I didn't go to a "Target School"
I graduated from Western Michigan University with my bachelors in accounting and I will be complete my Masters in Science of Finance (MSF) from Walsh College in June 2015. I am currently interning at a public accounting firm with the M&A consulting and Investment banking group but I was debating about staying on with the firm I am with now or trying to find a position at a firm that is strictly focused on investment banking.
The problem is when I am looking at the smaller boutique firms around the Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Troy area in Michigan, every person from top to bottom at these firms are either from U of M or some other "target school".
My GPA is decent with a 3.5 in my MSF program, my Excel skill are to the point where I do not use the mouse anymore, I have been studying investment banking for almost 2 years now, and I competed in the Association of Corporate Growth or "ACG" Cup M&A Case study competition and my team from Walsh won 1st place over teams from U of M and Michigan State.
Even after all of the hard work that I have put in, I still wonder if there is anything more I can do to separate myself from people from "target schools"? Or if I would even have a shot at going after a bulge bracket firm.
Are you interning with a Big 4 or another top national (BDO, GT, etc) firm? Is your ultimate goal to work in a large market (Chicago, NYC, etc)?
I have a Big 4 background and work in F500 Corp Finance, so take this with a grain of salt, but my thought is if you landed an internship with a reputable accounting firm, kick ass in that position and establish yourself at that company. Meanwhile, go for the boutique firms, there's no reason to rule those options out.
Now I am looking at the accounting side more than the M&A/finance type offerings those firms have, but I can tell you that public accounting firms provide a great opportunity for so-called"non targets" to start a career. I'm not suggesting it's the logical path to Goldman Sachs IB. But there's no reason you can't establish yourself against the UM/MSU rads in your office, and beyond, and build a solid base for whatever you end up doing afterwards.
As always, I'll caveat that there are guys in those boutique firms who can answer your specific questions much better than I can.
I'll be graduating with a Bachelor from a non target school in Sweden. It's a good school, one of the better ones in Sweden, but it is not a target school per se. Even though I've been on interviews in London at BB investments banks. (one of GS, JPM, CS, MS..) I don't even have particularly good grades. But on the other hand I haven't landed any of these... yet..
I think the main reason why you don't hear about many people from non target schools landing jobs in BB is because they never apply in the first place. I believe if you have good skills and present them good you'll have a good chance.
But also, I've never been invited to any interviews in the US.. still waiting answer from JPM, GS and Citi... for their summer internships.. Maybe it's harder to land internship on wall street than in canary wharf/city...
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