2020 RANKING OF RANKINGS

Please read with sarcasm

Having seen the uptick in the number of ranking posts on WSO, I thought it would be useful to rank the different types of rankings that we see here in terms of their usefulness.

Tier 1 - Ranking BB's and EB's Together

• This has to be by far the most useful ranking. It really compares apples with apples and a lot of the conclusions drawn are definite and provide exact insight into why I should not recruit at lower BB's. Posters are also super clear about the context in which a BB is preferable over an EB and there's never any confusion or argumentation about exit opps. It's also always useful to get insight from people without industry experience, I now know that I'll get the most kudos from college kids if I end up at RBC. The frequency of these is always super helpful, especially as they arise during the time in which people receive offers.

Tier 2 - Ranking BB's and EB's Separately

• Again, these rankings really help distinguish how good each bank is, aside from the investment banking fees that they earn. Even though I know the league tables with regards to fees, it really helps me understand how good the banks / boutiques are based on the qualitative perceptions of other people. Deal flow and value has nothing to do with it. Again, the timing of these is really useful because they come up when offers come out.

Tier 3 - Target School / University Rankings

• For the younger monkeys, these threads are amazing at exemplifying which schools are target schools and which are not. The broad generalizations provided really help deciding where to go to school, and make me feel like I have no chance if I didn't go to HYP. Really seems like the personality and individual grit has nothing to do with anything.

Tier 4 - Ranking of Rankings

• Ranking of rankings is extremely useful to gauge which rankings I should pay the most attention to. Definitely not a waste of time and space because of Corona boredom.

Please feel free to share more ideas or edits and I'll include them into the ranking.

On a real note,

I think the rankings can be extremely valuable for newcomers in finance. Unfortunately, a lot of the time it's self interest that makes the rankings perhaps slightly distorted, as well as the fact that they're trying to rank intangibles that are extremely difficult to rank. Ultimately, I think it's also important to let all of these newcomers know that working at any EB/BB/MM is a fantastic achievement. The type of work across these firms will be very similar and no one should feel bad about where they're at because of a subjective ranking online that makes it seem like GS/JPM/MS is the be all and end all. Same with universities. You define your career path, not the institution you work for, or the university you attend (although they do matter).