My 2026 On-Cycle Experience

Read through a lot of threads like this when I was prepping for on-cycle, so figured I’d pay it forward with a walkthrough of my experience. Recently signed with a lower-tier MF fund and wanted to share what actually helped me versus what I probably spent too much time worrying about.

Background

EB bank but not a top group internally. Target school, solid GPA. Came into banking knowing I wanted PE, but I definitely didn’t feel like I was coming in with some massive technical edge. I didn’t have a ton of formal modeling reps early on and, relative to some peers in my group, felt a bit behind on pure execution coming out of the SA role.

Prep

I started prepping very early in senior spring, assuming on-cycle would be in the summer. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Because of the shifting timelines, I ended up in a weird spot where I had seen a lot of the material once, but by the time things actually kicked off, I had forgotten more than I expected and had to play catch-up.

During that period, I mostly studied on weekends when possible, usually a few hours at a time. Once things got closer and outreach picked up, that ramped up significantly.

Early on, I used a mix of old case studies and standard PE prep materials. These were helpful for understanding mechanics and concepts, but in hindsight, they weren’t what moved the needle the most. The biggest improvement came later, once I shifted almost entirely to doing reps under time pressure.

Practicing old modeling tests was by far the most helpful part of my prep. I did a lot of these, tried to do around five a week when possible. The goal wasn’t perfection, but getting comfortable building something clean, logical, and defensible quickly. Speed, structure, and not freezing mattered much more than edge cases. Seeing how different parts of the model moved also helped understand the drivers for case studies.

Once headhunters started reaching out, that was the real signal. If HHs are calling, you need to be ready. Things move extremely fast from that point, and there’s no time to cram fundamentals.

HHs / Interviews / On-Cycle

Headhunters were less about “helping” and more about filtering. Early conversations weren’t evaluative in a formal sense, but they absolutely shaped which processes I got pulled into and how fast things moved. Being clear, concise, and realistic about preferences mattered more than trying to sound impressive. Know the funds you are interested in, what their strategies are, and why those strategies align with your interests. Once processes started, HHs became information conduits, relaying interest, nudging timelines, and occasionally forcing decisions earlier than expected. CPI was the most helpful for me.

For interviews, know your deals inside and out. Every single interview drilled into deal experience, often choosing one randomly. You can’t just have one favorite deal memorized.

I made one-page cheat sheets for each deal I worked on so I could clearly explain what the business actually does, why the deal made sense, what drove returns, how I contributed, and what I personally thought about it. That helped a lot when explaining things under pressure.

Modeling tests were generally more straight-forward than people fear, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy. If you did the reps, they’re mostly about execution and staying organized. If you didn’t, it’s very easy to make a small mistake that snowballs. This is one of the few parts of the process where you really don’t want an unforced error.

Mental Bandwidth

Something that surprised me was how mentally exhausting on-cycle actually is. It’s not just interviews, it’s managing calls, texts, emails, scheduling, and constantly switching context, all on top of your normal banking gig. 

Once on-cycle and coffee chats actually start, everything accelerates. You’ll get last-minute interviews, unexpected calls, and overlapping processes. You will not have time to think strategically in the moment. Having a ranked fund list ahead of time was critical for me. 

Reality

You really only get one clean shot at the initial wave, and being ready matters more than people want to admit. Don’t overthink optics or convince yourself you’ll “figure it out as you go.” 

I know this was on the shorter end, but happy to answer detailed questions on prep, the process itself, HHs, or anything else below or discuss further via PM.