Houston vs. New York SA Recruiting?

I'm a rising junior at a target school for Houston energy banks and I'll be going through the SA recruiting process this coming fall. I have a decent GPA (>3.5), and have had strong internships every summer, including one with a BB in their investment management division. I've heard that when recruiting, it is best to choose one location (it allows you to really solidify your "story") and especially for Houston/energy, having a passion in energy is important. My school is a target for Houston energy banks, but it isn't a target school for New York recruiting. Although I have a strong background in energy and do have a solid interest in energy, I think I would prefer New York. Do I have a strong chance for New York recruiting, even if I'm at a non-target? Or are my chances better off with Houston? I'm not sure if I would want to risk landing a solid SA internship by trying to go for NY if I have a better chance with Houston.

Any advice would be much much appreciated. Thanks so much.

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Best Response

It's a tough call. Houston recruits earlier (or at least it did a couple years ago), so you could go through the process in Houston, see if you get any offers you like, then decide whether to pursue NY. However, that would require networking in both locations. If you go somewhere like A&M or SMU, it may be a little "easier" to find a spot in Houston, but if you have strong internships and interview well, you should fare just fine in NY recruiting. Just be sure to show real interest in energy/Houston while interviewing in Houston, as they won't be interested in you if they can sense energy/Houston is a backup/secondary to NY.

 

Thanks for the advice! I think the networking part is where I'm uneasy. I can easily network in Houston, and have, in previous years. My school is in the top 25 in the nation, so I'm wondering if that might help for NY.

From what I've seen from a couple of banks who have already opened applications, they've opened it on a nationwide basis. So allowing you to choose "up to three/four" locations -- you apply to all at once. From what I can tell, they want to gauge your interest. I don't want to seem to scattered by applying all over the place.

 

Also, sorry for the separate accounts... just realized I'm logged into another account at work and a separate work at home.

 

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