Trying to decide the best schools to apply to for trading.

I’m a high schooler upperclassman looking to find some target schools for Hedge Funds/Trading in general. My relatives have given me a lot of advice and insight on trading, and it might be something I’d like to pursue. I also understand hedge funds are very selective, and even with a schools name backing me, it’s very hard to get an offer. I’d like to see though which of these schools is best for recruiting, regardless. I’d be majoring in Applied Mathematics (or a concentration in it) at each school, and I’m already applying to NYU (target), Penn state (safety), & Stony Brook (Safety). I need 3 reaches and two targets from this list, and I organized them by their target rating from the list of IB/PE/HF targets on WSO, from A- to ST (Super target). I also put what I’d be applying if I chose the school (EA, Ed, etc), since some of these are near-impossible to get in RD. Thanks.

Stanford REA ST

Yale REA ST 

MIT (Non Sloan) EA S+

U Chicago ED 2 S+

Columbia ED S+ 

Cornell (Non Dyson) ED S+

Notre Dame (Non Mendoza) REA S 

U Michigan Ann Arbor (Non Ross) EA S

UC Berkeley (Non Haas) RD S

Northwestern RD A+

USC (Non Marshall) EA A

5 Comments
 

Any better schools for trading? It seems some of them are targets for both, which is why I put most of them there. No one really posts full lists for target quant/trading/HF schools.

 

That's because the target school list for both are very similiar with the exception of MIT/Caltech.  Focus on getting into even one of those schools first before even trying to come up with a useless list. 

 

Voluptatem repudiandae eum voluptate commodi ea. Atque consequatur amet minus ut optio. Non voluptate labore voluptas magni odio harum quaerat. Eaque nemo consequatur deleniti nulla.

Ad nisi temporibus officia. Harum placeat rem aliquid iste. Id quod fugit et reiciendis magni aut. Omnis quis dolorum exercitationem iste.

Maiores quasi dolor a dolor sint et. Illo animi at voluptate est ad. Ut fuga dolorem molestias. Aut itaque nesciunt nostrum quia accusantium.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
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...”