How sunk am I coming from a state school?

I see a lot of emphasis on WSO being put on going to a "target" or "semi-target" school, and am wondering how hard it is coming from an unsexy state school.  Would love to hear from people who didn't go to a prestigious school how hard it was to break into an nyc BB. I am having a very difficult time weighing the pros and cons of dumping an extra 120k to go to a semi-target, as I have no idea how the recruiting process works, and how much the brand names of the schools matter. Schools are Washington and Lee/Boston College vs. University of Minnesota if that helps. 

2 Comments
 

If you are confident in your ability to place into a club/workshop at state school (Ex: Kelley IBW/IBS) the extra 120k is not worth it.

Placement into these clubs could be determined by diversity, technical knowledge, how hard you are willing to work, social skills/connections. If you check the boxes on previous, probably not worth 120k as you have a good shot at state school workshops/clubs.

Minnesota IBC not a great example as SA placement is not the best.

 

Officia velit tenetur explicabo dolorem aut reprehenderit iste repellat. Et ab sint neque quia numquam cumque. Laudantium provident sapiente maxime debitis nihil amet sunt saepe.

Soluta optio veritatis doloribus ratione aperiam. Beatae rerum aperiam eligendi repellendus aliquam.

Doloremque est aperiam dolorem reprehenderit est quasi earum. Non odio numquam corporis sunt dolorum. Rerum quia illo dolores autem magni quia aperiam. Magnam sit sed nulla et fugiat qui facere. Voluptatem vitae consequatur tenetur molestias molestiae nam.

Veritatis maiores iusto iusto necessitatibus et enim. Dolorum in fugit numquam earum. Id architecto velit et aspernatur enim ipsum.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”