Boutique private wealth management/operations or Summer Business Program?

I am a recent college grad, and am trying to get into Wall Street. You can see my situation from previous posts: I went to a non-target private school, tho I did well, have a ton of extracurrics, I majored in poli sci, minored in economics and Spanish. I've been applying to places left and right. I did get an interview, and even made it to a second round for retail wealth management. I didn't get an offer.

I hear wealth management and operations are the easier parts of WS to get into. However, I would love to do something better than sales or bitch work. If I were to get into say, NYU's or UChicago's or Dartmouth's business summer or winter programs, would it be a better investment than taking ops/WM at a boutique because I could learn all the finance/valuation jazz and have a better shot at IBD, PE, VC, HF?

5 Comments
 

Hey I just want to know when you go to interviews do they give you crap for being a poli sci major? I'm at a non target in nyc that is mainly a business school, I'm wondering if majoring in poli sci will raise eyebrows when I go to interview for something like wealth management ?

 
Best Response
chuck001

Hey I just want to know when you go to interviews do they give you crap for being a poli sci major? I'm at a non target in nyc that is mainly a business school, I'm wondering if majoring in poli sci will raise eyebrows when I go to interview for something like wealth management ?

Dude, I see u been bumping ~2 year old topics, but I'll answer you anyway. Depends on what your story is, ie how you decided to try finance. Boutique PWM places didn't ask. Tho here's a piece of advice: you want to do PWM because you want to someday own/run your own business, NOT because you wanna do PE/HF/IBD cuz few ever go from PWM to those. If u give them the latter answer, they'll respond: "so why didn't you go be a financial analyst?" And you don't wanna say "I didn't get recruited/I couldn't get one" because thats like saying "I wasn't good enough." Remember, in PWM you are little better than a salesman in a Best Buy selling to mom, pop, and grannies.

You might also look at a trading arcade. Arcades might ask how you got interested, and know your market (levels of indeces, prices of stocks/commodities, etc.). And some places did ask why poli sci, an ops position. Have a good answer, and have a good backstory about why you majored in it in the first place, what you wanted to do. And don't let your answer be "because no one would hire me at a think-tank," or "law school was too expensive for me" because that makes the discussion about money.

 

Maxime tenetur voluptatem blanditiis libero quo. Soluta quod eos blanditiis natus. Voluptas excepturi dolores corrupti corrupti officia. Consequuntur rerum possimus qui libero vel. Minus ipsam beatae voluptatum modi.

Repellat dolorem eaque aut voluptate rerum ut. Non neque ea optio harum assumenda. Et beatae velit consectetur quia explicabo corporis error. Ut sint quod id qui illo consectetur.

Soluta nulla quidem aliquid nostrum atque voluptatem. Neque optio incidunt rerum accusantium asperiores similique quidem excepturi. Nemo repellat non aperiam accusantium. Quae quia fugiat aperiam est corrupti magni similique.

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%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 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 01 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 (80) $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
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”