Hi guys,
After graduating with a MSF from a non-target school, I am looking into getting an MBA from a top school. In your opinion, what are the top MBA programs targeted by IB companies?
Here is a list with schools I came up with:
Wharton
Harvard
Chicago
Columbia
Kellogg
Michigan
Boston
Are there other non-ivy league schools that are targeted by the IB industry, which are worth looking into?
I would really appreciate your inputs.
Thanks!
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Tuck School of Business is really good. It's in top 6 consistently. WSJ ranked it first in 07 or 08. Another good school is Indiana Uni.
Easy way to find this out.
Every year banks make visits to target schools. These banks schedule visits and each school's Career Center posts in on their calendar or in their Career Fair page online.
IB's usually target Ivy's and those on Newsweek's and WSJ's top ranking list. Really not much else. Check out the schools that these publications recommend, and then check their Career Center websites to see if they've got visits scheduled from major banks on their calendars or Career Fairs.
H/S/W are obviously tops for all fields and most kids form these schools avoid IB post-MBA ( you could argue specialty schools, ie Kellog for marketing but HSW are best), then Chicago, Columbia, MIT, Tuck, NYU etc.
Some of the lower ranked schools that place ok in IB - Duke, UNC, etc.
Try telling that to the approx. 20% of W grads who go into IB after graduating .. this whole HSW tend to avoid IB is myth
Gtown is lower ranked, but still represents on the street.
Best MBA programs for IBD/PE (Originally Posted: 01/17/2010)
Guys,
I have a few questions:
In your opinion, what would you say are the top 5 MBA programs that are feeder schools to investment banks and private equity firms?
How many schools should I apply to? I think it would be a bit "rude" to request 10 different recommendation letters from my references. Plus, it would be daunting to write essays for 10 or even 7 different schools. What's the ideal number of schools that I should apply to?
Lastly, I would like to hear what you think of these schools for IBD and PE?:
-NYU: Stern School of Business -Columbia Business School -UPenn: The Wharton School -Chicago: Booth School of Business -UVA: Darden School of Business -Duke: Fuqua School of Business -Yale School of Management
I would appreciate it if you could shed some light on MBA programs. Many thanks!
IMO - I'm not bringing anything to the table here, beyond perceived respect at the firm I work, so take it with a grain of salt.
Not too many people from Booth at my bank. Can't think of any, in fact.
All of these schools that you have listed have a good to great placement in IBD, but only Wharton will give you a real edge in PE recruiting, provided you have pre-MBA PE exp.
^I dont think Sloan is on the OP list
Of the choices you have listed, I think overall perceived quality for IB and PE is as follows:
Tier 1: Wharton & Columbia Tier 2: Chicago & Stern Tier 3: Darden, Fuqua, Yale
If I were to go back to your list and add/remove some of the schools on your list, I would definitely include HBS over Chicago and Ross over Duke or Yale.
I wouldn't put Ross over Yale, I'd say it's about even with Duke for IBD. Michigan MBA is more of a consulting hot spot.
I would put Duke last in that category. I hear they often share positions with undergrads for IBD and i have a couple of buds at Duke.
-
do you guys think duke mba or unc mba for investment banking? it seems from their respective employment reports that UNC places a higher % of students in IB than does Duke.
You can get in bulge bracket IB from any top 20 school. Go to the best school you get into, in the region you want to be in. UCLA >>>>Wharton, if you want to work in LA. Same for McCombs in Texas, etc.
IB recruiting at tier-1 vs. tier-2 MBA programs (Originally Posted: 02/18/2010)
Two quick questions about MBA programs from an IB perspective:
is Ross a target program for banks?
How appreciable is the difference between, for instance, Wharton and Fuqua when it comes to IB recruiting? Do all target programs get roughly the same number of IB spots, in proportion to class size? Or do tier 1 schools get the lion's share (say, 10 spots/year) while tier 2 or 3 programs get 3-4 spots each?
Sry, have to disagree. My cousin summered at a bulge bracket in LA with only a handful of interns and none of them were from California schools. 2 came from Wharton.
Yeah and one time the Titanic sank. Perhaps my schools were bad choices, but the broader point about geography over prestige (when the difference is fairly marginal) holds. Sure, from Wharton you can end up in California, or wherever you want to be, but it's going to take more leg work than getting to NYC. The top 5-7 schools obviously have a lot of mobility but if you take down to the next tier (uva, ross, mccombs, ysom, ucla, fuqua, whomever you want), your decision making should be driven largely by geography. So let's replace UCLA and wharton and say, McCombs >>>>>Darden, or UCLA > ysom if you want to be in Texas, Cali.
