The IB forum has been equal parts helpful and toxic.

Be proud of yourself, you have accomplished something that most people are not able to out of undergrad. Remember that most people that talk shit about those places are 19/20 year old socially awkward kids, who tf cares about what they think. If this forum is making you feel that way, I would suggest that you disconnect from it and focus on other things that make you happy.

Put yourself together. Be proud that you made it there and don't listen to this crap. There are indeed toxic people on WSO but don't let them take it away from you. You've worked for it, and just because your bank is not on some stupid "top banks list" that interns here create when they are bored, doesn't mean that you will not get to experience all interesting stuff guys from top banks experience.

Fuck prestige. If you really like valuations and modeling, if you are really curious about researching companies, if you are like me and many other here and are able to put hours in preparing a model and feel like it's only been minutes, if you came to work in this field not because of some vague prestige and opaque opportunities, but because this is really what you are interested in, then this bullshit shouldn't matter to you. Just my 0.02$.

Congrats on your offer. Don't worry, I know how you are feeling as I came from a non target and had a lot of the same thoughts of, am I in the right place, is my career still going to be successful after landing an offer (at what this forum would consider a "low tier" shop). At the end of the day there are a few key things that you have to remember.

1. Don't beat yourself up because life satisfaction is truly determined by you. If you enjoy what you do and who you work with who cares where it is. If deals make you high and you love banking you don't have to jump to PE. If you like working in the MM then you don't have to work at a BB. Go do what you enjoy.

2. Careers are marathons not sprints. ("this is what unsuccessful people them themselves" - burnout at age 25 say) and you really have to enjoy what you do. If you are given challenging work and are in a spot with good mentors this can take your career to the next level, not the name on the front door (cough cough GS back office isn't getting you closer to running the world).

3. Once you are in banking it will not be the hardest thing in the world to lateral to another bank - if you decide that you have to be at a MF PE shop then lateral to a top BB.

I would not renege. You are on a great track to be well in the 1% of the richest countries in the world.

Over half the people here don't have full time jobs. Ignore them.

It is very easy to get caught up in the rat race when you begin working, but that is short lived for most people. Some people get caught up in it for their entire lives and are unhappy.

bitches only care about yo cash & money got no smell b

Okay, actual certified banker here. I have worked extensively on LBO financings with teams from RBC, WF, DB, and UBS. I have seen a number of sell-side M&A materials from Rothschild. All of these banks have excellent bankers and you can take your career far at any of them, and use them to go other places if you wish.

Aided and abetted by social media, your generation unfortunately has the biggest and easiest propensity to compare. You are on your own path; maximize your own happiness and success to the best of your ability. Happiness won't happen for you if you're comparing your bonus or salary numbers to others. Equip yourself with knowledge, experience, discipline, morality, and persistence. You have a long career and life, make something of yourself.

here’s a pro tip: don’t let stupid anonymous people on the internet bother you. literally nobody is like this in the real world. I bet 90% of these people saying this stuff don’t even have a job yet.

Don't listen to dumbasses on this site lol. Some people here need psychological help. In the few months I've been on this site, I've witnessed some kid posting embarassing pro UBS comments with the full name of another kid with an offer from UBS to I guess try to get his offer pulled or something. I also saw a post criticizing a Rutgers student who supposedly got a McKinsey offer and then after the post got negative traction, the Rutgers student posted with his irl name defending himself and advertising his recruitment business. Turns out he was the one who posted the critical post of himself in the first place.

If you still feel bad, just look at the leadership of some of the companies you most aspire to work for. The CEO of Goldman Sachs got rejected for their analyst program out of college and instead was an analyst at a MM called Irving Trust (now part of BNY Mellon)...

Ignore them and chart your own path. 10+ years ago, I posted a "finally broke into IB" thread, and the very first response told me I'd never get promoted to Associate. I've now worked in the industry for over a decade and amassed a seven-figure net worth, all while exclusively working at IBs that most of these college freshman commenters would scoff at (right before they email me and ask for an informational interview).

Don't let the views of others impact your own happiness. If someone won't allow themselves to be happy unless they're at PJT RSSG or Goldman TMT, I think that speaks more negatively about them than the person who's happy to be at your RBC/DB/UBS/WF type banks. IB is a very difficult industry to break into, so you should celebrate the fact that you broke in and not give 2 shits about what WhartonHardo22 says about Goldman or nothing.

