Is Penn State A Semi-Target School?
Penn State has quietly been building out its presence on Wall Street primarily through two finance clubs, the Nittany Lion Fund (NLF) and Leveraged Lion Capital (LLC). These two clubs are premiere training grounds for IB/S&T/PE roles and consistently have great placements. On the side is the Asset Management Group (AMG), which tends to send a couple kids to S&T roles each year. While buy side placements are lacking, seems like Penn State is a no brainer if you’re interested in sell side…
Full list of 2026 recruiting cycle below. Is Penn State finally on the map??
34 Placements:
3 EB: EVR M&A, EVR ECM, LAZ Rx
11 BB: GS FIG, GS FSSG, GS LevFin (x2), GS ECM, GS Dallas, BofA Generalist, MS Cap Markets, MS Real Estate, Citi FIG (x2)
5 MM: RJ Tech, TD Generalist (x2), SMBC LevFin, Piper Sandler PCA
8 S&T: BofA (x4), GS, JPM, Citi, Wells Fargo
2 PE: BDT & MSD, Renovus Capital
Problem is that’s out of like 10,000 kids just in the business school. The top 0.2% of any school will have good outcomes - the median student at lower-ish semi-targets like Vanderbilt or USC though will have much better opportunities. Comparably sized semi-targets like UT send 20+ kids to each BB, so the numbers look good but really aren’t that impressive for the school.
They have a great student fund that prepares the top x% of the business school well, but the name of the school itself doesn’t get you anywhere (outside of the admittedly impressive alumni network).
Not a semi-target, but a very good place to be if you can get into one of the finance clubs and want to save 100k+ in tuition. Happy valley whiteouts are also an unparalleled sports experience.
-Another nontarget in IB
Edit: Would bucket Penn State with "non-targets with impressive student funds/IB prep clubs that make it possible but difficult to break in": PSU, Florida, ASU, Alabama, UGA, UW Madison, FIU - IU Kelley seems to be the cream of the crop in this group with the IBW.
I would assume that semi-targets have IB prep clubs too, the question is at what point do these clubs turn a school into a semi-target? At IU Kelley are kids outside of the IBW still placing?
Is absolutely a semi target now, while yes you are correct that the top 0.2% of any school will have good outcomes, it is not hard to be the top 0.2% of PSU Smeal when half the kids are in supply chain management or marketing. If you come to PSU as a kid who failed to get into a traditional target school, you will get an offer if you are in LLC or NLF (less so NLF this year) at PSU.
Not sure why we’re seeing NLF shade…though historically NLF has performed well. This year the NLF has a diversified interest base, with some focusing on quant and commodity trading. LLC has done great given stronger S&T placements. I would classify the NLF as more IB/MF focused. Thoughts?
PSU has gradually expanded its placements over the past few years. I think it’s close to being a semi-target if it isn’t already.
Congratulations on your admission to Penn State!
Slightly shittier IU Kelley, so nothing special.
PSU’s growth is the special part, placements over the last 5 years have been amazing. The school will def continue to get better
Ok, so it’ll get to about IU Kelley level max. Doesn’t mean it’s going to become so amazing that it’ll compete with Ivy+ Schools and other T25’s. I’d take any Ivy, Duke, Stanford, MIT, Michigan Ross, Georgetown, or NYU Stern before I start factoring in PSU. I’d take Emory, Vanderbilt, or UVA before I take PSU. I’d take Kelley before I take PSU. Only if all of those other places turned me down would I consider PSU, like along with Florida, Miami, or Syracuse. Maybe if you hustle you can land a seat in IB, and by that I mean being lucky to be able to say you work in Investment Banking. Do not expect to land a top BB or EB, to say nothing of MF or UMM PE. Literally the difference between writing your own ticket to whatever career you want and being fortunate to even have a salary.
Who cares what label it gets? Semi-Target is a made up word.
No offense, but my LAC of 2k> has more placements than that. And we are a semi target. PSU isn’t the end of the world, but it’s certainly a non-target. They do have a great campus life though, will give them that
All of these placements PLUS no UBS??? Yeah this is killer.
They have a few placements but still categorically non target. Extending to PE exits, the truth is most funds will look down on it. Same with M7.
I go to a semi target with less than half the students as PSU, but we have 140 placements into reputable IB per yr. A lot more if we extend to other front office roles (snt, er) and PE/hf.
“Semi-target” is a made up label. No one cares. All you need to know is that it’s a good enough school to give you a shot if you hustle.
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