Picking Merrill over Goldman ...

Merrill M&A is pretty good and with the competitiveness of this year's SA class there's no reason to risk getting put into a worse group at Goldman. Merrill's name is still top 4, so I'd say it's a good choice. Also, consider the fact that Merrill is known to be a lot friendlier than most banks (GS included). My .02.

Also, anyone know how good the LevFin group at ML is?

Sounds like you've thought it out. All valid reasons, although the board might hammer you for it. Nice to see someone not making decisions based on prestige.

Sounds reasonable. Although, would turning down GS for SA close the door on applying there for FT?

Thanks for your opinions; I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't making a mistake. In terms of applying FT: If I get an offer, I don't plan on shopping it around. The only bank that I'd consider over Merrill is Morgan Stanley, and the difference is so marginal that I don't think it's worth it.

I already accepted my offer, but I'm still interested in hearing opinions the other way: why I should've chosen Goldman over Merrill. I think that this info might be useful incase I emerge from Merrill with a FT offer but want to shop it around.

"Prestige" isn't a very strong reason for me, and should be obvious enough that I hope that it won't be mentioned. Would be interested to hear opinions from current bankers instead of college students who don't know very much, but masturbate to the exit-opps of GS.

Sounds fine to me. You'll find at ML that quite a few of the people there from GS.

BTW, someone said top 4... what are considered the top 4?