I think another really underrated fact is that not everyone wants to be at a top group or bank. I didn't want to be at a BB or EB, so I targeted MMs instead. I got an offer at the bank I targeted most and I was honestly beyond excited even though most users on here would say it's a "Tier 2 or Tier 3 MM at best". At the end of the day, your situation is different than everybody else's; be yourself and be happy you got an offer at a solid bank. Yes, DB and UBS are still solid; Shocker, I know.

This site can be helpful, but more often than not it's super toxic. Select users have been super helpful, but that's more the exception rather than the rule.

Just because those banks arent good enough for some of us doesnt mean you shouldnt be proud of it bro. If you're happy with it, why does it matter what we think? Dont let others ruin it for you. Its like feeling inadequate just bc your university is not H/W

You should be proud of achieving any goals you set for yourself, and humble enough to realize that you didn't get there on your own. It is one thing to push a person to accomplish their best, but people on this site rarely do that and are too willing to bring down others. I recommend Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell to get some perspective and insight into what being "successful" really means.

once youve worked for a few years and have become an adult, you'll realize a lot of whats posted on this site is horseshit. It becomes pretty easy to identify the posters who are still in undergrad/1st year analyst or someone who has actually built a career.

No one bitches and moans about BB vs EB vs LMM vs MM in real life like the kids on this board do.

I go to a non target and worked my ass off for my offer. I had 25+ interviews which only translated into 3 super days. most of my interviews told me that if I went to a target I would have gotten a superday and 2 of the 3 super days yeilded no job offer but they said “we were impressed that someone who goes to a school like yours has your knowledge”. a lot of the banks are full of pretentious people who put all their value in labels. I got one offer and took it right away to a boutique bank that gets bashed on this website. yet this bank is doing pretty well right now and I’m going to be getting paid the exact same as all these people.

I am grateful for this opportunity and am comfortable enough in my own skin to have self worth and be proud of my offer. congrats on yours, you should be too

Echoing above just to say (I guess write) it out loud. At least 80% of the people who frequent this website do not have a full-time job. I would estimate that more than 50% have never been on an elevator in an investment bank yet still have deep insights into specific groups...astonishing.

This site is what you make of it...

I have no formal finance background, so I connected with a few bankers and PE guys here who showed me what I needed to know to do my first few deals and because of that we've had really really good returns.

Have also had the opportunity to talk to a few others here on the turnaround/distressed side too, all of whom were extremely generous with their time and routinely answer my stupid questions when I text them.

When I need help with oddball PE questions...I post here and often get pushed in the right direction.

The best part is that all of this is absolutely FREE! Patrick and his team have done a great job building a fantastic resource for people to learn anything they want to about finance and even network with very knowledgeable people. I would put this site up against some organizations I have paid $10,000+ a year to be a part of in-terms of value...

YMMV...but it really is a case of you get what you put into it.

also wanna point out that pretty much all of the dumb “if you are going to Goldman TMT kys” types of of comments come from either “prospect in IB” and “intern in IB.” who cares what those fucking college kids think they haven’t actually achieved anything in their careers yet

Dude, having an IB offer at any bank is great. Congrats, go crush it.

toxic is formula.

Don't let others fuck with your head. I repeat DO NOT LET OTHERS FUCK WITH YOUR HEAD.

Want concrete examples?

• One of my fellow associates back in the day let others tell him his bonus sucked and our smallish bank sucked. He complained to his client. The client told the bank (maybe to ask them to up his bonus). Bank fired his ass with prejudice and blackballed him in the industry.

• I let others fuck with my head and tell me PE / buyside was the nuts. I left my IBD training program early to go buyside, Missed out on key skills and contacts, and hobbled my career.

• People looked down on me in IR and cap intro. My old PE fund boss CEO said "you're just feeding sharks" when I was raising for HFs. HF clients sometimes also looked down on me. I could have done the job better if I didn't let them do that.

  I repeat DO NOT LET OTHERS FUCK WITH YOUR HEAD.

There are helpful people on this site. There are toxic people on this site. Just like in the real world, but with the added factor of anonymity, which brings out the assholes in many people (including on occasion myself if I don't check myself). Learn to differentiate, and learn how to ask the right questions in the right way to bring out the knowledge you need. I've learned a ton from people on this site and my career has benefited. I've also wanted to put my fist through the monitor sometimes. I've made some good online and offline friends here. This site is what you make of it.