Ross is not an MBA school. Perhaps you'd like to rephrase your question ? I think you meant to compare the undergraduate programs at these places? I'm a high school senior so I'll leave the answering to people with actual experience in the industry.
This may be a useful resource for you though:
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/wharton/surveys/Wharton2008Rep…
Sorry, I could not find similar lists for the other two schools you mentioned.
are you retarded?
He is in high-school man, give him a break.
Ross is the business school at the University of Michigan. They have an MBA program.
http://www.bus.umich.edu/Admissions/Mba/WhyRoss.htm
I am a graduating senoir... but here's my take: While i-banks give out more offers at Wharton, you will have to go against a more competitive applicant pool than you would at a lower tier MBA program. So, if you can stand out among your peers somewhere else, you may be better off.
While this seems logical enough, the Wharton MBA surpasses the 2nd tier MBA due to its robust alumni network in the industry. Not every job offer in history came from OCR.
Opps, my mistake. For the longest time I was under the impression that both Ross and Kellog where at the University of Michigan and that Ross was just the undergraduate program. I thought it was pretty funny that they had different names, but I just let it slide. I suppose that reveals how little I know about the industry. Hey, we all make mistakes, I never said I was an expert. I suppose I really should have Googled that before I typed though, i've learned my lesson.
Deleted by mod.
Thanks.
You're the dipshit for even replying. Surely you have something better to do with your life than stroking your gigantic ego by tearing down a high school kid.
But that's okay, I know why you do it, it's a purely psychological thing: psychologists say that when one feels deficient in one aspect of self, in your case your abnormally small cock, there is a natural tendency to overcompensate by concentrating on ones larger assets, in your case your ego. The metaphorical stroking of your ego is an attempt on your mind's part to make up for your physical deficiencies - mainly your inability to get your tiny pecker up. It must be hard, seeking Alpha, when you can't even get your penis to rise let alone the value of your portfolio. I've got no such issues, if I'm Doctor Evil you're Mini Me.
Get a life. Attacking people anonymously doesn't make you a bigger man. You're personality is as fucked up as AIG's balance sheet. You're obviously not going to get anywhere in life with that type of attitude. Shmuck. Now get your ass back to the back office.
Ross MBA here.
Ross definitely doesn't get the volume or quality of hires as some higher-ranked schools, but this is (IMO) largely because Ross doesn't have a lot of former IB analysts. Good candidates from Ross do fine.
This year, Ross had over 30 summer associate offers. Virtually everybody who was serious about banking got an offer. Five to JPM (none of them former analysts), four to BarCap, and a similar number to Citi, UBS, Wells, Deutsche and some others.
On the other hand, a number of top banks don't recruit on campus, e.g. Goldman, Morgan Stanley, top boutiques, etc. Most of these recruit BBA's, but not MBA's.
Cool; appreciate the advice, guys.
Ross is more of a MBB consulting school
I'm a first-year at Kellogg heading into banking at a BB for the summer. I can't speak to Ross, but know a lot about recruiting at a tier-1 non-finance school. One thing I can say about our school is that while we don't have the numbers interested in banking as say Booth or Wharton, we place very well into BB and elite boutiques. Out of 25 or so interested in banking, we placed 20 at BB, 3 at elite boutiques, and 2 in middle-market. We have 8 going to GS, JPM, or MS, with each giving 5 offers (several people got more than one). So, what I think is most important is going to the best school you can because I do believe it makes a difference in the eyes of bankers when they compare school vs. school. If it's down to you and a guy from a tier-2 school, all else being equal, you probably have a slight advantage going to a tier-1 school. As Mark Andreeson says, it's best to be a little fish in the best pond than a big fish in a little pond.
MBA Programs for career switchers into IB/PE (Originally Posted: 11/06/2014)
Hey all,
I have been admitted into Duke and Cornell's respective MBA programs for next fall and wanted to pick the brains of people on the street. I am looking to transition careers from corporate finance in the retail industry (A commonly known mall based retailer based in Columbus OH) into finance. My end goal is to get into Private Equity with a firm that works with consumer products companies (TSG, Golden Gate, Apollo etc.). I recognize that this particular transition can be quite difficult given my background so I am open to an IBD position for an internship and post MBA career if need be in order to reach my long term goal of getting into PE.
