How are Booth, Kellogg, and Columbia for Post-MBA PE?

Similar background. I was 2 years MM PE to MBA and back to MM PE (all NYC).

I'm opinionated on this one, but my take after going through it all is that b-school other than a H/S/W isn't really worth it. I say that because chances are that if you are working in PE you already have access to a fantastic personal network and the network of your colleagues. If you intend to stay in industry and have an offer to stay I would really recommend it unless you truly do just want the break or want to try something new. My question for you is what do you want to get out of going back to B-school? Do you just want to have a break for 2 years? Try a new industry? Launch a start-up?

Recruiting for post-MBA positions is difficult for the non H/S/W MBA business schools">M7 (not a cakewalk for HSW either but their representation on the street is larger). There are pros and cons. Generally, there are fewer people trying to recruit into PE from the other M7s, so the network that is out there in industry tends to look out for their own and many firms that are recruiting are happy to have candidates from multiple programs. This is to say if you might find yourself as 1 of 4 folks from Sloan who have reached out to a certain firm vs. 1 of 30 from Wharton. On the other side, the other M7's networks represented on the street are smaller so your chances of finding a grad from your program at X fund you're really interested in might be lower; there are still decent odds you find somebody but there might be 3-4 partners from H/S/W.

In terms of recruiting itself, firms know they are in the driver seat. It is like recruiting Associates where your funnel might start with 50-70 kids targeting 2-4 hires, but I'd say it's to a more extreme level as they are making what is typically viewed as a Partner track role... they might interview 20-30 people for 1 spot, with almost the entire interviewee pool coming from industry prior to school or are current in industry laterals. This is an unsaid thing, but many funds outside the upper MM and megafunds will not only be recruiting from MBAs but also looking at laterals as well. My recruiting process was ~15 first round / second round calls or individual meetings with partners, of which I received superdays at a little over half of those firms. Going into superdays I always knew there were at least 4-5 others on that day alone, again... for that 1 seat. So most of my crew ended up finding homes they enjoy by the Spring of our second year, but it is a painful process to know that even if you do everything right and it's a good culture fit, that other guy sitting next to you in the lobby might have just said one thing that made the difference for them to take the spot. If you put your head down and grind you will be successful, but in my mind if you are in the industry and happy I don't see a reason to go back. If you don't like your firm or want a break, go after lateral positions and negotiate 2 months off to go travel.

Again, b-school is a personal decision to be made, but I didn't do enough vetting on my side of things before going into it and would not go back and redo it. That being said, no regrets. I had a blast for 2 years. Spent money like I was still clipping a pay-check, added about 15 countries to my belt, and met some really amazing folks I never would have before. Working in NYC finance puts you in a bubble and I would have never had as much exposure to the tech / start-up scene if I hadn't gone back.

Note: I edited to add a little clarity and clean this up as I wrote it fairly quickly yesterday.