Kellogg vs Darden MBA for IB/PE
Hi guys, I'm an international student and my post-MBA career goal is US BB/EB first then to US/HK PE. I got admitted by both Kellogg and Darden for MBA, given my background and goals, which school would you recommend?
Kellogg has higher rankings, but it seems that they have less students looking for IB/PE opportunities? Darden's rank is lower, but I heard their recruiting for IB is pretty strong.
Im a Darden first year, happy to answer any questions. But as a start, Ill paste what wrote in a similar topic.
We have a dedicated career services team for just IB, there is an annual trip up to NY to meet with the banks, and almost weekly recruiting events on campus in the fall. Ive networked with tons of alum from the Associate level to the MD level at EBs and BBs. In all the interviews I did I only had one person ask "why did you go to a consulting school"?
It may be a question of where you want to end up. You tagged your post as West and Midwest, so Ill assume thats where uou want to go in the US. I would expect Kellogg to have more contacts in places in the Midwest like Chicago while Darden has more in South,assuming you want to end up on the West Coast, Darden isnt nearly as strong on the West Coast as it is on the East Coast. Both are obviously a ways from NY but Darden may have the slight edge there as its on the East Coast.
Thanks for your reply! I applied in R2 and got no money from either school. I learnt that the hit rate at Darden for IB is super high, what do you think is the reason behind and how would you comment on the strength of Darden's network in IB/PE?
Sorry edited my comment above to give more depth as you were replying.
I think hit rate is high for IB because the school puts a decent amount of resources behind it. as I mentioned, we have a dedicated career services team for just IB, there is an annual trip up to NY to meet with the banks, and almost weekly recruiting events on campus in the fall.
The network is very strong, Ive networked with tons of alum from the Associate level to the MD level at EBs and BBs
For on campus recruiting Its a solid mix of BB, MM, and EB. Ive pulled the recruiting schedule from the October - November events this past year:
2022-10-04 Citi
2022-10-04 Citi
2022-10-05 Credit Suisse (RIP)
2022-10-05 Harris Williams
2022-10-06 Bank of America Securities
2022-10-24 Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.
2022-10-26 Silicon Valley Bank (RIP)
2022-10-28 Houlihan Lokey
2022-11-14 Citi
The following is a list of banks that people got via 2nd year recruiting (couldn't find a similar list for 1st year recruiting) aka they either didnt get a return offer or they didnt want to return to the bank they summered at:
Class of 2022: 2 Morgan Stanley (SF, Palo Alto), 1 Harris Williams (VA), 1 Guggenheim (NY), 1 JP Morgan (NY), 1 Lazard (Boston), 1 Lazard (NY), 2 Jefferies (NY), 1 Wells Fargo (NC), 1 Wells Fargo (NY), 1 Bank of America (NY), Barclays (SF), JP Morgan (SF), UBS (NY), Houlihan Lokey (NY) - 12 full time offers accepted via Second Year Recruiting
Class of 2021: 1 William Blair (NY), 2 Harris Williams (VA), 1 Harris Williams (VA)*, Houlihan Lokey (MN), Marathon Capital (IL), 1 Lazard (NY) - 5 full time offers accepted via Second Year Recruiting
Hi do you also happen to have some data regarding FT offers through 1st year recruiting(summer return offers), and summer intern offers?
I havent done any PE recruiting so I cant speak to that but, looking at the alumni directory theres a reasonable chunk of Alum in PE. PEClub also had a confrence this past weekend with great turn out.
FYI they have all of the same things he just listed at Kellogg. Dedicated IB person in career services (who is an alum who previously worked in IB), study groups organized by second years, on campus presentations by every BB and top EB, people going to every BB and top EB every year, and alumni pulling hard for Kellogg candidates, (with less disbursement because there are only like 30 people recruiting IB at Kellogg competing for 15 banks). Past years JPM hired the most, but part of this was that some people turned down offers at e.g. MS because they preferred their specific group at JPM.
In terms of Chicago location I would say it adds opportunities in Chicago MM (because K is a top 2 choice for those banks) but does not remove NYC/SF opportunities (because most IB candidates go to NYC).
plus then Kellogg is recognized as significantly more prestigious than UVA
I mean I figured that would be the case, I assume any reputable business school would. But I have no Insight on Kellogg
No shade. Just replying to the other detailed response on UVA. Kellogg has specific IV resources and does not funnel you to Chicago unless you want it to.
Hi I wanna double confirm that all major BB and EB do on campus recruiting at Kellogg? or will fewer banks recruit at Kellogg due to a relatively small group (30/500) of students looking for IB opportunities? I would also like to hear your thoughts on the strength of network or reputation of Kellogg in IB/PE. Many thanks!
Cant speak for him, but honestly any target school is going to have a lot of the same banks recruiting. Also will add that not every BB and EB is going to go to every school, Darden included
GS, MS, JPM, Citi, BOA, CS
EVR, PJT, Moelis, Lazard, Greenhill
HL, Piper, Baird, Lincoln
wow that's so informative and helpful. what do you think is the mix between BB/EB/MM in terms of IB offers? btw summer return offer seems extremely critical to get a full-time job according to the 2nd year recruiting data you posted
Id have to look into the data but the majority end up going to BB followed closely by MM and a handful go to EB
got it, thanks
Went to Darden and believe it actually gives you an outsized chance at IB recruiting. The student body has become more and more consulting focused over the years and the group recruiting for banking has shrunk immensely.
This is a huge advantage, as there is a large alumni network and hiring team at every bank, but a small and often uncompetitive group of students. Would say if you speak a modicum of English and can hold a conversation you have a 99% chance of landing a BB IB job.
do the banks have fixed quota for Darden so they have to fill even if some students are non-competitive, or will they just slash the # at Darden and hire more at other school? Plus why would you describe students looking for IB at Darden often uncompetitive? i think Kellogg also has a smaller group of students recruiting for IB, will it be more competitive at Kellogg?
The #s for Darden are not fixed, but Darden is a core school almost every BB on the street in at least some groups. It is in mine for instance and Kellogg was not. The overall # hired is pretty fixed and Darden alumni usually want to hire Darden folks.
When I say uncompetitive I mean a huge portion of the Darden IB contingent is made up of internationals who don’t speak great English and thus are at a disadvantage. There’s also a good number of people who are more mathematically inclined than well socialized. I’m not trying to be rude or discriminatory, but this is my experience. The major factor in getting hired is building relationships and people wanting to work with you, so you could see how that is a disadvantage. I’ll caveat by saying even most of those people end up with offers, save for a select few who really have trouble communicating.
Again, Kellogg has the same dynamic
yea think so, regarding the core school point, is Kellogg a core school for those 15 banks that do OCR?
Are you Chinese? If so, go to Kellogg
haha yes, but why would you say so
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