The Case for Semi-Targets

Theoretically, let's say a bank is looking to hire 10 students from a target school. They need to get a lot of diversity, so 4 spots are reserved for URMs. Also, target schools are full of well-connected kids; 3 spots go to children of clients and other strategic hires. That means 3 spots are left over for the non-diversity, less connected candidates. The 40-50 kids who fall into this category compete viciously with each other for these 3 spots. Most of them will be disappointed.

I go to a semi-target (one almost never mentioned on this forum) with pipelines into some but not all banks and recently received a top BB offer. 4 people from my school superdayed for my group. Excluding myself, their GPA ranged from 3.6-3.85 and their work experience consisted of local LMM PE and boutique IB internships. Alumni pulled and I got in along with one other candidate. I also had superdays with several megafunds and top EB's due to alumni networking. 

I was accepted to a couple of target schools in high school but chose to attend my current college for financial reasons. At the time, I was devastated because I thought my Wall Street ambitions were doomed. However, I think it has been the opposite--I may have actually placed better than I would have from target school. Plus, classes are easy, weekends are a blast and the shorties are excellent.

I still worry a little about PE recruiting tho. It sounds like target status may actually matter more for on-cycle.