In a disturbing move, consulting firms and investment banks have begun recruiting for Summer 2020. Their targets? High school seniors headed to Wharton in the fall. A spokesman from An Important Fancy Bank said in an email that they were “just trying to ensure that the college experience is a miserable hunt for internships for as long as possible.”
The high schoolers have options to attend networking events, coffee chats and LinkedIn workshops throughout the spring and summer before they arrive at Penn. For those who are still not allowed to drink caffeine, there are options to meet recruiters for pizza chats.
Street spoke with high school seniors who were enthusiastic about the initiative. Jake Greenstein (W ‘21) from Short Hills, NJ, told us, “I’m just grateful for another opportunity to fulfill my stereotypes.”
There were even some participating seniors who had not officially been accepted to Wharton.
“I’m just hedging my bets, if you will,” said one senior who had been deferred, but whose dad had been taking many “important phone calls” recently.
We asked current Whartonites if they were surprised at this preemptive recruiting. One M&T junior said between sips of Red Bull, “You could say I’ve been recruiting for McKinsey since I was born. So no, it doesn’t seem premature. If anything, they’re already too late.”