Care less about what other people think.

Remember that many on this site are still in college, or no more than a year or so out of school. They don't really know much EXCEPT for how different banks are ranked, so of course they're going to focus on that.

You also have a lot of insecure overachiever types who are trying to build themselves up by shitting on other people.

The more time you spend working the more you'll realize that people don't really leave employers so much as they leave shitty managers and teams. It's like being in college where a good prof can make anything interesting. Again, many folks here don't have that perspective, or are doing highly commoditized work as IB analysts where it will be hard to judge a priori which team will be better (and where all teams kind of suck just due to the nature of the work).

Stop giving a shit about what other people think and live your life as you see fit. Problem solved!

Hey Congrats on the offer. I know it feels like a big accomplishment to get an offer and probably feels a bit frustrating to see the "crowd" not validating your accomplishment. Don't let them fool you and just keep doing what you are doing. At the same time, keep your head cool and realize that your career hasn't even begun. Breaking in may seem like the hardest step, but climbing up the ladder in this industry doesn't come for free, either. It is a competitive market and only the top performers survive in the end. Continue working hard, and come back to us 20 yrs later how successful you have become.

Hi everyone, just wanted to throw in my two cents to this forum. Very glad someone is speaking up about this and the relatively high positive inputs here - this is also very rare to see nowadays. Changed my status to anonymous to insulate my identity.

This website, like OP said, has been a godsend and hell. While employees from various banks/firms have shared honest feedback about their groups, markets, and recruiting tips, the amount of misleading info has been just as high. Nothing wrong with Patrick or the rest of the good WSO posters, simply the nature of unrestricted online discourse.

To a certain extent, I probably would have never been able to land my SA and FT gigs without WSO and you guys (and gals) on here. Your hours are terrible and stress at all time highs, yet you all have always found a way to answer questions and reply to DMs. The anonymous nature has allowed me to read/ask things I could NEVER bring up on networking calls when I was in college. (Stop here if you don't want to read about my story).

Last summer, I interned at a MM bank in NYC in their "top group" (label irrelevant but for the sake of OP's conversation continuity). Unfortunately, I did not land a FT offer despite my very strong mid-summer reviews; my Associates claimed there was a hiring freeze but this still absolutely destroyed my confidence (I think they were just trying to be nice since they did take the other summer intern in my group). My staffer gave me no input about why and I left that room bitter with no manila envelope as I went up to the security office to drop off my keycard. There are many areas where I personally THINK I should have improved on since I couldn't get reasons why I didn't get it (i.e navigating office politics, going the extra mile versus my fellow intern without stepping on his toes, resisting the urge to be over eager/"helpful" with seniors, etc.).

I knew last fall I only had 2-3 months to find a new home somewhere. The lack of a FT offer is a black mark on your back everywhere you go. Sure, there are people here who still landed on their feet somewhere and I go to a target school where people spun their failures into gigs that were sometimes even better than their internship shop. But I knew my odds were poor - during my informal rounds with a BB, the VP there liked me a lot and we even cracked jokes with each other in the Starbucks across the street inside the Brookfield Place. After a while he asks me about my return offer and I of course couldn't lie. He said "wow, wish you didn't tell me that. Well good luck with the job hunt and maybe keep in touch in a few years time if you still want [insert BB name here]." Was gutted and this more or less repeated maybe another 20 times at various shops and "unorthodox" groups like PJT's Secondaries, Evercore Shareholder Advisory, tiny boutiques in NYC, etc.

But I knew I had to keep going. My father survived the Cultural Revolution in China and risked his life dealing with less than stellar figures with criminal syndicate backings in Panama before he came to the US 30 years ago. He blew all his money in the dot com bubble and we dropped down to working class immigrant levels growing up. My grandparents survived the attrocities of Nanjing during WW2. I couldn't let my people down like that, what am I snowflake? So I kept my chin up and kept hitting the phones like an AE at a startup with less than 3 weeks of capital runway - desperate to pitch myself to any open suitors. I finally landed a job now in a buyside credit trading role at a F500 labeled firm with firm alums that had previously worked all throughout Wall Street (sell-sides, PE, HF, you name it) who have been here for decades even. As I start my job remotely this week in my own childhood bedroom, I couldn't been more thankful to WSO despite all the noise on the website. You just got to sort through all that debris in the mine if you want to find your gold (or palladium, that shit is hot stuff rn).