Imposter Syndrome
I got a 2024 SA role last year and worked extremely hard for it. I have a mid 3's GPA but am a student athlete at a reputable semi-target with a couple of finance/IB internship's - I credit this to my placement. Now that I'm starting upper division FIN classes, it's very very difficult for me and I'm struggling in comparison to my peers. I'm getting the feeling that I really didn't deserve a high finance role, as a lot of my friends doing IB have 4.0's and do not really struggle with their classes. I'm am also very torn about the importance of my GPA, and how much I can relax and try to enjoy my final years of college now that I already accepted a summer internship (I understand that doesn't mean FT). Not sure if anyone else struggled with this "Imposter Syndrome" feeling - but any thoughts or advice would be helpful.
You're certainly not the first person to have Imposter Syndrome as college wraps up and you head into your upper-level finance courses. Even after taking the courses, not everyone is a Master of Finance and perfectly polished. You got the SA role because the interviewing team went through all of the candidates and thought you had potential and competency to learn and grow. No one ever expects analysts to be a finished product and a lot of banks will teach on the job about finance in general and more specifically about your role. Throughout my career I have interacted with analysts that were Ivy League and those that went to no-name public colleges and the common theme is that most of them don't really know what they're doing anyways. Spend the next few years (FT analyst years included) and learn as much as you can while minimizing making the same mistakes more than once. You're young and have already accomplished a lot if you've gotten an IB SA position, you don't need to have everything figured out right now. Good luck as a SA and just try your best, that's all you can really do.
Thank you - very helpful and reassuring !
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