Accept offer or roll the dice?

Got an exploding offer from a top MM bank but a lot of other banks (BB, a few EBs) aren't interviewing until later in the summer or fall. I don't know whether to take this offer or taking a risk to interview for the other banks. I can try asking for an extension, but I don't know if they can extend much longer. I'm obviously okay with going to the MM bank but I would rather go to the BB, EBs for the exit ops, resources, yada yada. I'm a female with a 4.0 at a top target (HYPW) with no prior IB/PE internship. Thanks in advance!

 

I applied to a number of different diversity programs but didn't even get a first round (which is what makes me nervous about rolling the dice) and I was planning on just going through the regular recruiting cycle, but the MM bank interviewed first.

 

Being a female with a 4.0 and at a HYPW, you should definitely keep recruiting. Have you looked into diversity programs? As long as you have some basic finance knowledge, interest in IB, and can come across as a normal person during interviews, you are most likely going to get at least something better than the MM offer.

 

I would play it safe. Most (all?) EBs aside from CVP are either wrapping up or middle of process, so if you havent had any first rounds yet from EBs chances are you got dinged.

For BBs, most of the mid-tier BBs are already in process, so if you waited on the rest you’re basically counting on GS/MS/JPM. if you didn’t get looks from any EBs, you probably don’t have a great shot at those.

do you have any first rounds scheduled or super days coming up? if so, might be worth waiting it out. if you have nothing in the pipeline, I would take the MM offer.

 
Most Helpful

You should take it. HL, Baird, and Blair are all really good MM offers, and regardless of how good your stats are, there is a huge red flag in the fact that you didn't receive any other offers in the spring. Your profile is exactly what diversity recruiting is supposed to target -- top students at top schools who are underrepresented and may not have had the exposure to finance (read: won't have as high expectations for prior internships or technicals) that other peers may have. Speaking frankly, if you went through the diversity process for multiple banks where the odds are stacked heavily in your favor as a 4.0 HYPW student, the odds that you find success during the regular cycle when you are competing against the full pool of top gpa top target students who also have prior experience is slim. The most concerning thing to you should be the fact that you don't really know what went wrong in diversity recruiting; it's one thing if you say "oh I had a big error in my resume, or didn't know my technicals at all, or didn't have a good why banking and now I've fixed that" but seeing as that's not the case, there is quite definitely something not clicking about you either on paper or in person that has not been addressed -- another reason to take the offer in hand. On top of all of this is the fact that the majority of banks have either finished or are rolling (your contacts at the other banks may not be as strong as you think if you can't get a single bank to accelerate for your offer when almost every BB has started giving out accelerated offers at this point).

Or I could be completely wrong, and you were just unlucky and you'll bag a JPM or Centerview offer in the fall -- honestly there's a decent amount of randomness to it all, and if you feel strongly about it, bet on yourself. Or you could take the great offer and focus on being ready for full time recruiting if you really want to end up at a BB or EB.

 

If you have been rejected a lot of great places, why do you think that is?

I would roll the dice. You’re a top diversity candidate. I’ve never seen anyone of your caliber take a job that they were on the fence about. Worst case if things don’t work out, recruit for MBB. Especially since you’re probably already very prepared for IB

 

You need to remember that this isn’t a normal cycle. People are being optimistic that the economy will be back to normal by Summer 21 but realistically that won’t happen. You don’t want to end up with nothing. MO/BO/B4 are going to be much more competitive this cycle.

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