We'll keep you updated with the latest updates on investment banking, recruiting, the Sophomore Spark, and other tips to keep you on track during undergrad.
We'll keep you updated with the latest updates on investment banking, recruiting, the Sophomore Spark, and other tips to keep you on track during undergrad.
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And consider signing up for a free coffee chat with an investment banker on our team!
Eliminate the headaches of landing elite careers, without any financial headaches
Our network of investment bankers will be available this coming September for free Coffee Chats with all undergraduate students about all things investment banking, recruiting, and the Sophomore Spark! Applications for the Sophomore Spark will open later this Fall Semester. Sign up below so we can keep you in the loop!
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Our 10 Weeks accelerator program for sophomores GUARANTEES placement into 6-figure jobs on Wall Street, or you don’t pay a dime. Pay less than 10% of your first-year salary AFTER you start earning income.
$55K
1st year earnings for private school graduates
$150K
1st year earnings in entry level roles on Wall Street
4%
Acceptance rate for entry level roles on Wall Street
90%
Success rate for graduates of the Sophomore Spark
There is no upfront cost for you beyond the $100 commitment fee to participate in the program. We are investing in your future and you’ll pay it forward as a flat 10% of your base salary only when you land a high-paying job on Wall Street.
$0
If you don’t land an internship for a 6-figure job, you pay nothing for the program
$0
You pay $0 in tuition until 30 days after you start earning income
0%
Unlike standard loans, you will never be charged interest
10%
You’ll pay a flat 10% of your first year’s base salary in tuition
0%
Pay 0% of your bonuses from your first year, which represent over 35% of first year pay on average
$100
One-time commitment fee that will be refunded after successful completion of the program (waivers are available)
Our program is built upon four tenets to guarantee our students success
Our program brings together ambitious sophomores in a 10 Weeks organized program that makes recruiting for investment banking a fun and interactive experience. We know sophomore year recruiting better than anyone — and we deliver exceptional results for our students.
You’ll know exactly what to work on each week & pace yourself through the recruiting process, from landing stepping-stone internships, to networking with bankers, or studying for interviews.
Our group training curriculum accelerates student mastery of the recruiting process with an engaging curriculum, while helping you build meaningful connections.
One-size doesn’t fit all when it comes to Investment Banking recruiting, and we supplement our group programming with unlimited 1:1 mentorship. Our mentors have gone through the recruiting process themselves, learned the best strategies for getting the most offers and are here to pass down their knowledge to you. They’ll be available whenever you need them. From 1:1 advice calls, to mock interviews, to feedback on application materials, when we say unlimited 1:1 mentorship, we mean it!
Students will be assigned weekly self-study objectives, recruiting assignments, & learning assessments that are managed primarily through the TBO Training Platform.
In addition, students are invited to spend more time with the TBO Training Platform, LinkedIn Premium, and other premium resources we will provide to them at the beginning of the program to supplement their mandatory training.
We leverage our existing industry connections to help our students land offers on Wall Street and advance in their careers. You’ll learn alongside an ambitious class of sophomores from schools around the country, as well as a diverse community of mentors and alumni.
And the program doesn’t end after the Sophomore Spark — once you’re a part of TBO, you’re a member for life. You’ll get personalized career support through your junior year internship & even after you hit the desk as an analyst. Plus, tap into the network from your class & previous TBO classes at critical points throughout your career.
Investment banks are notable for their selectivity and high salaries and we are here to make sure you will be the one bringing this in next year!
We are committed to opening doors and making Wall Street more accessible. Any student can apply to our program, regardless of your background or prior experience.
We give a preference to applicants from underprivileged backgrounds, & underrepresented groups on Wall Street:
Other than the $100 commitment fee for accepted students, we do not take any payment until AFTER you’re earning a high 6-figure income. Students receiving financial aid from their universities are eligible to waive the $100 commitment fee.
The Sophomore Spark lasts 10 weeks, following an organized weekly curriculum with group projects, workshops, networking events, interview training, and other activities. Students will also have the option to participate in 5 additional weeks (15 weeks in total). These extra weeks will follow a curriculum that is less rigorous and are mainly for students who have not yet received offers by the end of week 10. Our curriculum is concurrent with the application cycles of over 100 top firms on Wall Street, ensuring that you are able to network with every firm, submit your best application materials, & be prepared for every firm’s interview process.
