PWP - 65% Return Rate???

Hello all, 

Incoming SA at PWP here, go to a top target and chose PWP over Moelis/Citi. I had assumed they all had similar offer rates and was basing it off culture but this cycle was not the case. Another user who worked at PWP said PWP had 65% return rates, feel like that's ridiculously low for EB and even BB. Heard through a first-year analyst that some groups were as low as 50%. Does anybody know what's going on? In the interview process, everyone talked about 95%+ return rates? Especially with them growing so rapidly and already very lean. Should I be worried, and will this continue next year?

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if they lied to your face and said 95%+ (which is way more believable than 65%) then you can definitely reneg imo. I would try to verify that this info is correct, if it is then fuck them. Thats like if you lied on your resume and said you have a 3.5 when you really have a 2.5. They would definitely reneg on you.

 
Funniest

3/10 interns are doing egregious things? the fuck are they hiring lol

 

Can't touch on @banking_bart's experiences, but since 2020 was online SAs and hybrid/fully remote in many cases in 2021, you can put not being online during working hours on top of the list. 

Having done an SA and having met the other 60 kids in my SA class, you'd be surprised how unprofessional a lot of interns act by showing up late, being underdressed, etc. A lot of kids seem to forget that college is a completely different ballgame than the workplace.

 

Definitely considering reneging at this point, EB's shouldn't have 65% return rates

 

Also crazy how many FTs they are taking, would love some insight from a PWP employee on what's going on, or I think there will be a lot of reneging judging by this thread.

 

Agreed this is the quote from a PWP associate, "return rate was about 65% this year, not sure why so low but maybe they found candidates they liked during FT" Why would you favor FTs over interns, I'm 100% sure 35% of the interns were not incompetent...

 

That’s consistent with the other intern viewpoints, but as someone whose been in banking for 10+ years, we always give preference to people who have the bulge experience.

Also, take a look at this thread. Interns whining about a random acceptance rate and thinking of reneging lol.

How about you have some self confidence and say to yourself I don’t care what the return rate / offer rate is for interns, I’m going to work hard and get a return offer. Why do you young people always look for the easiest road and freak out that one bank pays 10k higher base?

 

I choose a low EB for rx (Gugg/GHL) over Citi and I will try to explain my rationale:
-I know the group I will work with and I don't have to go through group placement
-I will be a generalist while I could get placed in a random coverage group I don't like at Citi since I don't have anyone who's pulling for me at Citi
-my Citi SD was so simple, extremely basic technicals (note I am not diversity) and the interviewers were not even trying to fake enthusiasm for being there 
-I think the average kid in my class will be more technical compared to the average kid at Citi, with such simple interviews for non diversity I can imagine that it is quite hard for Citi to screen candidates (not sure about the point you make about EB looking for fit while they have arguably tougher interviews)
-I will work on smaller teams and will get more exposure to clients sooner compared to Citi - not sure how stimulating it is to be on a deal with a bunch of other analysts

I am yet to be a SA so I welcome any advice or comments about my choice/thinking 

Totally agree on taking PWP over Citi

 

NYC RO rate was ~80%.  In past it has been higher but this class was less impressive, not sure why.  May be harder to find good candidates virtually, or Dartmouth is bad at picking kids, or both.  From what I've seen this isn't a result of the bar for a RO being raised, which is good news for incoming SAs.

Edit: actual rate was 14/19, was looking at an outdated list

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