Future of the industry (top options for top students at top targets)

So we saw the thread here about the observed declining analyst quality, and people agreed that a large part of that is because IB is no longer the best, most coveted, most prestigious, most competitive job you can get out of college, where the smartest kids from HYPSM flock to. And that's because top, elite buyside firms are increasingly recruiting out of undergrad. Tbh as Gen Z, I can honestly say that I cannot imagine Goldman Sachs IB being a job that a whiz kid at MIT would take, over Jane Street, Optiver etc

So, where do you guys think that this trend will carry on from here? What's the 'next big trend'? In the 80s (roughly generalizing here) it was IBD, the 90s was prop trading in banks, 00s was HF, 10s was PE

Which industry will poach the best kids out of undergrad in the future and make the laggards go into IB, PE, even HF? Or do you think the trend might even reverse, as firms realize they are overdoing recruiting (PE firms getting garbage associates because these people slacked their IB analyst stint cuz they got PE offers too early)

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