Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

I think the other dwonside to IB is the requirement to live in NY city. I think trading is a good option - from what I hear, you can do that in places outside NY.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

You've gotten great answers so far, but I'll throw in what I know.
From what I understand, the top banks only recruit from certain school - if you don't go to one of those schools, it's difficult (or impossible).
I went to a college that many of the banks recruit from. One of my good friends from college is now an analyst for Merrill. He works very long hours (he gets one weekend a month off - the rest of the time is spent working), but loves his job because he finds it (or, at least, parts of it) intellectually engaging. And he's making good money.

Good luck, I hope you find something you're happy doing.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think the other dwonside to IB is the requirement to live in NY city. I think trading is a good option - from what I hear, you can do that in places outside NY.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not necessarily true. Many of the big banks have offices in LA, and some of the smaller firms ("botique" is the term, I think) have offices in SF. I believe that location depends on what "sort" of i-banker you want to be.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

I'd rather shoot myself than work 85 hours a week.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

UNC/3.48/Economics-Business Administration

I'm just a freshman and my GPA can still change though... so please answer the question for about a 3.7 as well.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

I'm a Chicago guy, and a lot of my friends are traders. The hours are decent, the stress is high, the pay at the beginning sucks, the potential at the end is stratospheric.

Consulting, as in management consulting, is a tough gig to get. Best route is probably to work in an industry of your choosing for a few years, then get into one of the top B schools (Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton, Stanford, etc.). Bain, BCG, McKinzey are nice places to work, though I don't think the money is comparable (at least at the beginning, probably at the end too) to IB'ing.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

If you are really interested in it, contact your career services and ask them if any Banks recruit on campus. It is easier if they do, but no impossible to get a job if they do not. My friend went to USC and got a job at McKinsey even though they dont recruit there. She was the only one to get a job, although her GPA was crazy, so that probably helped. I am coming from an Ivy League prospective here, Princeton, and I got a couple of offers and finally took one with a 3.5 overall GPA and a departmental of like 3.8, just to through out some numbers.

I know some people that got a job with less and some that didn't with more, depending upon different circumstances and stuff like that.

Also, try to get a good summer internship the year before, as that always is a good way to differentiate yourself from your peers.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

Investment banking is definitely not limited to NYC. I've just celebrated my first anniversary with my firm in Chicago. I'm not in corporate IB though, but public finance IB. It's similar, but we work with municipalities. Corporates make a lot more money, but I've found my job to be fairly rewarding monetarily as well (as long as you work hard and prove yourself). I work for a smaller "boutique" firm. The hours can be long. The work can be mentally stimulating, but also mundane while learning the ropes.

I know this is different from corporate IB, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents. If you aren't used to working long hours, IB isn't for you. For some, the ultimate goal is to work for the Citigroup, Goldman, UBS, etc., and if you want, a good stepping stone can be a smaller boutique firm (or getting your MBA). I've found that working for a smaller firm is allowing me to obtain a wider range of skills than at a big firm that would most likely keep me cranking out numbers all day.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

Solid advice, thanks a lot Admo. I think I'm going to shoot for about a 3.75 overall and hopefully about a 3.85 departmental. It's tough...but I do have a lot of time to get it up there.

Re: Thoughts on Investment Banking
 

Thanks, best of luck.