Several firms on Wall Street will also recruit for Summer Analyst positions into the summer after Sophomore Year and even Junior Year, and we will continue to work with students into these periods if they’re targeting firms with late application cycles. We continue to host workshops & work with students 1:1 until they’ve received an offer – but after the 10-week Sophomore Spark, students will be well-prepared for the entire recruiting cycle, from networking through interviews, and over 90% of our students receive offers by the end of the core training period.
The Sophomore Spark doesn’t just end after we help students land an internship offer. We bring students back together for virtual workshops heading into internships & during internships themselves to make sure our students cross the finish line & secure full time offers. For students interning in New York City, we bring students together for weekend events to reflect on internship performance, make new friends, & ensure they have the support structure they need to close strong.
Our full-time programming is geared towards enriching the first-year-analyst experience through engaging events in the city & providing mentorship through verticalization, office politics, & preparing for transitions to new career paths with the help of our exclusive alumni network.
Students are expected to commit 8 to 10 hours per week to Sophomore Spark & recruiting activities throughout Spring Semester in order to secure a top offer on Wall Street. Our mentorship team will take a lot of the work off your plate – from organizing recruiting schedules, finalizing application materials, & formulating answers for common behavioral prompts – but students must still create time for activities like attending workshops, completing mock interviews with our team & taking networking calls.
Recruiting for top careers like investment banking is an intensive process, but through the Sophomore Spark, you can eliminate a lot of the guesswork associated with the recruiting process & know exactly what activities to complete each day. Your lead mentor will help you plan around your own busy schedule, from midterms to school projects, to keep you on track with your Sophomore Spark classmates.
Yes! You’ll regularly meet with your classmates through virtual large-group workshops & more intimate small-group workshops & group projects throughout the semester. Plus, events like our annual TBO Summit will bring students together for exciting events in New York City. In finance, building a strong network is crucial, and one of the best parts of the Sophomore Spark is getting to build friendships with other bright students from around the country long before you kick off your elite careers in NYC.
We offer unlimited 1:1 mentorship for our students throughout the Sophomore Spark & beyond, whether you’re still recruiting for roles on Wall Street in Junior Year or seeking advice in the middle of your internship the following summer. Our success is your success, because we won’t earn any income unless we help you land an elite job on Wall Street. We have a weekly review process for both mentors & students to ensure that both sides are making the most of their time together, and students are paired with the best mentors for their individual needs.
Our mentorship team consists of some of the brightest & most accomplished professionals on Wall Street, and you’ll be working directly with real bankers & buy-side professionals throughout the semester. You will be assigned a lead mentor based on our matching process after you submit preferences upon being accepted to the program, but you’ll also meet with different mentors throughout the Sophomore Spark depending on your specific recruiting needs. Our mentors have experience in different groups, banks, and functions, & they can provide specialized insights that we encourage our students to take advantage of. All of our lead mentors are all full-time members of the TBO Mentorship Team, and available to help you 7 days/week. Other mentors are available on a part-time basis, but your lead mentor will help you schedule calls with them throughout the semester.
Over 90% of the students that have completed the Sophomore Spark bootcamp have successfully landed full-time roles in elite finance careers like Investment Banking, and Private Equity.
For our Class of 2023, we have a hard cap of 100 total seats for the Sophomore Spark. This has increased each of the past 3 years, but we maintain a small-class environment to ensure our students can build meaningful relationships & get the maximum amount of exposure to our alumni network & mentorship team.
Yes. Our focus is exclusively on the Sophomore Year recruiting cycle to generate exceptional results for our students.
Yes. The U.S. recruiting process has very specific intricacies that we focus on in our curriculum.
Yes. Sophomores going through Wall Street recruiting cycles are not expected to have taken advanced business courses. We train our students end-to-end for the recruiting process & help you frame your story in a compelling way, even if you’re not a business major.
