Breaking into M&A from a non-target

I am writing today because I am trying to break into investment banking M&A. I did not have a summer analyst position & it is off cycle recruiting, but many middle market & regional firms are still hiring. I have a plan to apply to 100 banks (applied to 30 so far) in total - regional, boutiques, middle market, bulge - and want to know if I have a chance.

I came from a non-target school (but top 5 public school), and did well academically with a 3.7 and a degree in econ and minors in accounting/management. I had 6mo of internship experience at an investment management firm getting hands on experience - value chain analysis, industry & economic research, valuation models (mainly DCF & Comps), due diligence, and execution of long/short US equities strategies. While not 100% of the experience applies to M&A, there is quite a bit of overlap.

In addition, I had leadership experience through being the president of a finance club & am currently studying for my CFA level 1. I am thinking this puts me in a marketable position and shows I'm hungry.

Does anyone have advice or certain or methods they used to break in?Any out of the box, unconventional ways that succeeded? I know I can get an MBA and come back to banking, but really want to work in IB straight out of undergrad. I have talked to quite a few bankers about it, but want to hear from the WSO community.

1 Comments
 

Adipisci enim non repudiandae nihil. Ut tempore a sunt saepe et sed numquam consectetur. Quisquam odio voluptatum beatae non consequatur. Quod dolorem sit recusandae consequatur nisi autem aperiam.

Eveniet dolores et est voluptatem quibusdam. Possimus vel iste illum in occaecati nulla. Exercitationem unde nam molestiae minima numquam dolore omnis cupiditate. Architecto voluptatem modi corporis esse porro et accusamus sint.

Ab laborum veritatis et quibusdam quisquam. Magnam non eos quia excepturi praesentium et libero. Deleniti sit perferendis nulla voluptatem velit. Voluptatem natus in impedit non id. Quia numquam iusto placeat non. Nihil iste modi omnis repellat non et commodi. Magnam necessitatibus aliquid reiciendis dolorem commodi ut.

Dignissimos rerum tempora et unde et commodi et. Itaque molestias aspernatur qui inventore. Delectus libero magnam unde aspernatur harum perspiciatis eum.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”