Lazard M&A vs. PJT Strategic Advisory (M&A) - Summer Analyst

Congrats, these are both really strong places to land (especially this year) - can't imagine that SA recruitment given covid was easy. Either way you go you will get looks from MFs and top HFs. I'd probably lean PJT though.

Prestige

Lean Lazard. Obviously PJT is really strong, but the firm is newer and memories run deep in this industry. If you want to go the corp dev route, Lazard's name will especially be better than PJTs. I would qualify this by saying that lay man's prestige doesn't necessarily equate to better exits - PJT (both the M&A and Rx teams) have been on fire recently given the thoroughness of their interview process (realistically one of the most difficult behind Qatalyst.)

Culture

Strong PJT. Obviously a bunch of people on here are going to meme about the PJT email that was sent out earlier this year but one email doesn't maketh a culture. Lazard has a history of underpaying and overworking their analysts (realistically Laz and Moelis are the most intense places for analysts to be). PJT analysts tend to be "broey intellectuals" - most are pretty well informed about world events/very technically strong but you could also get a beer with one of them. Can't necessarily say the same about people I've met from LAZ. Also, PJT is well known for strong support during on-cycle, pretty sure you get the week off. You have to be a lot more secretive about it at LAZ and you aren't gonna have a senior banker pick up the phone for you.

Pay

PJT. Although you shouldn't base any junior level position on pay (there's a reason why Goldman and Blackstone are great to work out despite lackluster analyst pay), it is nice to be able to afford a slightly nicer apartment or a few extra nights out when you're working hard. 

Exits

Lean PJT for HF/MF PE; strong lean Lazard for corp dev (wouldn't be surprised if some corp dev people have never heard of PJT tbh).

Return offer likelihood

PJT. You are looking at something like a 90% return rate with PJT, whereas you might have something closer to 70-80% at LAZ. I know from some friends that this year was particularly rough at LAZ. Also would underweight this category - as long as you are hard working and conscientious you will get a return. 

Program Style

PJT is smaller, Laz is larger. What you want is up to you. Key perk of a smaller program is that you typically get more responsibility, while the key perk of a larger program is that you will meet more people (useful if you end up in finance for a long time and want to call some people later on.) Also, would note that PJT is a generalist program while Laz slots you into industry verticals. Generalist programs allow you to realistically recruit for everything (except maybe distress), while you might have some trouble recruiting for Silver Lake from, let's say FIG. If you are sure you know what specific subcategory of finance you want to go into, and are confident that you can do well in group placement I'd lean Laz here. If you don't really know what you want to do, or want a more varied analyst time, I'd go generalist. Personally would overweight the generalist program as 1) as a college junior you realistically have no idea what you want to do and 2) if your chosen vertical falls out of favor (let's say you are slotted into Nat Res) you might have difficulty recruiting for the buyside. 

Anyways, there really aren't any bad choices here. Congrats.