+27 How I studied for the Level 1 CFA in 10 days and passed on my first try, coming out of undergrad in finance 1 6y
+15 State School-->GS NYC Summer Analyst-->Medical School 7 6y
+59 Non-Targeted Southern School with No Connections, 2016 Capital Markets Analyst 13 6y
+45 Strange Success Story: from Philosophy Major to the Buy Side in 4 years 12 6y
+260 From College Drop Out to Corporate Banking 40 6y
+68 From No-Name College to Buy-Side Out of Undergrad 27 6y
+206 A Story of Breaking out of BO/MO Hell 25 6y
+27 Complete non-target to Buyside Research Associate - Thanks! 10 6y
+12 The Most Unbelievable True Story: From Warehouse Associate in January to FO S&T in March. Buckle In... 1 6y
+31 Well deserved thank you to WSO! 21 6y
0 Real Life Trolls 10 6y
+15 International Students and Internships 5 6y
+201 UG PE Analyst - 2.9 GPA, no internship, non-target 41 6y
+60 From almost getting expelled in HS to IB FT. 23 6y
0 wmu alumni 3 6y
+31 Finally....Thanks WSO 22 6y
+22 My success story: military to Big 4 14 6y
+12 Landed a PE job thanks to WSO! 1 6y
+12 Non-target in APAC 3 6y
+63 Thank you WSO!! 8 6y
+146 How finance saved and gave me a life 56 6y
+68 Jump from research to banking, after bleeding during interview 57 6y
+50 How I landed my dream job in M&A - Never give up on your dreams 21 6y
0 Equities Sales SA Offer, Hard Work Starts Here... 1 6y
+12 Average GPA to M&A at Boutique Investment Bank 3 6y
0 Sigh...another 'thank you' 6 6y
+55 Thanks WSO / My Story 66 6y
+80 Non-target -> 3 Superday Rejections -> Dream FT AM Offer 13 6y
+51 Thank you WSO! Got my FT Offer! ADVICE NEEDED 27 6y
+25 Stay Strong Guys! 21 6y
+20 The Summer Intern to Full-time S&T Employee Transformation 22 6y
+29 MM REPE SA offer! - Drop out, Career Changer, Sub 3.5 GPA 24 6y
+3 How does the B-Tight Cellulite Cream Work? 1 6y
0 Proposal ideas 0 6y
+18 A long story to motivate others 8 6y
0 One year effort from Eastern EU to top MBA 2 6y
0 Landed BB SA Offer for Asia Pacific Office 8 6y
+73 My Story (A Thank You Card to Patrick and the Team) 20 6y
+66 Graduating Today 29 6y
+12 10 Things That Require Zero Talent 1 6y
0 Thankyou WSO 15 6y
0 Thanks SA Offer ! 7 6y
+20 Ohh Yeah!! I made it 13 6y
+17 What I learned 4 6y
+12 Managing the business of your family while being an Investment Banker. Is that possible? 1 6y
0 An Interesting Success Story 1 6y
+12 Middle Office IB role in Eastern Europe to a ... Gulfstream G650 1 6y
+119 Use Thanksgiving to Set 2017 Goals 27 6y
0 SA offer accepted! 5 6y
+33 Thanks WSO! +non-target break in story 20 6y
0 UG Junior Finance advice 5 6y
+30 Non Target & No Internships to Target with Multiple Offers 7 6y
+10 what is important to me 3 6y
0 From no job this summer to an internship at Hedge Fund now need help??? 0 6y
+16 An Old Hand: MS -> Army & 11 Years Later -> Back in finance 5 6y
+110 For Those of You Unable to Secure Investment Banking Internships - Keep Your Head Up 28 6y
+12 Incoming recession and early career 2 6y
+59 Consulting Full Time Offer After 1 Year of Searching 34 6y
+36 Drug Use in The Finance Industry 22 6y
+3 An ex-google data scientist studied successful-people-here’s what they have in common 3 6y
+9 Negative Talk 1 6y
+25 REPE Firms 41 6y
+23 Wasting you're lives? 11 6y
+12 Is your activity fulfilling your requirements? 1 6y
+13 What are some of the most ridiculous backgrounds that you have seen transition into a high finance/prestigious role? 1 7y
+3 How did you break into Wall Street from Non Target? 1 7y
+49 FINALLY! GOT IT- TOP MM FT OFFER- THANK YOU WSO 30 7y
+36 Are girls who are on birth control more or less attractive to you, holding all else equal? 12 7y
+3 Commercial banking for business school? 1 7y
+61 Q&A: Mid-career professional to top-bucket VP @ BB BO, thanks WSO! 10 7y
+29 Finally got into IB! thx 2 IBOasis 48 7y
+49 How I landed my PE position in China, non-target, low gpa, no exp 34 7y
+72 No BB FT Offer to Buyside Research Associate 13 7y
+97 How to Pass the Series 7 Exam 106 7y
+15 Thank You (BB SA Offer) 1 7y
+24 The WSO Scholarship Has Been Awarded! 0 7y
+12 Chip On Your Shoulder 1 7y
+454 How I turned tragedy into triumph 57 7y
+135 Non-Target, 3.0 < GPA, non-finance major, to ER 42 8y
+15 Questioning the popularity of IB/PE/HF/Conuslting/law etc 1 8y
+215 Fake Frank Quattrone (IB PE) Q&A 112 8y
+37 Networking Over WSO? Any Success Stories? 51 8y
+21 Got a job, lost some friends 7 8y
+21 In person 'cold networking' happened to me today 5 8y
+132 Can a Non Target land a IB SA? With hard work and persistence it definitely is 45 8y
+45 Are there any MILLIONAIREs here in this forum? 30 8y
0 Big 10 school > Corporate Finance (Fortune 200) > Big 4 Consulting > Hedge Fund (In process) 1 9y
+48 Thanks WSO - Valuable resource 7 9y
+53 PE cracked - Networked my way in via Facebook! 26 9y
+14 Extremely grateful for WSO 12 9y
0 Semi-Target with No Networking, No Extracurriculars, Terrible Grades to Top IB in Country 1 9y
+30 Finally a Gas Trader 9 9y
0 Thanks WSO! SA Offer 19 9y
+36 365 Days of Success Stories 7 9y
0 Non-Target to S&T SA at desk and bank that I wanted. THANK YOU 0 9y
+36 I did it ma! Hired at a Physical Commodity Merchant. Hyped. 0 9y
+22 From the "Hood" to IBD 6 9y
+46 EB 26 9y
0 WSO Hall of Fame: Success Stories Forum 0 9y
+30 My Story: Enlisted military to PE from undergrad 10 9y

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $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...”

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From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

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