How was SA26 this year?

Haven't been too tapped into recruiting, but it seems like about half as many kids are getting offers at my school this year compared to last year. This a market thing or is my school just having a bad year?

12 Comments
 

Based on the most helpful WSO content, it seems that the trend of fewer offers being extended could be tied to broader market dynamics rather than just your school having a bad year. Several factors have been highlighted in WSO discussions:

  1. Fewer Seats in the Industry: The investment banking industry has been gradually reducing the number of available positions. This is a general trend driven by the industry's evolving needs and efficiency improvements.

  2. Increased Competition: The pool of applicants continues to grow, making the offer-to-application ratio even more competitive. Some WSO threads suggest that offers for summer analyst positions hover around a 1-3% acceptance rate, which underscores the intense competition.

  3. Shift in Career Preferences: More students, even from top schools, are leaning towards consulting or tech roles, which may impact the number of students actively pursuing banking. However, this doesn't necessarily reduce competition for the remaining spots.

  4. Recruiting Acceleration: The timeline for recruiting has been moving earlier, which can disadvantage students who aren't prepared or who lack strong sophomore summer experiences. This could also explain why some schools or students might feel left behind.

If your school is seeing a significant drop in offers, it could be a combination of these market-wide trends and possibly a less effective recruiting strategy or preparation among students this year. It might be worth investigating whether your school's career services or alumni network has been as active in supporting students during this cycle.

Sources: Recruitment Set Back To "Normal", Graduating into a Bad Economy, Will recruiting ever stop accelerating?, Why is banking becoming more competitive?, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/school/the-rise-of-the-semi-target?customgpt=1

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

Seemed like a solid year for my target as someone who recruited this year. A few people who were all in on recruiting ended up without offers, but only a few. Most of the offers went out late Jan through mid March, so before the recent market shocks. Noticeable expansion of non-diversity hiring at some places. Last year was probably the harder year to recruit honestly.

 

Bump- pretty terrible year at my Semi Target aswell. Less than 1/3 of last year’s offers and very heavy on diversity/ mediocre groups for those who did place as non diversity

 

Go to a WC semi and it was interesting to say the least. Best kids all got great offers like every year (CVP, EVR, GS, MS, PJT, etc) but there weren’t as many mid tier offers to go around. Not sure if we sent any to Gugg/MOE/PWP, and very few to mid tier BBs. Networking seemed to not matter as much, heard many stories of kids talking to 5+ people in a smaller regional office and not getting interviews. Techs seemed to be a lot easier across the board too.

 

Meant what the below commenter said though I phrased it weird. Objectively true that those 3 are not on the same level as the aforementioned 3 EBs but MOE/PWP/LAZ are still great

 

Porro beatae suscipit ut deleniti voluptas. Amet quia excepturi adipisci odio qui a dignissimos minus. Eveniet ratione sint aut ex eum sunt corporis. Et et autem porro et. Asperiores ratione et blanditiis laboriosam qui.

Et blanditiis molestiae dolor impedit. Autem optio unde unde et temporibus et beatae. Nulla tempore ut dolorem voluptas qui. Dolorem culpa labore distinctio sunt assumenda ad ut molestiae. Eligendi eaque eveniet doloribus ab autem iure.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”