I currently attend a non-target school who got an offer for a FO 2022 SA position at a BB. Was wondering whether being from a non-target would reduce my chances of getting a FT return offer. Does school prestige (target vs. non-target) factor into the FT return offer decision? Or is the return offer decision primarily based on performance.
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UK perspective - if anything, offers might be higher for non/semi-targets. It's quite easy here for Oxford/Cambridge/Imperial/LSE people to sneak through interviews by virtue of university name, knowing some basic financials, and being used to behavioural questions. The people who make it through from true non-targets (not Durham or Edinburgh) are often genuinely brilliant and will be the top performers in their teams.
And yes, return offers are mostly performance (and fit) based.
Edinburgh is a semi-target, is it not?
That's why he said that the "true non-target" bucket does not include Durham or Edinburgh.
agree
Performance. the only way that school impacts return rates in my experience is if there's a big pipeline from a certain school- say, Dartmouth- and all the Dartmouth analysts/associates/VPs push for the dartmouth interns to get return offers, or are even just subconsciously biased and are more friendly with the kids from their school and then vouch for them more. This is just as much the case (even more so, sometimes) if there's a strong pipeline from either a semi-target or a non-target, as these alumni often look after each other even more than target alums. Other than that, I don't think anyone considers school prestige.
School = Interviews/network
Skills in Interviews = Offers
Typically students at non targets also have a higher degree of preparation in interviews due to the fact that many of their collogues also get interview thus they can "compare notes".
I understand that school name matters in the interviews; however, my question was whether school name would be a factor in who gets the FT return offer following the summer internship program.
From my experience, it does not.
Yes school name matters. If anything it at least program your interviewer subconscious to think that if you went to Oxbridge you’re at least half decent
I understand that school name matters in the interviews; however, my question was whether school name would be a factor in who gets the FT return offer following the summer internship program.
I would say if you’re average, being from Oxbridge could save you. If you’re Really mediocre, it won’t.
However if you’re a star intern, people Will keep you whatever your school. In fact, if you don’t screw up and look decently eager, they will keep you.
I don’t think it matters. Once you are there as long as you can do a good job and try your best I think you’ll be fine. Hopefully though. Not sure if any of your deal teams may know where you went to school even and/or care. Work is work. College is college. It’s not that big of a difference where you went to school once it’s time to actually get work done in my humble opinion. Good luck
It doesn’t matter. Assuming you’re not in a group/bank that purposely overhires interns for few limited full-time spots (which is pretty rare), your school won’t make a difference.
You’re simply fighting for your own full-time spot, so your performance/personality is significantly more important
As far as the final round table goes, no, I do not believe that school is a factor.
However, there are other ways that school might impact return offer rates. If your school has a large pipeline at the bank, you will probably have planned alumni events throughout the summer. Alumni might try getting feedback on your performance throughout the summer and then work with you to address any issues. The alumni group is also an extra network you have at your disposal to get advice on securing a return. Finally, an alumni in your group might be more likely to go to bat for you.
I’m sure it helps but only so much. In my intern class, Penn and Cornell had ~60% return rate, while my semi target was 100%. I think it’s more important to have a good alumni network at the bank. My schools recruiting and retention shot up cause we had an MD pulling for everyone behind the scenes but also helping us make the right connections and perform well
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