Does delaying oncycle really hurt your chances?

Hi all,

I've quickly realized I am in no way ready to recruit oncycle. How much would it hurt me to delay recruitment to oncycle next year as an A2? I've heard you become less desirable as a second year, but I wanted to see how true that was.

525 WSO Academy Private Equity Session Reviews: 4.82/5

Class of '30 Jul 2026 Cohort

5.00/5

Private Equity Other

“Javier Barrena provided really detailed walkthrough on how he approached a similar tasking before, and although I entered the session not knowing how to approach this case study at all, I have a much clearer picture now. This session was extremely effective, and it's fortunate that he had the availability to do this despite my case study task coming in at a very last minute.”

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

Class of '18 Nov 2026 Cohort

4.56/5

Private Equity Mock Coffee Chat

“Jorge was very practical and generous with his time. He gave me a clear action plan: tighten my elevator pitch to under 2 min, do a weekly modelling case study, and prep technicals, market questions and behaviourals. His networking advice (always ask each contact for 1-2 more names, track fund closes to spot hiring windows, a list of London infra headhunters) was very actionable. He also referred me internally to Nuveen within a week. Only point to improve: I’m still waiting for his feedback on the case studies I sent.”

See All 11,471 WSO Academy Reviews

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HFnerd

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3y

Do you actually become less desirable?

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Analyst 1 in IB-M&A

3y

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Does delaying oncycle really hurt your chances?

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Does delaying oncycle really hurt your chances?

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