(Using a throwaway, because I don't like putting this kind of stuff on my main account.) I'm an undergrad CS senior signed for a quant/programming job at a Wal

(Using a throwaway, because I don't like putting this kind of stuff on my main account.) I'm an undergrad CS senior signed for a quant/programming job at a Wall Street trading firm after I graduate in a few months. I have several friends from previous internships going to work at the same company after they graduate. None of them (nor me) matches the description you gave. Many of us are involved in research at the undergrad level, and no one is coasting by on the bare minimum. Some of these people are also not the sort of people who make any effort to network. The common thread seems to me to be a very strong theoretical and professional background. Of course, this is with a sample size of 5 undergrads and 1 company, so what I'm talking about could be highly atypical. Also, if you like doing the bare minimum, you're going to have a bad time in Wall Street, because they often have a bad culture of working 50-100 hour weeks (depending on the company). That's the cost of the more attractive compensation.