I am curious to hear your thoughts on Duke vs Cornell for an MBA program as it pertains to my career goals. I am also awaiting an admissions decision from Tuck, Yale, and NYU so I am curious to hear thoughts about how those programs compare should I get accepted into them.
From the outside, Duke and Cornell seem very even, but I am curious to get more of an insider opinion.
Thank you so much for your thoughts.
How do U.S. IBs look at MBAs from European Schools like London Business School, Insead or IE Business School? Is there a chance to get recruited from big banks in the U.S.?
The only 2 schools US IB's give a damn about in Europe are INSEAD and London Business School. Others may argue that IMD, Warwick etc...are also up there, but that's not true. Over the summer I have spent in an IB in London, I have been privy to the b-school recruiting practices...and in Europe its INSEAD and LBS.
But why oh why would you want to do IB post-MBA? Most kids go into PE/HF or a corporate strategy position..
How did you get an admit from Cornell? I understand you probably applied ED for Duke (of which is binding I thought) but I thought Cornell releases their decision for Round 1 in December?
sorry, just reread my post, Admitted to Fuqua, invited to interview at Cornell.
Did you not apply to CBS? they have great luxury retail program and IB/PE placement
Cornell's Ibankers have a very good success rate when it comes to landing jobs at lower BB's and midsize firms. Not too many people make it to GS/JPM, but essentially everyone who goes out for IB and sticks through the process lands a gig. It's definitely a grind though.
Tuck > Stern > Yale > Fuqua > Johnson
Ok, so let me clarify that. What you are basically saying is that you need a undergrad from an ivy league school to get into IB and a graduate degree from an Ivy to get into PE/HF?
Please correct me, if I misunderstand.
NYC IB Recruiting at Regional MBA Programs (Originally Posted: 11/04/2015)
I understand there is a decent investment banking pipeline from top-20 regional MBA's (Texas, UCLA, UNC), but how much of this is to NYC and how much of this is to the respective regional outposts (Houston, California, Atlanta/DC)?
bump
Don't have any info directly related to your question, but once you get your foot in the door somewhere, lateraling from Houston/LA/SF to NYC shouldn't be too hard, either within your firm or for a new firm.
It seems on message boards most people prefer Booth but from the Bankers I talk to they all tell me Columbia is better in the age-old debate of Booth vs CBS.
Rank USA B-school for BB NYC IBD placement opps (Originally Posted: 12/15/2007)
which USA B-schools "GUARANTEE" students the "target" status & opportunities to interview w/ all the NYC BB & elite boutiques for investment banking associate spots? (I went to "tier 2" non-target undergrad a notch below the ivy/ivy-ish target schools - if/when I go to B-school I want to ensure I don't have to deal w/ accessibility issues to interviews & recruiters again)
Forget about: rank, perceived prestige, graduation salary & anything else...
BB & elite boutique = GS, MS, Lehman, ML, JPM, Citi, UBS, Credit Suisse, DB, Bear, BofA, Evercore, Rothschild, Gleacher, Greenhill, Perella Weinberg Partners (not everyone agrees w/ these but for the post's purposes, leave this list)
Irrespective of: Sales & Trading, HF, PE shops, consulting or any other jobs. IBD is the ONLY consideration(i.e. if GS recruits @ a school for S&T, but not IBD, then the school does NOT count as getting GS)
Please correct/add/subtract to the following list (US SCHOOLS only though):
HBS Stanford GSB* UPenn Wharton MIT Sloan Northwestern Kellogg Columbia Business School Chicago GSB Dartmouth Tuck NYU Stern
*Stanford probably has less NYC BB opps and more of the LA/SF offices but leave Stanford on the list. But the NYC office-only list applies to all other schools - Exclude any other schools that do not get NYC offices for BB recruiting (I would think that UCLA might be subject to this)
Pls modify the list AND RANK (if possible) based on opportunities/placement into IBD associate positions @ the BB/elite boutiques listed. #1 should have most opps/best placemnt.
for example: If 2 schools have 100% recruiting by the above banks (or any tie), the higher ranked school should be the 1 who placed more kids into IBD upon graduation @ the banks. ***The rankings list should stop at 75% hit rate - Exclude schools who get less then 75% participation (11 banks or less) from the 16 named banks. Must have 12+ of the above banks to get ranked.
