That's an outlier. Looking at the rest, the mean and mendian are in the low and mid 20's. That one guy was probably someone with a shit load of expereince and good contacts that gave him/her a sweetheart deal.

The median is 20k so half the sign on bonuses were under 20k

 

there's always outliers like this, and they'll almost always very senior people that decided to deviate for an MBA briefly. Their sign-on/other comp/base pay usually fits their seniority level perfectly.

 

At very good schools there are usually some extreme cases, especially in HF & PE recruiting. Check out Wharton’s career report

http://mbacareers.wharton.upenn.edu/report/funccomp_2.cfm

2 guys got over $400K salaries and someone got a $100K bonus.

Do NOT make overall decisions on the program’s quality based on outlier stats. These guys could have been incredibly well connected sons of royalty/dictators/presidents/execs in foreign countries. I’m sure a PE firm would pay out the ass for the son of Hong Kong’s richest man if they wanted to do business over there.

They could also be PhDs or phenomenal intellects or entrepreneurs who basically wasted their time going to B-School.

 
jjc1122:
drexelalum11:
There are always outliers. I know a guy who turned down a 300k sign-on out of undergrad from a top hf

there are no hedge funds, not even de shaw or citadel, that offer a $300K sign-on for kids straight out of college.

$300K may be possible your first year, though incredibly rare. Often, the people who make $300K their first year are totally random people working at random prop shops with high payout ratios.

I do know people who made seven figures their second year and know of one guy who retired at 26 and bought a huge mansion on Lake Michigan. Naturally, you can't do this if you're working at a hedge fund or investment bank.

 
drexelalum11:
There are always outliers. I know a guy who turned down a 300k sign-on out of undergrad from a top hf

Why? Oh and he could be right. I've heard that if HF's really want you that badly they'll pay big $.

 
ibdreamer:
drexelalum11:
There are always outliers. I know a guy who turned down a 300k sign-on out of undergrad from a top hf

Why? Oh and he could be right. I've heard that if HF's really want you that badly they'll pay big $.

what qualifications could a college kid have that warrant a 300k sign on? i'm sure there were 1000+ kids of comparable qualifications that would have taken the job for a 10k sign-on

college kids=commodities

 
Best Response
Affirmative_Action_Walrus:
ibdreamer:
drexelalum11:
There are always outliers. I know a guy who turned down a 300k sign-on out of undergrad from a top hf

Why? Oh and he could be right. I've heard that if HF's really want you that badly they'll pay big $.

what qualifications could a college kid have that warrant a 300k sign on? i'm sure there were 1000+ kids of comparable qualifications that would have taken the job for a 10k sign-on

college kids=commodities

Exactly. There is absolutely no reason for a hedge fund to pay that much to an undergrad because someone of comparable qualifications and intelligence will gladly take the job for a much lower pay. Now it's a totally different story for experienced hires and those coming out of elite grad schools.

 
ibdreamer:
drexelalum11:
There are always outliers. I know a guy who turned down a 300k sign-on out of undergrad from a top hf

Why? Oh and he could be right. I've heard that if HF's really want you that badly they'll pay big $.

absolutely no reason why any company in any field would want someone straight out of undergrad and give them that much money. (athletes being the exception of course)

 
drexelalum11:
There are always outliers. I know a guy who turned down a 300k sign-on out of undergrad from a top hf

That sir, is a tremendous amount of hookers and blow.

Also, that is entirely speculation on my part.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 
drexelalum11:
There are always outliers. I know a guy who turned down a 300k sign-on out of undergrad from a top hf

let me guess - he was a drexel alumn too?

 

uh...well the facebook founder was just a college kid, too. Anything is possible if you are good at what you do.

Who said if you are only 22 years old, you can't be as good as the 40 year old veteran.

 
eric1025:
uh...well the facebook founder was just a college kid, too. Anything is possible if you are good at what you do.

Who said if you are only 22 years old, you can't be as good as the 40 year old veteran.

Terrible logic my friend. Zuckerberg had a brilliant idea and a good business plan to implement that idea; that's totally and completely different than a marketable skill applicable to employers.

Good at what you do? College kids are in college so they can go find something to do. How the hell can they be good at something they don't do?

 
youngblood:
eric1025:
uh...well the facebook founder was just a college kid, too. Anything is possible if you are good at what you do.

Who said if you are only 22 years old, you can't be as good as the 40 year old veteran.

Terrible logic my friend. Zuckerberg had a brilliant idea and a good business plan to implement that idea; that's totally and completely different than a marketable skill applicable to employers.

Good at what you do? College kids are in college so they can go find something to do. How the hell can they be good at something they don't do?

While I will agree that the guy's logic was a bit off so is yours. There are kids all over this country (and surely others) that are starting businesses while still in high school. Many college students have investment portfolios and some even trade. Couple that with programming skills and "a brilliant idea and a good business plan to implement that idea" then you potentially have someone that can be worth a lot of money in certain industries...especially hedge funds.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

On the Wharton guys who go the 400K comp, they are not outliers.

There are at least 5 firms that I know that recruit on campus and pay out a base of 400K to MBA graduates. You don't need to be royalty or anything like that to get this, you just need to go through 3 rounds of interviews.

BUT, those 5 firms do not pay out year end bonuses, hence the high base. It it not a typical pay structure but happens at a couple of PE funds such as Apax for example.

As for the 100K sign-on, not an outlier either. It happens at a couple of firms and includes things such as relocation expenses, "tuition reimbursment" and some other things that they lump in the sign on. It's a kind of guaranteed bonus for the whole year, not really a sign-on per se

 

Nihil quis et vero ullam. Esse inventore est velit accusantium.

Accusamus et excepturi magni ratione perferendis nulla consequatur. Et quas architecto quia impedit vitae. Sint ut quo non. Est porro a rerum hic rerum omnis corrupti eaque. Sint et iure accusamus. Earum excepturi eos est eligendi quo.

Voluptatem qui eum perspiciatis qui. Optio dolores veniam temporibus et deleniti et. Fuga ducimus quis aut delectus. Veniam et odit voluptate quia.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (145) $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
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
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...”