Undergrad to Private Equity?

Hi, So quick background: I am a High School Junior from NJ, and I've always been interested in investment banking, particularly private equity. I know that it's rare for undergrads to get a PE job after graduation, but I wanted to know which schools give the most likely chance of getting a PE job out of undergrad and have on-campus recruiting by PE firms such as KKR, Blackstone, and TPG. I'm planning on applying to a few schools, but I am considering ED'ing to Dartmouth. Could anyone please tell me how good these schools are for breaking into PE out of undergrad? Specifically, could anyone tell me which of these schools have on campus recruiting by the major PE firms?

-Princeton -Dartmouth -Duke -Penn Wharton (obviously I know the answer for this one) -NYU -UVA -UMich -Columbia -CMU -Cornell

9 Comments
 

From what I gather, prestige matters even more for undergrad PE recruiting. Most people go IB > PE, so for PE analysts to be hired right out of undergrad you have to be exceptionally good and competitive. Thus, they usually only hire from the super targets (Wharton, Harvard, etc.). Now there will probably be random PE OCRs every now and again here and there, but I’d say for consistency you’d want to aim for the top. Or just go to any of those (all great targets), and do IB > PE, like most people. This is your “road most travelled” option, if you can’t get into Wharton, Harvard, etc.

Note that I’m a HS senior myself, and all this info is just from me researching all this stuff on my own on this site. I’d wait till more come to verify/dispute what I’ve said with real experience. Good luck on your future prospects.

 

Related to ED'ing, for the most part I want to ED to Dartmouth but am also interested in Princeton and Duke. Out of the three, which school gives me the best shot to PE?

 

I know IB and PE are different, but I have always seen PE as a specific "field" in investment banking. I was just wondering out of all my college choices, for which ones PE firms do OCR for undergrads.

 

As others mentioned, Wharton and Harvard are by far your best bets. From Dartmouth it's possible (I think Bain PE takes one every year or two, and BX has historically taken a few), but it's very difficult. It's not easy from any school though. Even at W,H you have to be one of the top few students in your class.

 

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