(Office)-tailored cover letter?

Hi all - applying to MBB and planning on splitting prefs with a small office and big office, (60/40, legitimate interests for both). I'd like to tailor my cover letter to the small office bc that's where I'm putting the majority of my "eggs" and believe that they will be more likely to read it than the bigger office. Do you think this will rule me out of opps at the bigger office? Thanks

Edit - just wanted to clarify that I would be mentioning the specific office employees, stories, and values within the cover letter so it will be "tailored" to that office

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I'll provide my two cents on the discussion. 

In an application package, the general principle is that the Resume matters a lot more than the cover letter. I'd argue that the weight is ~60-70% for the resume and ~30-40% for the cover letter. The general rule of thumb is that a good cover letter may help, but a bad cover letter will hurt your chances. As for tailoring it, keep in mind that dependent on the firm and individual, the cover letter may go unread or read by a centralized national headquarters. Even if it were read for at the small office selected, there may be a chance the person reading the cover letter may not interact with the individuals mentioned. 

All this to say that customizing and tailoring it is great, but I wouldn't worry too much about name dropping x versus name dropping y. Any exposure to the firm shows you've done your research and that you've networked.

 

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