Private equity or IB Out of school

What’s the way to go here? Wondering whether going straight to buy-side out of school is worth it or going straight to IB.

Also how much would a fund that’s around $200M pay for base salary for an analyst right out of school in PE.

Just want to hear everyone’s thoughts on PE or IB directly out of undergrad.

4 Comments
 

The advice people on site usually give in response to this dilemma is that the 2 years in IB build a great foundation for you and you learn a shit ton in a very short amount of time, which is very beneficial for PE. The learning curve in PE is steep and IB prepares you well.

However depending on the firm it may be worthwhile to just go straight to the buyside. Really does depend on the growth potential and performance of the fund tho.

I would say it's almost always the better choice to take BB/EB over PE out of Undergrad but besides that maybe PE would be the better option. 

 

Et vel consequatur quasi optio. Quia sint atque odit architecto debitis veritatis nihil debitis. Et nihil omnis illo dolorem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”