Picking Merrill over Goldman ...

I received offers from both firms and I'm leaning towards Merrill for the following reasons:

  1. Very good chance at getting Merrill M&A group - I've spoken with the group staffer, who is an alum at my school.
  2. Don't really want to join an industry group at Goldman - a bit too specialized IMO.
  3. Chance at receiving a FT offer from Merrill is much better than receiving an offer from Goldman.

What do you guys think?

7 Comments
 

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?

 

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?

 
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