Does Stanford actually suck for banking recruiting??

Clickbait ass tile but your here, largely inspired by this: What are Stanford's placements? | Wall Street Oasis

How much merit is there to this, is ib/pe recruiting much more difficult vs other top schools?

 

Jokes aside though, Stanford definitely doesn't suck. Lower raw number of placements is just because they send more kids to the buyside directly. Overall less interest in finance compared to other top schools too.

 

yeah it sucks, sucked more last year though. sucks especially if ur non-diversity, u might get first round interviews at a handful of banks (like maybe 5-7) if u absolutely absolutely grind in networking, but it’s by no means a walk in the park. Very few on campus bank events.

 

I think a lot of this comes down to where the benefits of a target university lie. To what extent is the advantage from the brand name, and to what extent is it from alumni presence and pull. Curious if anyone has any insight. For example, I’d rather pull for kids from my alma mater over a kid from a super target

 

What I find stupid about all these placement number threads is that nobody seems to think about the differing number of applicants at each school. At stanford there's clearly way less of a finance culture than somewhere like wharton or somewhere in NYC, therefore the kids who aren't sure what they wanna do are less likely to be swayed towards finance (a lot of people gravitate to what their peers are doing).

If you can't recruit from stanford you just suck

 

No there just isnt enough representation for a dedicated school recruiting team. A Stanford on your resume is almost a guaranteed 1R if the student just put in the minimal effort

 
Most Helpful

TLDR: Going to Stanford makes it (generally) harder for IB and easier for PE

For IB: Only 2 IB's treat Stanford as a target, MS and CVP. Those 2 host significant recruiting events on-campus and CVP even makes interviews easier for Stanford kids. For other IB's, going to Stanford and being non-diversity makes it hard to even land a first round interview. For example, GS has on the dl black-listed Stanford for kids reneging and others consistently not returning FT to the firm. Non-target at EVR, Moelis, PWP, etc too. No other BB IB's besides MS consistently recruits at Stanford. The boutique interviews are the toughest for Stanford kids as they are very technical, and only the best Stanford kids get EB offers.

For PE/Growth Equity: A lot easier (and consistently representation every year at BX/KKR/SLP/Vista/Bain/Insight/GA) since the PE firms care about school "pedigree" and don't have as technical interviews as the boutiques. I have noticed though, however, that in general the kids who go to these MF's from Stanford sometimes aren't as technical/interested in finance as those who go to GS/EVR/CVP and are moreso the types who are in it for the clout of going buyside (rather than a genuine interest in finance). Anecdotally, the best kids (raw investing acumen and technical ability) at Stanford are able to recruit to PE analyst programs but recognized the value of banking (without a finance undergrad degree) and went to top EVR/GS group then to MF associate.

 

going through non-diversity recruiting (IB) and it feels like a non-target with the brand of a target if that makes any sense, the brand helps but the lack of structured recruiting pipelines/processes make it feel like a non-target, probably easier to recruit at most other good schools (like umich, georgetown, notre dame), but I wouldn't tell people to not choose stanford just because it's harder to recruit for IB

 

Dartmouth would be easier for placement but I would still choose Stanford unless you have a strong cultural preference for Dartmouth. You can still land IB from Stanford and I also wouldn't choose colleges solely based on IB recruiting. I had the same mindset when I was in your position, but a few years later and I will tell you there's no way I'm doing IB/PE for more than 2 years before leaving the industry entirely lol

 

if ur into the small LAC type of experience w the ivy stamp dartmouth is perfect. plus it’s on the east coast maybe like a 6 hour drive to nyc compared to 6 hour flight for stanford and for buyside recruiting they usually crush it (after 2 years in banking)

 

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