Really appreciate all of the advice.
You, sir, are a complete tool. Your sporadic use of the CAPS LOCK KEY for emphasis does nothing to add to your credibility. Your meticulous instructions on something as inane as school rankings immediately educes comparison to Lucy Gao.
Is there really reason to start another ranking debate on this forum?
Hopefully, no one else will reply to this thread.
haha, I interned with Lucy Gao
Who's Lucy Gao?
Google her name.
by the way, jackofalltrades: do you know what happened to her?
i read the email... whats wrong with that? some girls are just like that.
dont trust people. thats the lesson here.
There's nothing wrong with Lucy Gao's email. It reflects badly on her colleagues at Citi who forwarded her email to others and to the press.
so shes demanding...maybe some people like it when women tell them what to do.
Which of these MBA programs would be best for I-banking? (Originally Posted: 01/31/2013)
I'm looking to find out which Tier 2 and Tier 3 MBA programs might give the best chance for I-banking.
Are any of these good:
Are there any similarly-ranked schools that would provide a better opportunity for I-banking? Thanks.
As someone mentioned before, any of the top 15-20 schools will position you well for banking, and any of the top 10 will put you in the best spot (and NYU, depending on the ranking you look at, if you want to work in NY) - go to the best school you can get into from that group, join clubs, network and reach out to alumni
ND or Emory
Then the rest are fairly hit or miss with few opportunities without some solid networking (especially for career changer)
What is "Boston" ?
Best 1 yr MBA for career in IB (Originally Posted: 03/18/2010)
I am sure this topic has come up on occasions but I thought I would try and get some opinions on the best MBA programs that are accelerated and are targets for IB.
I will be graduating next year with a finance and economics masters degree from a non-target and really want to break into IB. I understand the demanding lifestyle and since I am not getting any younger I figured the best thing to do was to get an accelerated MBA (1yr) and then pursue IB.
My biggest concern is making sure I attend an MBA program with strong ties to the IB community and one that is a target recruiting school.
Currently I am considering the following schools: (not in any order of choice)
thanks for your help!!!
That reminds me of those coloring books where you circle what doesn't belong.
Don't most MBA programs, including 1-year ones, require a few years work experience?
Okay. Bad idea, In short you need the full 2 year MBA because you are going for recruiters and a summer internship. You need to get work experience first, then get the MBA, and then break into Banking.
In short--get a job, do well at it, ace the GMAT, and go to a top MBA.
Also, "I understand the demanding lifestyle and since I am not getting any younger" are the types of sentences you should probably avoid in any emails you might decide to write to contacts you want to network with. Its sounds retarded--no offense.
...
If you don't have prior IB experience, then trying to break in via a 1-year MBA is a horrible idea. You need 2 year and you need the internship.
I did forget to mention that I was in PWM for 3 years before going back to school. Yes this is not IB, but it is work experience.
I do agree that I need an internship. I was able to get a few super-day invitations but unfortunately did not land the SA offers. I am starting to look locally for SA positions and hopefully I will be able to attain one. I do have another summer remaining to try and get BB SA offers but I know one of my weaknesses is that I do not have any IB related experience.
Insead. Probably the only good 1 year MBA program.
As mentioned above, the two-year MBA is probably a much better fit for your goals. You will get better recruiting opportunities, and you should be able to land a first-year summer internship which you can leverage as you look for a job the following year. Keep in mind also, that post-MBA careers are very competitive and quite lucrative, so you might as well go with the two-year MBA to increase your chances of landing such a job. Also, if you aren't sure if you can land a top 10 MBA, you might want to focus on programs that are not as highly ranked, but have location advantages and IB connections (Rice, UT Austin, UNC, etc are good for non-NYC IB jobs).
INSEAD and London Business School are the only decent 1-year MBA programmes.
The ones in the US are shit, because they're not offered by the top schools. Go to LBS or INSEAD if you really want to do it in 1 year.
If you have 3 years of work experience, try applying to some of the top American MBA programmes (the 2-year ones). The marginal cost of an additional application is low, so span all of the top 10 degree courses.
Maybe try your hand at a few MFin courses (like the ones at LSE, Princeton, MIT, etc.). They have excellent placement prospects as well.
