The Ultimate Investment Banking Target Schools List For 2024/25

The Ultimate Target School List For Finance(Not my Opinion, more so my uncle(EVR/PJT/CVP MD), who I asked for guidance during my college application process. So this isn't really my opinion.This is purely a list created as a reference for high schoolers. It's an anecdote from a frosh so please take it with a grain of salt.This is just a way to get a general idea.)

This list was made to help college applicants who want to go into IB. I was in that position 1 year ago, and without my uncle's guidance, I would have chosen University Of Florida vs one of (UVA/Notre Dame/Emory/UMich).

Tier 1 Institutions(These Institutions Feed By Far the Most To Top Investment Banks & are by far the best colleges in the nation even besides IB) - Harvard, The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), Yale, Princeton

Tier Genius(These schools are in a weird spot. These schools are specialist schools but outside of finance and more to tech/engineering. As such, not very many kids go for IB, but the ones that do get the best of the best placement, directly competing with Tier 1 & 1.5. Side note for JHU, it is worse than the 1st 3. The students there if in BME or Engineering are geniuses.)-Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute Of Technology, Johns Hopkins

Tier 1.5 Institutions(Second To Tier 1, Feed Heavily to Good Investment Banks, Very Prestigious All-Around) -Columbia University, Duke University, University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, Cornell University,University of Pennsylvania (non-Wharton),Northwestern University

Tier 2 Institutions(These schools are by and large considered target schools for finance, but overall school prestige starts to dwindle although still prestigious. The top Specialist Schools that's strength is their undergrad b-school also place here) - Brown University, New York University (Stern), University of Michigan (Ross), Georgetown University (McDonough)

Tier 3 Institutions(These schools are at the border of target/semi-target, place quite well into finance, but not definitive target level production. These schools may also have target level production in one region but not throughout the US, Like Notre Dame in the Midwest and Cal On the West Coast. This tier is basically a regional target list.) - University of Virginia (McIntire), UC Berkeley (Haas), University of Notre Dame (Mendoza), Emory University (Goizueta)

Tier 4 Institutions( These schools are more clear-cut semi targets in terms of placement, they could have the same problem of only placing well into one region or low student interest in Banking in general)- Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St.Louis, University of Southern California (Marshall),UCLA, University of Texas At Austin (McCombs),

Tier 5 Institutions(Not as prestigious semi-targets): University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler), Indiana University(IBW & CMBW), Rice(Jones or Econ), Carnegie Mellon(Tepper), Boston College(Carroll)

(Note: Although Indiana is equivalent to prestige of Tier 6, the sheer number of kids they send through the IBW & CMBW makes it a Tier 5.Kelley business school alone is Tier 6.)

Tier 6 Institutions(These schools are on the borderline of semi-target and non-target, often only regional IB placement. Due to sheer numbers at these state schools, people sometimes get good spots(UF to Evercore Pipeline). These schools are average/unprestigious in terms of prestige):University Of Georgia(Corsair in Smeal),University Of Florida(MSF in Warrington),Texas A&M(Mays), Penn State (Nittany Lion Fund), Indiana University (Kelley), Southern Methodist University(Alts in Cox), Fordham (Gabelli), Baruch

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