If you're interested in cracking the Trader Monthly 100, your best bet is going the traditional route and joining the Sales and Trading arm of a major financial institution, broker-dealer or established hedge fund. The days of the Dan Zangers making millions of dollars starting out with a few grand are long gone. The internet bubble was a once in a lifetime experience for the lucky few of us who profited from it.
You're young, intelligent and come from a good school. Focus your efforts on joining a broker/dealer desk. Pay your dues and climb the ladder. If you're talented you can write your own ticket and start your own firm. That's the profile of many Trader Monthly Hall of Famers. Prop trading will always be around and the barriers to entry are almost non-existent. Even an 80 year old, uneducated grandmother with a few grand who passes the Series 7 can become a prop trader. But your window of opportunity for joining a top institutional trading firm is very small.
Do you really want to struggle as a prop trader and find out that five years later, it's a pain in the ass to grind out $50-60K, when you could have become an established trader at an institutional firm pulling down $200K+? By then it will be too late to start over. The opportunity cost will be very high if you waste your prime post-college years with a prop firm. Right now, you're highly marketable to any financial institution. If you throw away a few years to a five and dime prop firm, you won't look nearly as attractive to recruiters. Think long and hard about it.
If you want to trade prop, open an E-Trade account and read a ton of books. Do it on the side. But if you want to be a trading millionaire, then go the traditional route. Prop trading is usually reserved for career changers or people without any other prospects. Don't waste your degree on a prop firm. Don't be blinded by photos of traders making money from their laptop on the beaches of Tahiti. If you want to make money, you have to be chained to your desk and study the markets like a hawk. It's grueling and hard work and it's no different from putting in 12 hour days at Goldman Sachs. But the payoff at Goldman is infinitely higher. Don't be fooled by firms that say they'll give you training from a seasoned pro. Most of the trainers I've seen are just living off of their achievements during the glory days and are mediocre traders at best. Remember, their main objective is to recruit you to join their firm and fork over your commission dollars. It's all smoke and mirrors. These so-called trainers don't even actively trade anymore and the trading advice they teach can be easily obtained from a book. Like anything else, experience is the best teacher for becoming a good trader. 90% of what makes a good trader is effective risk management. This can be taught to someone in five minutes but it can take years to actually learn it. That's because we are dictated by our emotions. Remember, fear and greed will be your worst enemies as a trader.
The truth is that if you want to make big bucks as a prop trader, you have to have a big bank roll and be able to weather some severe ups and downs, the types of moves that routinely wipe out smaller accounts for breakfast. No prop firm will let you do this with their own money. They'll give you about $100K of leverage and you'll be grinding it out for nickels with 300 shares. It's a grueling and tiring way to make money and you'll be extremely lucky to make six figures. The only people making real money in prop trading are the owners and those with multi-million dollar accounts that are remnants from trading the internet bubble. You won't be able to make millions starting from scratch in this market. It's way too volatile and there's just no clear direction.
Do your research and talk to other traders with a couple years of experience. There are many ways to make millions of dollars in this country and prop trading is much harder than most other professions. PM me if you have any questions. Good luck pal, you'll need it!