While we mentioned this in yesterday’s RagTime, we had to say a little bit more on the Princeton students who really want you to know about how very hard they’re working for jobs in banking — and their altruistic reasons for doing so. Says future finance intern Sean Pi, whom the Princetonian writer introduces taking a $300 cab ride from JFK to Princeton:

It’s extremely stressful… It does become a very precarious balancing act, trying to go to all your classes and making sure you get to all the interviews. And being prepared for the interviews, too — that’s a big thing.

Yes, carrying a multitude of responsibilities is stressful! We appreciate Pi’s difficulties — and his race into his French classroom from the airport cab [seriously, $300, though? He could have used, like, NJ Transit or whatever...] Especially given that he is trying to convey a totally disparate reality than the one that exists in his job interviews:

‘[Money] is a very, very big reason’ for entering investment banking and consulting, Pi said. ‘But in interviews, [students] will try very hard to convey that they’re not in it for the money.’

Young Timothy Koby ’11, applying for a Goldman internship, disagreed, and made us want to chew on a wall:

I mean, sure, if some people do it [for money], fine — but that’s definitely not why I’m doing it.

Why he is doing “it” is never explained! The impetus is, we guess, money, but also the same love of prestige that makes prospective financial interns leap at the chance to tell their stories to a listening reporter, to show off. This isn’t a new problem. The Ivies may have future statesmen and artists, but they also have future versions of your parents’ annoying friends who boast about their new boat. Be warned!!