How do McGill students place on Wall / Bay street?

Hi everyone.

I'm currently a high school student looking at Canadian universities and while its not my first choice, I'm looking at McGill as a backup to Ivey and Smith.

I'm aware that the Honours Investment Management program regularly places students in top tier BB's but the problem is they only accept like 12 applicants a year and I'm not enough of a genius to bank on that. I'm curious how regular BComm students do, if top students place on Bay or Wall street regularly or not?

5 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I have two friends who go to McGill , that are not in the investment program who were able to intern with big five banks this summer. Mcgill may not be the first choice in comparison to UWO and Queens but the reputation of the university does provide you with a really great chance however it's up to you to separate yourself from the others by joining the investment club , networking with alumni ,etc. If you ultimately decide to attend , you should really make the effort from freshman year to become really friendly with professors and upper year students to show your interest and have a better chance when recruiting comes along.

Bay street does target mcgill but wall street is a serious uphill battle for any canadian university not just mcgill. If you want to work on wall street, you most likely would have to spend 2-4 years in the bay street office then try to lateral to the wall street office.

 

Obviously it doesn’t place as well at Qcom or Ivey but if you’re a good candidate from McGill you can still very much make it happen. The fact that you’re in high school and already thinking about this tells me if you go to any of these three schools you’ll be ok. Getting to Wall Street right away is harder but there’s a huge market for experienced analysts/associates and if you go a good job you can move to the US later

 

McGill is definitely behind Ivey and Queens however it is a very strong Canadian school. It's location of being in a big city definitely helps for international recruiting similar to Rotman commerce. Definitely work hard for Smith and Ivey if you can, but McGill is a great backup. From personal experience I would emphasis how important a strong essay/story is for Ivey and Queens as grades are not as important at Ivey and Queens and your essays hold the majority of the weight above a certain cutoff.

 

Sint quos reiciendis voluptatem consequatur voluptate dicta et sunt. Nihil pariatur et sint molestiae. Ea aut quo qui consequuntur reprehenderit dicta eaque. Voluptas ipsa nulla rerum vitae neque. Aut reprehenderit nisi sed ad laudantium.

Libero maxime voluptatum aperiam amet sunt aut. Illum et libero ipsam. Numquam temporibus qui eligendi quidem voluptates ex et. Accusamus deserunt blanditiis dolorem accusantium id sit ratione.

Voluptate voluptate et fugit omnis delectus. Dignissimos ab error provident id rem. Distinctio amet atque eum quo voluptas. Pariatur voluptatibus reprehenderit eligendi quaerat. Mollitia rem alias molestiae nihil.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
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...”