side, very determine to succeed and breaking in after reading this story!
Drop the CC from your CV. Those conotations go away.
I call bullshit
Certainly possible. I know people who transferred from CC to Caltech, MIT, Stanford, and my current institution. Hard to do? Hell yes. Possible? Absolutely.
I agree. Some smart and motivated people are not hard to find in big ccs.
It's certaintly possible with a degree from a CC but the dude is a high school dropout. Which usually means that he had zero direction in life and was ltemporarily abeled a lowlife..and to suddenly reemerge with dedication and determination to reach banking?
Did you get a GED? I'm sure you steered clear from mentioning that you dropped out to your contacts but how did you get passed HR? What city was your CC/B-School in? Maybe I'm missing something but I find this incredibly difficult to believe,
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