If you are a sophomore interested in studying finance in college, it’s typically because you want to make a lot of money, fast and for a long time. You want financial security, and we aren’t judging it at all. Actually, it makes a lot of sense. If you are going to invest in a college education, you want it to pay off. But how do you make sure that you get the most valuable degree possible to kickstart your career in finance?
The best schools for finance are many of the best colleges in the country. One big reason for this is recruiting. Top investment and financial firms have a long habit of recruiting new employees from top schools. At Columbia, for example, there are rounds of interviews conducted on campus only for Columbia College undergraduates. So, there are the Ivy League schools of course, but also large undergraduate universities with strong finance and business programs and committed alumni networks. Like the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, NYU, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Getting into any of these schools isn’t easy. Acceptance rates have been plummeting, and schools are becoming increasingly competitive.
To achieve admission to a top-tier university for finance, it pays off to plan ahead. It’s awesome, then, that you are a sophomore. You are far enough into high school to know what you like, and you have an idea of what you want. But you also have enough time left to make bold moves that will lead to impressive results. A big part of that bold move-making is what you choose to do for activities outside of your regular coursework.
In this post, we’ll break down what you need to be doing as a sophomore outside of school to increase your chances of getting into a dream college as a finance-focused student.
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When you are interested in studying finance at a top school, differentiation from the pack of applicants is crucial. Most applicants have perfect, or nearly perfect, grades. Most have strong SAT or ACT scores. So, it is impossible to stand out through your transcript or test scores. Instead, you need to stand out through what you do. Below, we’ve broken what you need to be doing into four buckets.
FINANCE/BUSINESS CLUB
First, you need to be an active member of a club at school that has a finance or business focus. We love clubs that do case study analysis of business or financial scenarios, that invite professionals in to speak to members, and that participate in business and investment simulations.
If this club doesn’t exist at your school, you either need to support an existing club shift towards what you need, by introducing simulations and the like, or you need to start a club. Starting a club isn’t a big deal, but it does take time. Recruit some friends, find a faculty advisor, and talk to your school administration to formalize your new organization. The great news is that as the club founder, you are also the head of it!
If your school has a finance or business club, you need to be an active member who regularly attends meetings and volunteer to support in the execution of opportunities and events. You will be on a leadership track, so aim to have smaller leadership roles before senior year, like heading a committee, leading an event, or recruiting new members.
INTERNSHIP
We get it that you are only a sophomore, but you’re also a sophomore! You are driven, focused, and smart. You have a lot to learn, but you also have a lot to offer. Don’t simply look online for companies advertising internships, though, as most don’t make that information public. Instead, interns are most often found through close personal connection. They are frequently the children of friends, employees own kids, or enterprising students who proactively reach out. You need to fall into one of those three categories.
Look for a local investment or asset management firm, ideally that you are connected to in some way, and pull together a resume and cover letter oriented towards their firm. If you need help with your resume, let us know. And you could also intern with a bookkeeper or accountant, especially if you have a connection to them through family or friends.
The ideal internship for a sophomore interested in finance is at least four weeks long, and is at least 15 hours each week in person. It is crucial that any internship be in person, as that puts you in proximity to the type of professionals and thinkers that you are aspiring towards.
RESEARCH
It may sound a little strange, but we also want you to get your head back in your books. Most students do clubs, and many do internships, but very few conduct independent research. That’s exactly why we want you to be doing it.
We work with our students to pursue independent research, and for finance-minded students that often means focusing on economics. If you are interested in finance, you need to have a strong understanding of both macro and micro-economics. Doing research shows that you are already pursuing this. Colleges don’t, of course, expect a graduate-level research paper, but putting together something worthy of presentation or publication is valuable.
There are, of course, programs that can help you with this, like Lumiere, and publications that accept work by high school students.
SUMMER BUSINESS OR FINANCE PROGRAM
Finally, you should seriously consider a business or finance intensive program during the summer. These programs are available through many top-tier colleges, like Wharton at Penn, and international programs through iconic schools like the American Business School of Paris, the Paris School of Business, and the London Business School. Remember that they aren’t one-size-fits-all, and all summer programs have specific requirements, expectations, and deliverables. Expect to have to plan significantly in advance, as they also often have intensive applications with strict deadlines.
A great program isn’t measured by the cost (most expensive doesn’t necessarily guarantee a better fit), but a sign that a program is strong is how stringent they are in the application process. If you can simply sign up, it’s almost certainly not going to do much for your applications.
The preparation process for applying to college shouldn’t be thought of as a few months before you press submit. Instead, it is years of accumulating the quantitative and qualitative strengths that make you stand out as an applicant. The best time to start is the moment after you finish reading this, if you haven’t already begun.
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