Villanova JD/ MBA chances for WS
Hey all,
I made a post relatively similar to this one about a month back about my chances as a Villanova JD/MBA (top 5% JD and 3.9 in MBA) with boutiques and BBs here in Philadelphia and the feedback was that as of right now with my stats I have a strong chance.
I'd imagine that once we begin talking Wall Street those chances would change. How much so? Assuming that my grades stay in their current range, what would my chances be at landing a associate level position on WS in 2 years?
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
What are your prospects for biglaw with top 5% grades? It might be easier to go biglaw --> banking since biglaw will care more about your grades than banks will.
Thanks for the reply kdot8686. With my top 5% grades my chances at biglaw here in Philadelphia would be..solid. I'll definitely get several interviews and from there you just hope for a fit. A couple of department heads at Morgan Lewis went to VLS so if they find someone at Nova that they like, they usually make them an offer. That only happens with a few kids a year since you're competing against many students from schools ranked much higher. If you go to VLS and want biglaw, you better stand out like a shining star.
However, I see myself as a banker long-term. Let's be honest, none of us are doing this for our health. We all want to make as much money as humanly possible and i-banking is one of the best ways to do that so that's where I'd like to focus my efforts. That said, I'd be happy to start here but WS is ideal.
Is it too late to transfer to a higher ranked law school? The route I suggested really only makes sense if you started out doing corporate work at a v20 firm (say, Latham) in NYC. It would be impossible from a firm in Philly. I don't want to discourage you at all, but you're facing an enormous uphill battle.
if transferring isn't an option (I assume it isn't given that it's late august and you've already done at least a year), I'd aggressively pursue small and middle market opportunities. That said, investment banking is hardly the only way to make money (and certainly isn't a way to become rich).
I think you're right. I mean I'll be straight up, I'm in it for the money. I love the competition. I accepted Nova because of the scholarship and stipend. So maybe WS is a huge uphill battle, no big deal.
When you say middle market and small market, do you mean BBs here in philly and other small markets? What exactly are you referring to? kdot8686
I hate to be a downer here but there are no BBs with banking in Philly. Stifel has a small coverage team, I think RBC has some pubfin and Piper Jaffrey has ER - everything else is boutique / regional.
Tagging @TNA" here who might be able to give some insight into Villanova.
While most of us are very knowledgeable about investment banking, but most of us also never worked in IB past the analyst level, so your best bet will probably be to reach out to Villanova alumni. The Villanova alumni network is very tight knit and helpful, so you should have no problem networking.
That being said, as another poster mentioned, there really is no BB or MM IB in Philly. Harris Williams used to have an office there, but several sources have told me its closed now. No BB has any office in Philly. You're going to be looking at firms like Boenning & Scattergood, Janney Montgomery Scott, Fairmount Partners, Falcon Capital, Griffin Financial, and SSG as far as Philly in concerned.
Yep you just named all of the main shops. Other names I'd add are Delancey St. Partners, Capstone Partners, Mufson Howe Hunter, Baker Tilly Capital and Marks Baughan. I posted a fairly comprehensive list a while back of all banking in Philly but once you get passed these the shops are really small, like ~5 people.
I've taken some villanova MBA classes and was pretty surprised at the quality. That being said, the brand won't get you anywhere.
IMO, go target Reed Smith or some Corp law place. You'll work with banks on transactions, gain a valuable skill and then you can try and lateral to a boutique shop or something.
Or, you could ping Nova Alumns and try and break into banking. Issue if you'd have to come in as an associate, and a Nova JD/MBA isn't going to carry any weight even at a MM shop. That being said, there are a shit ton of wildcats on the street and you can easily network in the city every Friday for cheap. And during the week you can fill your dance card with MainLine and CC shops.
Villanova undergrad alum here. I had the unfortunate experience of graduating in 2009. To put it in perspective, our M&A professor asked our entire class (many of whose parents worked on WS) at the end of our last semester who had job offers, and I was one of two who had a live offer.
Funny enough, the reason I went to Nova in the first place was because I was recommended to check it out by a trader at Bear Stearns and wanted to get into finance - by the time I graduated, well we all know that story ;)
Villanova is one of those weird, "in-the-middle" schools that has an excellent program if you look at the rankings, but for whatever reason just does not the credit on the street it deserves. I put that down to the fact that ranking improvement has been relatively recent, and the effect hasn't filtered through WS very much yet. As a currency, it's plainly not worth much.
However what @TNA" wrote is very true: networking with alums will get you somewhere, for sure. Unlikely to get you a job at a BB, but good enough to get your foot in the door all over. I've found that Wildcats take care of one another and are happy to help in any way they reasonably can - as we all recognize that same fact that our brand might not mean that much on WS, but it means something to us. Make friends and swap your best stories about rugby parties or Main Line debauchery and you'll find a sympathetic ear. But grain of salt - bear in mind some can be total flakes.
Edit: Alumni database seems to be down. Have messaged alumni association when it will be back online.
@TNA" Thanks for all the info! I really appreciate it. A place like Reed Smith might be the perfect place for me to begin my career. Maybe banking after that, maybe another sector of the law world that deepens my pockets the way that I'd like.
I'm obviously not set on any one thing. I just want the opportunity to make FU money. There are many ways to do that.
I looooovvvveeee money, trust me. But that alone isn't a great reason to pick a career. Unless you genuinely like the work, you won't be that good at it (and definitely won't be happy). And if you're not good, you're definitely not making much money.
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