MM PE vs. Consulting vs Credit out of Undergrad
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I don't want to get into the MBB/IB vs undergrad PE debate as you can't really go wrong with either of those however imo, it would be a stupid move to go credit vs the other options you have. Also, which MBB firm? If goal is PE, MBB are not equal in terms of placement.
Wouldn't the Credit firm's name (Ares, Apollo, KKR, etc) open a lot of doors? For reference, have done a summer in banking
I'd take Ares
Don't start off in credit, it's a really easy thing to switch into down the road and way too specialized if that isn't what you want to do career track (obvi a place like Sankaty at Bain etc. or top fund would be good enough to allow you to transition to other roles later but I wouldn't really recommend it). Tougher decision between consulting and mm pe
What are pros/cons of consulting vs mm pe?
He listed BX, Apollo, Ares as the credit options. GSO doesn't really recruit undergrads and Apollo only does for direct lending as far as I know. Ares credit and its a good job. If he's unsure about finance as a career, take MBB. If definitely finance, then take either MM PE or Ares. Ares opens more HF doors imo, but either is good. It also really depends on the MM PE firm.
As people have said, don't do credit. Personally I'd go MM PE instead of MBB to start. People will say MBB will keep more of your options open down the road, which is true, but at the same time, most people do Consulting or Banking as a means to get to PE. You'll always have the chance to get back into MBB. PE will limit you a little bit, but honestly if its a good program you'll have two years as an analyst where you'll learn a lot, worst case is that theres not path to associate for you, but as long as the shop has a good name you'll have a decent shot at lateralling to another shop should you want to continue in PE. If you don't, again the good name of the PE shop should make it easy to find jobs in industry. Or you could potentially apply and go straight back to business school, at which point a strong PE shop name should go far(even though you'd be a bit young at 2 years)
While banking and consulting do a good job of building fundamental skills, at the end of the day, they're usually just means to an end for other jobs.
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