Boutique Investment Bank to Top Biz School

BTbankerYou will have to be more specific.

I'd say 99.99% of people have never heard of Lincoln International, yet they place at HBS.

I don't think he is referencing a Lincoln, more along the lines of a small regional or niche bank (50 employees). I would be interested to hear about this as well.

They don't. You are responsible for placing yourself into any post analyst stint be it another full time gig or school You should solicit letters of recommendation from Officers and other colleagues who you have done a bang up job for along the way.

Look for old resume books. There are a few out there (although the ones I saw might not be considered top 10 - think UVA) and there are a decent number of people from banks most people have never heard of. But it's really up to you to get there as the above poster said.

Generally they work as analysts and probably a year or two as an associate before entering from my experience. Depends on the shop, but it's up to you to spin the story.

I'd opt for boutique IB over FoF. We all like to think our lives are on a linear path (2 years of this, then 2 years of that, followed by ruling the world, etc), but we can really only control the present and maybe the immediate future.

Once you diverge from the IB path, it is VERY hard to get back on it. You have to make the best of your present situation and IMO the best option for you is the boutique IB.

Not as important as how you convey your experience, your essays, your recs, and your GMAT.

Both jobs are in finance, and for bschool admission purposes, the differences between both jobs are moot. You will be lumped into the finance applicants, and the most important differentiating factor in that pool is to have solid extracurriculars. For choosing which job, think about what you want out of bschool and what path you want to take. If it's more HF focused, go to the FoHF. If IB, go IB.

if you believe that you could take more responsibility at the boutique than you could take at the FoF- than you'd be better of at the boutique wrt to your MBA application's experience part- this will also help you bulk up your resume and will give you a good hand while looking for your MBA job. I have spent my last 2 years in a local i-bank that no one (from the US adcoms) has ever heard of- but just took good respons. and has been able to convey it firmly in my essays, interviews etc. I might not have had this valuable experience if I went on to work at a BB's local office here (not that I had any offers!) but there is also another side to this issue, as others have stated above- if you want to do IB so badly- take the boutique, else, wanna do HF take the FoF. Yet, anyway should be possible- no one will opt you out from IB recruitment just because you did hedge funds pre-MBA... my 2 cs...