Am I dumb for turning down GS for a lower ranked firm?

Depends how lower ranked the other firm is

Are you turning down GS for (MS/JPM/EVR/CVP)? Because I know multiple people who’ve done that. But GS -> JEFF doesn’t make sense, regardless of how great a bank JEFF is. If you really don’t like GS, the JEFF seat will always be open.

.

.

Turned down GS for an EB and will do it a million times over.

Deleted

If you really enjoy the culture and people that you are considering taking over GS, then go for it. It is all dependent on what you want now and also in the near to distant future. If you think you want to stick around in banking for more than a couple years, then I personally would place a lot more emphasis on culture and fit. No point in going to GS for only the prestige (hence, exit opps) just to never even end up leaving.

W/out knowing all the details influencing your decision, one thing I'd suggest you not do is go to a lower tier firm because someone - no matter how senior - told you that something in your work/educational history somehow differentiates you from the other first years (analyst or associate), and you therefore will work on better deals or with companies that are more interesting to you or whatever. People make those vague promises during the recruitment cycle all the time but it never happens. Once you're in the door you're in the generalist pool and will work on whatever the staffer tells you to work on. 

Hard to say if you don’t mention the other firm.

Look, you're obviously reeling, which is understandable. But there's really no way of knowing how it'll all turn out. Who knows, people at firm where you might renege could be reading these threads, so I think you have to assume that it's very possible that old firm will find out (not just from this thread, but if you have classmates who are going to same bank or into IB in general, it's certainly possible they will share what you're doing to either your bank, or to someone who will tell your bank. The questions are, will they care, will they care enough to call GS and will GS care?

I find it surprising that there seems to be no one on this site who has reneged to go to GS, or who knows of someone who has done it, and can share that experience. But overall, seems like you're looking for a "definite answer" as to what will happen, and there just isn't one -- I have no idea, but I imagine the "odds are" you'll emerge unscathed... but I don't know what the odds are that you'll screw yourself -- 40%?  5%?  I know you're probably trying to quantify the odds that things blow up, but unless you hear from people who have done this same thing going to GS, going to be hard to calculate.

Aside from other posters saying it depends what you want to do post banking, the one other point I’d say that is really just a reneging debate:

Some people are the type of people who would never renege because their word means everything to them and they view it as unethical. Others think banks have no loyalty, so you are justified in behaving in the way they do and reneging for one offer isn’t a big deal. I think both camps of people are right, but only you can decide what type of person you want to be and how you will behave as a professional. If it were me I wouldn’t renege because I would feel like a scumbag for doing it even if others would renege. However, this many people on this forum will say it isn’t a big deal—this is ultimately a personal choice.

Can someone repost his original question 

Some people on this forum have the hardest time acknowledging the various factors that go into deciding on the right bank for a person. News flash: for most, it's not all about pREsTigE and eXiT oPPs. Some people actually care about finding an optimal balance of things like WLB, location, team culture, interesting industry / product group, etc.

I recently turned down a BB in SF / NY for GHL / JEF in a satellite location. Why? Because I value more than prestige and exit opps, and ultimately, even if I decide a year down the road that I DO want more prestige / better exit opps-guess what-I can do a magical thing called lateral. Sure, a MF exit two years down the road will likely be easier from GS TMT than it will be from BofA TMT, but cmon… at some level this IS splitting hairs.

At the end of the day, go with the opportunity that represents a better personal fit. What does personal fit mean? Well, it totally depends on who YOU are. Do you only care about prestige and exits? Then go with the bank that gives you that. Do you value working with people you like? Then add it to the equation! Have a strong preference for location? Factor it in!

My point is, choosing the right bank for you isn't some mathematical equation that others can calculate; it's completely dependent on your individual values. You may have to do some honest soul searching to figure out what those values are, but at the end of the day, the only wrong decision you can make is by abandoning what matters most to you.

OP has deleted their comments, so I don't know the details of the situation. If this is for an SA internship and you're dead set on going to BofA over GS, then try to use your GS offer to get a guaranteed group at BofA. It has been done before. If you care about PE recruiting, then you definitely want to be in either Sponsors/M&A/LevFin (Sponors far and away the best). Coverage groups at BofA have noticeably worse PE recruiting than these groups. In general though, you're going to get better PE recruiting at GS, regardless of which group you're in. Another thing to keep in mind, while culture at BofA is great across most groups (few outliers), hours are really bad.

As someone who went to BofA and enjoyed their experience, I can't imagine choosing it over GS. But I was mainly focused on recruiting. My friends who went to GS all had significantly greater deal experience than I did, and overall did better recruiting wise (I realize that there are more factors than just which bank you work at that affects this).

This is all pre-COVID knowledge by the way, but pretty sure what I've written is still accurate.

LMAO at some of these responses.  You fucks are insane.  Go look at Indeed, yes that catch all job board.  Even banks like GS are posting IB roles there.  They never used to do this.  There is a massive demand for talent right now, the talented employees are in the drivers seat for the first time in decades in this industry.  Deal flow is so high right now that the banks could arguably double their head count and still likely be understaffed. 

Just be respectful in your response and explain your reasonings and don't respond to HR, those fucking losers don't need to know.  Call up the MD for the group you recieved an offer from and tell them directly why you are making the decision you are making and that you are greatful for the opportunity to work for them and that you will always be available to assist them in any way you can.  I generally find that most blackballing happens because the senior people, even if they understand why you did something, they feel personally offended by it.  This idea that HR is going to black ball you is a joke unless you intentially tell them to fuck off.   Having had multiple companies myself over the years I can tell you that HR pretty much has zero say in anything, but always gets thrown under the bus for things like black balling. 

GS namebrand is that strong of a premium. It's fucking ridiculous. Especially considering that it seems every other buyside firm was started by GS alumni. 

not at all, you'll be on more deal flow per year, learn more and probably won't burn out. Knew a guy who did this and is now a VP within last three years. Just put nose to grindstone

So OP... what did you end up doing? Stay at mid-BB, or take the plunge and said yes to GS?  

I’m sure I’m gonna get some MS but it just doesn’t make sense to take BofA over GS, at least in plain situations. You should have v compelling reasons.