USC Marshall Thoughts?

Hello all,
I am a senior in HS applying to college. My stats are alright but I think I'd have a pretty good chance at ED to USC Marshall. I know that it is often placed high on many lists, but am concerned about actual placement for IB/S&T. I would prefer to live in NYC/Chicago out of college and am concerned with how well USC places into those cities as I know it has very strong LA/SF pipelines. And in the case I couldn't really get to NYC/Chicago, how is the west coast banking scene?

12 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I’ve interacted with the school over the years. Mainly through their MBA program but have seen undergrads alumni on LinkedIn or Wall Street or whatever. It’s a pretty LA focused school. In my humble opinion it’s best suited for those who want  to settle in LA and make a life/career out there. Not really designed for NYC recruiting. There is plenty of respected finance out there. Mainly from the Milken era and things since. Moelis LA strong. Every bank / credit HF seems to have at least somewhat of an output there. Also could be helpful for tech / SF banking if you are open to that. Gaming obviously strong in Vegas and then energy in Houston. Chicago may be less of a stretch than NYC due to distance and less intense competition compared to NYC. Though I understand Chicago may be more industrial or consumer focused.


At USC there are prob some alumni pipelines and jobs for the Southern California area. If you go there would make sense to go through those. Once you are inside a bank like at Moelis LA or whatever. It could be easier to transfer to the NYc office. Or even like Canyon partners are whatever. Ares very good there too in credit. Leonard Green. Tons of good names. Doesn’t really seem a need to move to NYC. Visiting may be enough. But again I’ve lived in nyc my whole life and have been to socal maybe once lol. Oh yea - HL is already HQed in LA but has a fairly distributed workforce closer to clients and their niche industries wherever they are. 

Broader west coast banking, SF may be the biggest hub due to all the wealth made in tech over the last 20/30 years. 

Either way good luck. 

 

Thank you and appreciate the feedback. My main reason is just NYC/Chi culture + have lived in Westchester my whole life. Probably easier for me to leverage personal/family connections in NY but I'm sure LA is great as well.


 

 

Thank you and appreciate the feedback. My main reason is just NYC/Chi culture + have lived in Westchester my whole life. Probably easier for me to leverage personal/family connections in NY but I'm sure LA is great as well.

 

How would you compare to IU Kelley/Wisconsin/UF/Bucknell ? Those are closer to target schools for me, USC is super selective but ED will give a good edge. They usually “rank” lower on lists however have good programs to my knowledge

 

Not hard to place into NYC if you’re locked in, concerns on this site are very overblown. Source: current student who placed into NYC without being in TIS (ib workshop)

 

I went to USC and transferred to a school better suited for finance after my freshman year. USC is decent for the East Coast, imo. I know a lot of people who did place in NYC, but they put in considerably more work than my peers at my current school. Getting into the right clubs/frats matters a lot.

 

Very feasible to land West coast banking, and it's quite common to get East coast IB spots as well. A lot of it comes down to being prepared and making sure to join the right clubs (as is in any school), but it's not the end all be all.

Any firm and location is within reach coming out of USC, but it's still effectively a semi-target for East coast while being a true target for West coast. Overall, rate of people who seriously recruit and land is quite high relative to other semis/targets out there, so take that as you will.

 

Sit expedita vero soluta ut nulla sunt. Doloribus sunt eaque explicabo cupiditate totam. Fuga unde facilis ut voluptatem. Ut ut aut culpa. Quia laborum similique voluptas nihil illum officia. Laborum nam non saepe quam perspiciatis. Reiciendis unde maxime et et quis.

In officia fugit et voluptatem iusto perspiciatis. Consequuntur suscipit quibusdam laudantium error. Porro soluta dolores perspiciatis sequi et sint.

Earum quos aliquid consectetur et soluta voluptatibus. Consequuntur enim ut minima est facilis. Debitis est eum et ratione quis tempora. Molestiae odit iste in.

Nam et perferendis placeat voluptas. Culpa cupiditate nihil velit est sint. Numquam fugiat amet repudiandae eveniet reprehenderit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”