Kellog is a top 5 school.
outside the US, I'd think INSEAD and LBS have 1 year programs. I think Richard Ivey has a 1year MBA. They are also the best recruited (by far) for IB positions in Canada.
LBS, Insead, HEC
Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick and Bocconi aren't bad either
of course, it really is best to have some sort of financial experience before starting the programs as you won't be able to get that summer internship after year 1 as you'd be able to in a 2 year program
PWM is something at least
why not consider a PHD and then quant-ing out?
I know this is an old post, sorry to dig it up but I didnt want to start another one.
While I see you need the internship to get into IB, is it possible to get into MC after a 1 year MBA (at Kellogg if accepted) assuming you've done internships after junior and senior years of college?
Or is the 1 year MBA just a bad idea all around?
I am planning on graduating from UVA and they do a great job of placing students in top grad programs so I'm just trying to see what opportunities are around.
Devry Keller School of Business - Keller sounds like Kellogg, so you might get some street cred!
Crap, why didn't I think of that? Thanks Killer_Queen, I don't know what I would've done without you!
If you're looking at that, consider Europe too. E.g. LBS, IMD and INSEAD. Very good opps there.
Best MBA schools for IB (Originally Posted: 04/29/2007)
what are the best MBA schools for banking. I think the top 3 for almost any field without question are Havard/Stanford/Wharton but after that :
UChicago Columbia NYU Northwestern
I am really not sure.
that's about right.
NYU?
Approx 70-80 people from Stern '08 class going to IB as summer associates. About 90% of those going to BB
NYU is certainly a different institution from the other's on your list, but b/c of its convenience it has been able to attract a lot of IB recruiters and many Stern students are going there purely for finance.
While Kellogg is an amazing school, it is well-known for having arguably the world's best marketing program and also sends a ton of people into consulting. That being said, I'm sure most banks recruit there and students can definitely go into banking, but the school has not historically produced bankers the way Columbia, Chicago, or even NYU have.
Those are definitely the upper crust, but I imagine any notable quant. school like MIT Sloan, Carnegie-Mellon Tepper, Cornell's Johnson School would be the next level...MIT (obviously) seems like a higher profile than the other two, but I am not well informed on the school.
Columbia, Stern, Chicago
Guys, I'm also looking for a good business school right now since I'm heading to college next year and I'm wondering if University of Illinois is good?
MIT Sloan has really great placements as far as i've heard...
How about Tuck? What is the general perception of Tuck students? I get the feeling they're more molded to become consultants, but they also seem to have a solid IB-related curriculum.
Anyone know about Gtown/McDonough?
I know BB firms recruit there, but I don't get a sense for how extensively. I know they pull a lot of kids out from undergrad, but I'm not as certain about the MBA program.
Hate to burst everyone's bubbles, and I have posted this before, but IB is not the most desired job at top b-schools. IBD is usually for people with no finance experience who are trying to break into finance. At H/W/S there are many, many, many other jobs that are looked upon with far more respect than any IBD job. And yes, that includes one at Goldman. So all the superstars at H/W/S who are interested in finance are going into PE, HF, VC, top trading positions, etc. Which means students at schools in the 5-15 range actually have very good chances at making it into IBD. And to WanganRunner--I posted this on another thread, but Gtown's MBA is not competitive for finance or consulting positions at top firms. Once you get outside of the top 15 there are simply no MBA programs that have strong recruiting for those types of positions. Even in the 10-15 range, recruiting drops off dramatically. Doesn't mean you can't land something from personal connections, but don't expect the career office to provide much value.
Bingo. Most MBAs want to work at M/B/B, PE, HF, VC or go into a top position in industry.
IBanking isn't the top choice.
He's biased, but correct. The top 4 recruiters at Wharton (MBA level) for years have always been some combination of McK, Bain, BCG, and GS. So if consulting is that big at Wharton where 40% of people go into finance, you can imagine what it's like at HBS, Stanford, Kellogg, Tuck, etc. where even more people are interested in consulting. That said, I would argue that M/B/B are similar to GS, MS, etc. in that they are also not the most respected jobs. HF/PE/IM/VC/etc. all trump IBD, S&T, and consulting, for the most part.
Obviously, more students are eligible for consulting positions, so more students rank it as their preferred career/employer.
That said, I fully agree with what you said in the second paragraph regarding the buyside jobs trumping IB/Consulting/S&T.
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