Non-target school tiers

I know that there are target and semi-target schools. I was wondering are there tiers for non-target schools? Do east coast banks prefer students who went to east coast non-targets? To give a little context I go to non-target with a high acceptance rate. Does that look worse or are non-targets just considered non-targets?

26 Comments
 

If in the eyes of a boutique or BB or MM, a nontarget is a nontarget. The one common theme for nontarget a are networking. Do it and your good. Besides your asking a dumb question. Are their tiers to McDonald's and Burger Kings's when one could go to Chick Fil A for a better combo

 

There are definitely "tiers" to non-targets. Some non-targets just have more presence on Wall Street than others, and I wouldn't necessarily say it's a function of the acceptance rate.

Penn State and Rutgers both have acceptance rates of over 50%, and have pretty decent presence (about 10 people per year will land IB at a BB/EB/MM)

Baruch and Wake Forest are a bit lower in acceptance rate (between 20% and 30%) and also have pretty decent presence and will land a few people per year.

Most other non-targets will only land 2 or 3 people a year (if that). I'm sure that I'm missing a few non-targets that land more than others, but I just wanted to give a few quick examples.

 

If it is not a function of acceptance rate, then what is it? I was talking to a guy from Rutgers last week and said he got in through alumni connections. Would that be it? Also all the schools you listed were in the east coast. Would I have a better chance with an SF or even energy IB in Huston because they recognize west coast schools a little better?

I was talking to a BB recruiter and she told me that their bank's non-core vetting process is similar to the "undergraduate admission vetting process" That's why I thought it was a function of acceptance rate.

 

What matters the most is the amount of alumni in banking from that school. It's not so much that they recognize them better, but since east coast schools are closer, it's a lot easier for students to network and for banks to come on campus. It's definitely not a function of acceptance rate, but just the fact that if a school has a low acceptance rate, it's probably a target/semi-target just because it's a good school.

Like the first comment said, don't let the non target name bother you. I assure you if you network enough and keep a high GPA, you'll be able to land an interview. After that, it's all up to you. I'm at a non target and landed a BB SA position for this upcoming summer.

 

Probably would need to get a boutique IB / private equity internship in order to be competitive for BBs as many of their non-core candidates will have this experience.

I can speak a little bit for SF and can tell you that in reality some BB groups in SF really only recruit at their core schools and don't typically look elsewhere. These satellite groups also run their own recruiting processes. So, instead of going for a generalist position you'd be going for most likely tech or HC. When I was in training this past summer and chatting with the Houston kids, the recruiting process seemed similar for them too (all guys and all from Texas or Southern schools).

Anyways, I don't believe SF or Houston would be any easier than NY due to 1) limited group coverages 2) decentralized recruiting (i.e. no specific non-core superdays or SEO / diversity kids)

 

Let me add on by saying this:

If you go to a nontarget, make sure it's academic rigor is nationally known and do a LinkedIn Search to see whether or not it is good for IB if your stuck on doing IB.

Some colleges like Northeastern or BU are nationally renown for their academics, but their still a nontarget, in the sense that you'll have easier networking and more alumni base/OCR at a semi target like Villanova, which may be less rigorous overall, but great for IB.

 

if you on west coast, the only WEST COAST schools that place IB are stanford berkely ucla usc ucsd cmk pomona. if you are not one of those schools yuou need to get to one. othrewise wont place.

 

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