What if you are not at a target school?

I know target schools for bulge bracket banks are the ivys, but what about a school like the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University? It has a highly ranked undergraduate finance program, but none of the big investment banks seem to go there to recruit. Do you have a shot coming out of a school like that as an undergraduate looking to get an analyst position at a large investment bank? How do you get an interview?

11 Comments
 
Best Response
aem2011I know target schools for bulge bracket banks are the ivys, but what about a school like the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University? It has a highly ranked undergraduate finance program, but none of the big investment banks seem to go there to recruit. Do you have a shot coming out of a school like that as an undergraduate looking to get an analyst position at a large investment bank? How do you get an interview?

I would say your best bet is to search the forum for the dozens of threads on this topic.

 

If they don't come to you, then you will have to go to them. Indiana may not be a target for NY, but like drexelalum said, check out the Chicago offices. Network, network, network. Get involved in the finance clubs. Is there an investment banking club? If not, start one. Reach out to alumni. Target your networking, and be realistic; if you cold call / cold email, you'll have much more success reaching out to MMs and boutiques. Land an internship with one of them and continue your networking.

 

agree with olafenizer. be proactive - go out there and call people. in my experience, banks like to see that kind of drive in their applicants. who knows - you might end up setting yourself apart from some target school applicants who expect their meals to be served to them.

 

Just because you're not at a target does not mean you can't go into IB. You will need to really get the GPA up and focus on making sure you can gather as much experience as possible. You need to convince the banks that you're as good, if not better than the Ivy kids.

 
aem2011I know target schools for bulge bracket banks are the ivys, but what about a school like the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University? It has a highly ranked undergraduate finance program, but none of the big investment banks seem to go there to recruit. Do you have a shot coming out of a school like that as an undergraduate looking to get an analyst position at a large investment bank? How do you get an interview?

For SA positions this summer at big banks, IU placed 8 at BAML, 1 at Citi, 2 at DB, 4 at Goldman, 7 at JPM, 1 at Lazard, 2 at MS, 1 at Nomura, 1 at HSBC, and 5 at UBS.

For all banks, IU placed 38 IBD internships, 7 PWM, 5 research, and 5 S&T.

And actually, NY was a more popular destination than Chicago. 23 SAs went to NY, 18 to Chicago.

 

I thought they had a pretty decent IB program there. As one person said, you'd better get in that program or you'll have no chance. The program looked to be pretty competitive when I read about it. Many schools don't have something that serious so you're lucky.

 

While the workshop boasted a 100% internship placement (not sure about FT), I think ~4 kids who weren't in the program got an internship in IBD this summer. But 4/1375 is about a 0.3% chance.

 

Praesentium dolor quia quis soluta officiis quia eaque. Sit animi sint vel qui. Non quas aspernatur debitis qui ea vero hic. Vitae ut et possimus.

Explicabo tempora quibusdam ullam laborum consequatur. Sed et quasi dolor dolor nesciunt ea ipsam. Et similique laborum laboriosam et quis porro. Non enim sint rerum quis.

Eaque suscipit a tempora libero vero totam. Tempore qui est numquam quia qui dolorem.

Qui sapiente et soluta voluptas autem. Eligendi minus similique voluptatem velit fuga sed eum quidem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $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
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”