join Group One / DRW Trading Group or Goldman as i-banking analyst?

[Hydroblunt]

Quote from Randek:

You're like that angry guy who leaves the club complaining, "That was so weak! I'm never coming back here again! Clubbing is stupid!" because no girls would talk to you in there.

Now you're hating all investment banks because no one wanted to hire you even though you were desperately trying to get into Lehman's door. It's not all hook-ups. If you really have qualifications, it would be transparent, but you were just a graphics artist.

LOL

Another idiot with a selective reading problem. I know it's hard to understand but Trading Desk is totally different from Investment Banking Division. Once you get that through your head, your criticisms will have some relevance cause you're talking out of your a$$. Regarding Lehman trading desk, I was far from the only one affected negatively during the hiring freeze of 2002, it was just bad luck for our whole graduating class and yeah it sucks and I was very upset & bitter like any other person would have been.

As for my negative overall attitude toward the IB industry, it's a larger deeper viewpoint that your small brain could not comprehend. Your retarded analogy holds no weight against the conversations I've had with numerous associates.
I can see 90% of ET could never get it through their head either so I will just drop it, concede defeat and let the morons celebrate their internet victory. If want some info and tips regarding entering IB that I wish I had just 1-2 years earlier to when I started working at UBS, send me a PM.

P.S. It's not called "graphics artist" but whatever the title you wanna choose I was still making as a senior in college than you do with your current paper trading. It's a skill set with which I can get a cushy job within a month that pays more than 90% of the self traders out there.

 

[NazAttack]

isnt Uchicago the best finance school around...the others are great, but when it comes to finance i think chicago is the only choice.

as for trading...i have been trading the german curve since 1997 & have most recently become a victim of the phil bennet refco wrecking ball...well, their still paying me, but i need another job. so given the options, goldman(based on my experiences w/ chicago firms) would be the choice. though i will be knocking on DRWs door. but really, what are the choices for a 35 yr old mba from UChicago? lol...i'm not sure

 

[nicholaf]

Quote from Copernicus:

wharton is the most overrated school in the universe, especially when it comes to finance. check the finance elective list at Wharton and compare to Columbia and NYU, Wharton looks like a community college.

i went there undergrad. wharton >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> columbia.

wharton divided by NYU = infinity


i can't believe i'm mentioning my school and NYU in the same sentence.

 

[nicholaf]

Quote from timmyz:

wharton ranks consistently at the top because no other ivy league school grants an undergraduate business degree. as a matter of fact, very few undergraduate schools in general grant business degrees.

like the winners of a division IV tournament calling themselves national champions when they haven't played any division V teams.

no offense, just think a lot of wharton people should remember this.

i went there for undergrad. wharton undergrads share the same courses with MBAs. the motto was never share a group project with MBAs because they slack off and play golf all day

 

[nicholaf]

Quote from NazAttack:

isnt Uchicago the best finance school around...the others are great, but when it comes to finance i think chicago is the only choice.

as for trading...i have been trading the german curve since 1997 & have most recently become a victim of the phil bennet refco wrecking ball...well, their still paying me, but i need another job. so given the options, goldman(based on my experiences w/ chicago firms) would be the choice. though i will be knocking on DRWs door. but really, what are the choices for a 35 yr old mba from UChicago? lol...i'm not sure

i agree. i am currently at U of C MBA and the finance classes are fantastic. comapring to wharton's, i think they are even more quantitative. and yes, now i'm the one who's playing golf all day.

 

[nicholaf]

Quote from NazAttack:

isnt Uchicago the best finance school around...the others are great, but when it comes to finance i think chicago is the only choice.

as for trading...i have been trading the german curve since 1997 & have most recently become a victim of the phil bennet refco wrecking ball...well, their still paying me, but i need another job. so given the options, goldman(based on my experiences w/ chicago firms) would be the choice. though i will be knocking on DRWs door. but really, what are the choices for a 35 yr old mba from UChicago? lol...i'm not sure

actually, you can try for the part time program. i know of many traders who are 35+ who are in the part time program

 

[nicholaf]

Quote from BradKrom:

Haha, thats great...I'm sure you have intimate knowledge of all 3 programs after skimming their finance electives list. Don't get me wrong, I think stern is a great school, but having wharton consistently ranked at the top of the list each year even when administrators/ faculty refuse to talk to the press about rankings (harvard started this and per usual penn followed suit) gives a pretty good indication of the caliber of the grads/ recruiters perceptions. In all fairness though, I'm clearly biased, but those who have no experience would probably do better to not say anything at all.

Carl: I would say we're in a similar boat, but you're a little ways ahead of me. I'm a junior and I've actually decided to take this semester off to trade full time (picked it up towards the end of last year and have been doing it ever sense) as to avoid having to make the i-banking v. trading career decision. After my experiences, I'd say that I'm most likely going to pursue a sales/trading job hopefully at a tier 1 bank on wall st. However, since I've had some exposure to trading, I'm thinking about trying to do an internship at a bank over the summer to see whats really for me. They're pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum as others have said, but there are definitely merits to both. Right now though, I'd probably take the sure bet banking job...yes your life is going to suck, but with no type of exposure to trading and your apparent affinity to running flows/ love of excel, why not take the sure bet, especially at a shop like GS.

Brad

you're biased - you a junior in wharton?

 

[carl1111]

nicolaf- what did you do after undergrad at wharton? What do you think of my options that I listed in the very first post in this thread? I am interested in hearing your perspective.

 

[nicholaf]

Quote from carl1111:

nicolaf- what did you do after undergrad at wharton? What do you think of my options that I listed in the very first post in this thread? I am interested in hearing your perspective.

i did corp restructing under a CFO of a firm. didn't go banking or S&T route. but now i'm in a hf.

goldman. since you're only interested in trading. but if you do decide to go trading, only do so in S&T in a bulge bracket. forget market makers, prop shops. read trader monthly and see why. your level is different from 99% of the ppl here. they are like frogs in a well.

also, your job is not only the job. it is the network. remember, everything you do, it is the network.

read wilmott.com. they have better career advice. ppl from institutional trading desks... ie the S&T job you want if you decide to go that route.

what school you in

 

[tokyotrader]

It's late but I just got back from a trip and this thread caught my attention.

I skimmed most of the posts and while it is hard to believe you have these offers, assuming you do I think the others are right in that you should take Goldman.

You don't really sound sure about yourself and what you want to do with your life. You make a few references to making big bucks down the road so I imagine you are like most typical college juniors and seniors who think top tier banks and hedge funds are the end-all be-all.

You ask if you will be good at trading and tell us that you scored 800 on Math SAT. Trust me, this means nothing, although it does get recruiters to ask you about it in an interview(shameless firsthand experience). You don't sound like you have a genuine passion for trading so don't do it. Your passion sounds like it's about prestige and making money. If that is what you want, you stand a much better chance of achieving this by going to Goldman as an ibanking analyst.

You might change your feelings about this and discover yourself more with experience. I did.

Good luck.