Which is harder?

How would you rank the difficulty of these 4 tasks?

1) getting into a target school

2) getting into a BB/elite boutique or at least a top MM from a target school

3) getting into a solid PE shop from a BB/top MM

4) getting into a top B-school with solid PE + IB experience

16 Comments
 

Ok getting into a target school just means you have to work hard in high school. Easy...

BB out of undergrad is all about networking and GPA and knowing your shit.

next would be getting into a top Bschool from IB/PE.

lastly, of course, would be getting into a solid PE firm. This is by far the toughest.

-- "Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say."
 

Getting into a target school is not that difficult if you do reasonably well in high school. Over the past two years though, getting into a BB or elite boutique has become much more difficult. Hopefully 2011 will be better. Getting into a top B-School is tough, but it is easier if you are coming from a top-tier firm. Harvard grad school has many ex-GE, GS, JPM, and McKinsey students. Getting into a solid PE firm post grad school is very difficult right now. Cheers to those who have been successful.

 

Think of it this way....

The top and driven from high school go to targets The top and driven (and interested) from targets go to BBs The top of the BB classes go to the Top BSchools The top PE firms recruit from the Top BSchools

Reality hits you hard, bro...
 
MMBinNCThink of it this way....

The top and driven from high school go to targets The top and driven (and interested) from targets go to BBs The top of the BB classes go to the Top BSchools The top PE firms recruit from the Top BSchools

A lot of brilliant students at target schools don't go into banking. Some do, but the cream of the crop usually go into elite grad and med schools, or work at places like google, microsoft, mckinsey, de shaw, citadel.

 

I would say getting into a target school is really challenging. and the thing is that once you're there, once you've put your foot in the door, the rest pretty much comes automatically. going to a target means more chances of going into BB....etc

 

Some places do, some don't. I've heard of quite a few places that will direct-promote their top associates to seniors/VPs, but have also heard of quite a few places that treat the commitment similarly to a banking analyst -- two years and you're gone. Some go to MBA, some go on to other funds. It's something you can generally get a feel for before joining the firm/during interviews.

 

Try getting into top target schools as an unhooked white or- even worse- Asian applicant.

Stanford has 5.X% acceptance rate this year.

Approx 0.5% are given to legacies, 0.5% given to recruited athletes, 1.0% to less than stellar native americans / 1st gen blacks / latinos, 0.1% to development applicants (building donors), remainder is split up between near perfect applicants.

getting into HYPMS is ridiculous this year for white and asian males without legacy or some hook.

 

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