Do investment banks only hire Ivy League?
Three of the top schools that investment banks consistently interview and hire from include the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Beyond the top schools, the Ivy League schools, such as Harvard, are also key spots that investment banks look to hire from.
To become an investment banker, it is absolutely essential that you earn a college degree. Usually, it doesn't matter which college you go to as long as there are plenty of opportunities for you to complete internships and make plenty of connections.
Goldman Sachs has recruited for our Summer Associate Program at Harvard Business School for more than 20 years.
Only 5 schools make the grade. Even MIT and Cornell don't count, according to the research study. The report says elite law firms, investment banks, and consultancy firms are only looking for recruits from the "top 5," Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Wharton, according to her research.
| Goldman Sachs | Total by % | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Harvard University | 30 | 3.50% |
| 2. New York University NYU | 31 | 3.50% |
| 3. University of Pennsylvania | 28 | 3.30% |
| 4. Columbia University | 16 | 2.70% |
Goldman Sachs prefers Ivy League schools, with Cornell, Harvard, and Columbia ranking third through fifth among employees with bachelor's degrees. The firm also recruits heavily in the United Kingdom, with the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and Cambridge University being among their favorites.
Most investment banks prefer degrees in finance, accounting, business administration, and other business disciplines. Undergraduate degree subjects are less influential in the hiring process if a candidate has a master's degree in business administration, finance, or another highly relevant subject.
For most people, breaking into investment banking is a multi-year long quest. It takes years of cultivating a strong resume, working the right internships, and getting involved with the right extra-curriculars to land a high-quality offer.
While entry-level investment banking analyst positions require only a bachelor's degree, many investment bankers pursue graduate degrees. Master of Business Administration degrees (MBAs) are most common among investment bankers, but other graduate degrees, like law degrees, can be useful as well.
JP Morgan is extremely selective about who it hires. According to its CEO Jamie Dimon, the bank boasts nearly 250,000 “top notch” employees within investment banking, sales, trading and general management and recruits from some of the “best schools in the world.”
How hard is it to get hired at Goldman?
Goldman Sachs receives 1 million applications for midlevel jobs each year. About 0.5% of those hopefuls — just 5,000 people — get hired. That makes the bank nearly 10 times as selective as Harvard. Many applicants in that pool are vying for a spot in the firm's prestigious investment-banking division.
"About four percent" of applicants who want to be analysts at Goldman Sachs got the job in 2013. Acceptance rates for Goldman's analyst job and Harvard, Yale, and Princeton's undergraduate class of 2018.
But now picture the investment banker: he sells companies for millions, hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars. Deals worth less than $1 billion might come with a 1% commission, while deals worth more than that will scale down to around 0.1%. But even 0.1% of $50 billion is… $50 million.
Investment Banking: Classic Wall Street Glamour
Entry-level investment banking associates do pretty well for themselves, often receiving salaries of $100,000 or more in their first year. Within four to five years, seasoned investment bankers rising through the ranks can easily earn $150,000 to $250,000.
To get a Wall Street job, you'll have to get at least a Bachelor's Degree in a business-related major. Going to business school to earn a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) is a wise next step, as it will open up many more opportunities and allow you to advance in your career.
UCLA, for a school with a 12% acceptance rate and considered the #1 public school and a top 20 school, is actually a complete non-target for investment banking and other high finance careers generally outside of LA, and a semi target for jobs even within the LA area.
There are more than 40,000 Googlers working in more than 70 offices in more than 40 countries to achieve that mission. While Google doesn't break out employment numbers by school, the company says Cornell Engineering is a key school for its recruiters and there are “quite a few” Cornellians in their employ.
Most students securing positions in banks attend 'target' universities which include; Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Warwick, UCL, Imperial and Durham (in that order).
Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have made Penn State a target school for their internship recruitment efforts. Many NLF members land internships as sophom*ores and even more land internships as juniors at firms like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and many others.
And, of course, investment banking remains Columbia's largest placement in this industry, with 16% of the class placing into I-banking roles. Real estate.
Where does Wall Street recruit from?
Out of more than 440 schools that are represented in the WSO data, NYU, Harvard, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University have the highest distribution percentages for graduates represented in large Wall Street firms, soaking up more than 15% of the overall distribution of recruitment and ...
