MBA --> Associate ....what are the target programs

Did a search and couldnt find much on this - we know what the "target" schools are for analyst recruiting, but what are these "target" schools for recruiting at the associate level?

other than the obvious Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, and Columbia, are there any other schools that are very Finance Recruiting heavy??? For instance, a top school like Northwestern is more known for Consulting, and only ~10% of their students get jobs at Ibanks (which I would imagine means that there are a limited number of firms that recruit there)

If somebody has tangible information or can rank the top 10-15 programs for ibanking that would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

14 Comments
 

I'm interested in hearing what people have to say on this one as well.

NYU and U. Chicago are pretty obvious ones, but aside from that and H/S/W, columbia, I'm not sure what other schools would be on this target list. What about Berkeley, MIT and Darden? Tuck and Cornell?

 

i have provided 2010's % taking careers in finance, which includes ibanking, PE, VC, etc. (in no particular order):

Booth (42.5%) NYU (50%) Wharton (42.5%) Harvard (?) Columbia (49%) Tuck (25%) Northwestern (15%) Stanford (31%) MIT (19.6%) Cornell (39.4%) Carnegie Mellon (25.45%) Duke (22%) Michigan (8.5%) UCLA (7.8%) Berkeley (12%) Virginia (25%)

 

I wouldnt worry about "finance heavy" recruiting...whatever that means. While Wharton is obviously great you are also competing with damn near half the class for banking jobs. Obviously go to the best school that suits you, but I wouldnt make this a priority. There are many schools that are not what one would consider "finance" schools, but that all of the banks recruit from (UVA, Ross, McCombs, others in that range).

 
Best Response
CartwrightI wouldnt worry about "finance heavy" recruiting...whatever that means. While Wharton is obviously great you are also competing with damn near half the class for banking jobs. Obviously go to the best school that suits you, but I wouldnt make this a priority. There are many schools that are not what one would consider "finance" schools, but that all of the banks recruit from (UVA, Ross, McCombs, others in that range).

i mean, i would prefer to be at a school that is heavy in banking...merely because of alumni resources. yes you have competition however many of your peers could help you in the future if you didnt land that ibank job you wanted. furthermore, i suspect that maybe banks have target goals when recruiting, meaning they look for a certain # of candidates at particular schools....if that was the case, then you would want to go to a heavy finance school. i want to go to booth, columbia, nyu, tuck or wharton....ughhhh however that wont be for a while

 

Also remember to consdider class size. For example Tuck is much smaller than NYU so inherently less competition by sheet volume

 

of course, i didnt specify that...i guess i could have included that, but that is the make up of each of their respective class sizes

 

Explicabo ut beatae fuga quas dolorum. Repellat nihil voluptatem et in quas molestias. Commodi ut ducimus sunt eius. Aut impedit harum qui sit rerum expedita. Dolores rem et culpa atque est. Quo quod velit ut voluptatibus ea qui qui.

Cumque consequatur non delectus. Inventore eligendi et et occaecati officia. Tempore qui rerum itaque fuga. Excepturi praesentium enim et consequuntur corrupti et. Ab sed aperiam neque accusamus sunt aliquam a. Amet voluptatem magni asperiores unde id.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”