That’s great advice, thank you.

I completely understand the purpose of learning valuation, accounting, financial modeling for the sake of potential interviews (and I plan to do so), but is there any way to showcase that I actually took the time to work through material (i.e. on my resume or in information interview calls, when the time comes)? Or does that not really matter?

Also, during the stretch between now and January, I am trying to land an off-cycle internship in IB, PE, or VC roles. I have some potential leads for a private credit role. Do you think that would be valuable? Any other times of roles that you think would be beneficial for now? I know it’s not the time to be picky with options. Thanks again.

You can try networking internally to work on deals, but I would be careful about pushing it too much before you start working full-time. You don’t want to come across like you’re actually more interested in other areas before your full-time job has even started. But if you can gain some deal experience, yes, you will be more competitive for IB roles in the future.

Other than that, it always helps to learn accounting, valuation, financial modeling, etc., but you may want to hold off a bit and do that when you’re about to start recruiting for IB roles so you don’t forget the material and have to re-learn it.

I hope this message finds you well. I recently graduated from a T20 undergraduate program double majoring in business and a scientific field with a 3.7 GPA (think biology, chemistry). I start working for a B4 consulting firm in January in their healthcare advisory practice. Before I start work in January, I am trying to see if I can get on the healthcare deals team by networking internally to gain relevant deals experience. Do you think this is feasible / a good idea? Also, since I have this interim time between now and January, do you have any advice on what I can be doing now to improve my chances to break into banking. How do you think my odds current may be? Appreciate the advice. Thank you!

I don’t know about Europe, but in the U.S., financial aid for international students basically doesn’t exist at the federal level. There might be smaller programs and some sources of funds, but universities mostly want wealthy families who can afford to spend a ridiculous amount on education. Education in the U.S. is a “prestige industry” intended to extract as much money as possible from wealthy families (actual quality of education is not that relevant).

Your chances of getting into IB from a school ranked below #50 are low. It’s possible, and some people do it each year, but the probability is much lower, and you’ll have to start earlier and get lucky.

Hello again Brian.
thank you for your help with prevouse questions,
I wanna know if that is also true for partial funds? I mean getting full fund is -as you said- unlikely. but is there any chance of getting partial fund from a fine (Not necessarily top) school both in US and Europe in case of having good scores and …?
and how is my chances to get to IB if I study at a unranked lower than 50?

1) Full scholarships are unlikely at most of these schools. In the U.S., international students are not even eligible for financial aid in most cases (but I don’t think the U.S. is an option if you’re from Iran…). Your best bet is probably to find a somewhat cheaper university in Europe or Asia that still has a good reputation. But all of these places are significantly more expensive than universities in Iran.

2) It depends on the region and country you go to. Plenty of immigrants get IB jobs in places like the U.K., but I don’t know if they have any restrictions on Iranian nationals currently. In general, Europe is a better option if you’re in this situation, but you usually have to complete a Master’s degree at a top school there to have a good chance.

I think you have a chance at getting into IB if you do enough networking and interview prep. But it depends heavily on which specific MBA program you’re in – for someone with your profile, the top ~3 programs vs. the ones below them will make a difference.

Your low GPA will hurt a bit, but the main issue is that you’ll be up against people who worked at better-known firms. You can overcome that, but some bankers might object on that basis (e.g., “Why didn’t you work at McKinsey?” – even though they won’t ask that directly).

No, do the steppingstone role first. Australia is an extremely difficult market for career changers getting into IB. So you may want to consider going overseas or doing a top MBA program overseas once you have 3-5 years of full-time work experience.