Our program is designed to give underprivileged students (minorities, first generation college students, and students from non-target schools) an extraordinary opportunity to land jobs on Wall Street. All students are welcome to apply, but students from underprivileged backgrounds are given preference in our selection process.
We’re extremely confident that if a student completes all the activities & assignments in the Sophomore Spark, they will land an elite career on Wall Street. For this reason, the primary attributes we look for in students is availability to participate in the program, effective time management, & a strong ambition to land your dream job. Our top students are the ones that actively set up extra calls with our mentors, ask plenty of questions during workshops, and take advantage of the resources in the training platform. We want to work with hungry & motivated people – both through recruiting & long into your career on Wall Street.
There are two components to the price of the program: an up-front deposit and an income share component.
The up-front deposit is $100 for students upon acceptance to the program. This deposit is required to ensure that the students who apply are committed to the completion of the program & helps us filter for serious applicants. This deposit is returned to students upon completion of the Sophomore Spark, and can be waived entirely for students demonstrating financial need.
The income share component charges 10% of our students’ first year base salaries out of college. It is contingent upon successfully helping our students land careers in finance that pay over $100,000 in their first year out of college. In the past 2 years, our successful students have landed jobs with average total earnings of $156,000 in their first year out of college.
We only charge 10% of our students’ first-year base salaries. All signing bonuses, year-end-bonuses, and other earnings are not included in the income share calculation.
For example, if total first year earnings are $150,000, but the base salary component was $85,000, we would only collect 10% of the $85,000 base salary as part of our income share agreement. Wall Street is characterized by a large bonus culture, with bonuses often representing over 100% of total base earnings. In this example, the total cost of the Sophomore Spark & ensuring placement into an elite career on Wall Street would be less than 6% of total first year earnings.
Students are not required to begin making payments for the Sophomore Spark until they begin their internships. Our standard contract expects students to make half of the total payments during their internship and the remaining portion within the first 6 months of beginning full-time roles on Wall Street, to make payments as low & as manageable as possible.
We offer steep discounts for students who are willing to pay earlier than the standard contract, such as with additional earnings from their internships or signing bonuses before their senior year in college. We also offer steep discounts for students who accelerate their payment schedule to less than 6 months. Lastly, we offer our steepest discount for students willing to pay for the program up front, backed by a money-back guarantee if we don’t help them land an elite career on Wall Street.
Yes! We offer a large discount for students willing to pay for the program up front, backed by a money-back guarantee if we are unable to help them secure an elite career on Wall Street.
There is no requirement to pay up front if a student is unable to afford the program until they begin working full time. Our payment policies are designed to be as flexible as possible & enable underprivileged students to never have to worry about payments until they are in the top 1% of earners for their age group.
We can’t guarantee that you will receive an offer, but over 90% of our students do receive offers after completing the Sophomore Spark. Through the program, we will invest thousands of dollars into your success through our cost of mentorship & the premium applications we will purchase on your behalf to enable your success – but you will never be charged a dime until you are earning income from a top-paying role on Wall Street. The vast majority of our students will receive offers, but if you don’t, you will still be a lifetime member of our TBO Community, have access to our mentorship team, & be far better positioned for other recruiting processes – all for free.
There is no catch. It is standard to offer money-back guarantees for online courses, but we go further by not requiring any payment outside of that $100 deposit until we prove genuine results. We are extremely confident in our program, and we have an incredible alumni & mentorship network that will go out of their way to help our students land referrals and succeed in the recruiting process. That level of commitment & our collaborative culture wouldn’t be possible without being fair to our students & genuinely combining our success with yours.
Demand for careers on Wall Street has skyrocketed in recent years, with the massive increase in salaries for 1st year analysts, and the continuing rise in the cost of college tuition. Students are applying in large numbers for top careers that enable them to generate an ROI on their college investment, making top paying careers extremely competitive to break into.
Our program is consistently able to place 90% of our participating students into top careers on Wall Street. The combination of our elite training curriculum, large alumni & mentor network, and direct partnerships with firms on Wall Street allows us to streamline access to elite careers for underprivileged students around the country. Our ability to produce such incredible results in the midst of such a competitive recruiting process makes us a great choice for most students targeting elite careers on Wall Street.
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