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This is a good question. I'm interested in the answer as well.
bump
Spoke to a contact at a top MM firm who is also a friend last month and his advice was usually 1 or 2, 3 is pushing it (depending on the size of the firm). Let them make the referrals for you once you have a relationship.
If the firm has 50 alumni working there that's great, but reaching out to more than a few can really hurt you. He said he has seen it happen to qualified candidates in the past, emails will get passed around, etc. Developing a significant relationship and meeting more than once (for coffee, to chat) in person is the most important thing.
Bumping this thread, as I have the same question, but didn't want to start a new thread. Any other input on the OP's question? I'm in the same situation myself. I feel like I've talked to 5-6 people at each bank, and ram15's answer above has me worried.
Just to reiterate - I mentioned that this is dependent on the size of the firm. My contact targeted only middle market firms when he was going through recruiting. I would imagine having more contacts is fine for bulge bracket banks. Still, it is more important to develop the relationship than to just have the contact.
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