Can Anybody Do It?

I went to a public high school in a reguler, upper-middle class neighborhood, and some kid in my graduating class went to Harvard. Why are parents spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on private schools? Can't anyone, with the right amount of effort, get into the Ivy's?

4 Comments
 

Short answer is yes. I went to a public HS in an upper middle suburb like you, and like you we’d send our top ~3-5 out of 180 to HYPSM and the next best 20-30 would go to targets.

But the prep school kids did a little better and we know this because many of our classmates transferred to prep in high school and we saw where they ended up. Some were average in our school and wouldn’t have gotten into targets but got into low targets (think Michigan) as a result of going to prep. Saw that every year.

If you’re gunning for Harvard you have to be so strong anyway that it probably doesn’t matter where you go. But for most schools prep gives a little edge.

 

Quasi odio minima quia adipisci quos. Praesentium repellat nulla non accusantium doloribus. Minima vitae non dolor impedit porro.

Aspernatur alias unde temporibus aut non. Sit eos illo accusamus aut. Optio optio voluptas ut architecto nihil veritatis omnis. Eos magni fugiat magnam id. Iste ipsam dolores aut voluptas porro et rerum. Quae quibusdam id voluptatem.

Array

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 (65) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”