It is hard to believe my first year at Sloan is almost done. The second semester definitely went much faster than the first semester core. In looking back, Sloan far exceeded my expectations.
Highlights of year included:
- Landing an amazing internship
- Meeting Warren Buffett
- First trip to Europe, visiting the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle.....
Things I wish I knew last August:
- Recruiting for Finance starts very early and you are expected to have a good idea of what you want to do by around Mid-October. I think I would have benefited from reading the Vault career guides more thoroughly during the summer to narrow down my options sooner.
- It's all about the networking. Yes, the Fridays in New York were time consuming but in the end I learned a lot and was able to leverage that network. Especially with a resume that doesn't necessarily indicate I would be an obvious fit for finance, it was even more important to show enthusiasm, be persistent without being annoying, and know the markets and have a view.
- It's more about what you learn and how you use it vs what grade you get in the class. An A+ in communication is not going to matter if your resume is filled with typos and you don't make eye contact during the interview.
Other than that I think I had good advice coming in from talking to second year students in terms of getting involved in clubs without over-committing myself and taking time to do activities I enjoy.
What comes next?
In looking forward to next year I am excited about my roles as Co-President of the Finance and Sales and Trading Club and helping first year students land internships. I am also looking forward to TAing the Proseminar in Finance and watching the Track in Finance become even stronger.
I am also looking forward to hopefully getting some more traveling in. Not sure where, but hopefully I'll add a few more stamps to my passport.
Outside of that, who knows? At Sloan opportunities tend to come up when you least expect it so I'll just try and be ready.
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