How hard is it to break into PE out of undergrad out of Duke?
I'm heading to Duke next year, and while I'm extremely excited, I'm slightly disappointed I didn't get into HYPSW, as I pretty much spent the last 4 years of my life grinding away with their acceptance as my goal. I'm sure I'll have no problems landing a FO IB role from Duke, but I've had a growing interest in Private Equity for the last two years, and have realized that essentially nobody from Duke lands a MF PE role straight out of undergrad. From my limited browsing, most of the time the programs (KKR, BX, etc) go to Harvard, Stanford, or Wharton kids. So, if anyone has any experience with PE undergrad, could you give me a little more insight as to how important your undergrad institution is to breaking in? Thanks.
Best route is to get a Top BB/EB internship and then try to network your way through FT recruiting at a MF. I know Blackstone recruits at Duke, not sure about the others. You'll have a ton of opportunities. Focus on your GPA, have good finance experience/interest, and grind your way through networking. If you can't get a MF PE offer out of undergrad, shoot for a BB/EB first and try again.
There are some kids at H/S/W that have trouble breaking into banking, let alone MF PE. There are also kids at Duke that end up at less "prestigious" firms. It's good that you have ambition, but don't forget that you don't deserve anything just because you're at Duke.
Think about why you want to work at a MF? Don't sleep on MM/UMM PE opportunities. The same ones that almost all Ivy kids would die for. Cast your net wide. Everything from MM/BB/EB IB and MM/UMM/MF PE. You can start being selective once the offers come rolling in. You don't want to be that guy that ends up with nothing because he was only shooting for Megafunds out of undergrad. The recruiting process is highly unpredictable and luck is very much involved.
I go to one of the schools you mentioned (H/S/W), and some of the kids that are doing Blackstone and KKR are doing it through family connections, not because of the school they attend.
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