Can you get into investment banking without going to an Ivy League school?
You might find this surprising, but 35% of our successful students actually come from non-target schools. And another 20% of our successful students come from semi-target schools. This means that over half of our successful students didn't come from target schools.
You may not land your dream job, but you could land your dream company, and perhaps you could network like crazy once you are in and move internally. The bottom line is that you will have to work harder to get noticed by a top-tier bank than those who attend the ivy-league schools, but it is possible.
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.
Attending a target school makes the biggest difference if you want to work in investment banking or private equity at one of the largest firms (bulge bracket banks or PE mega-funds) in a major financial center. Outside of that, a better university still helps, but more so for your first job and less for future jobs.
Originally Answered: Do people who get hired by companies like Goldman Sachs generally come from Ivy League schools or other top universities (like Harvard or MIT)? Goldman Sachs recruits at top schools like the Ivy League schools, MIT, Duke, Stanford and Berkeley. They will hire students from other schools.
Bulge bracket banks and almost all other investment banks will look at your GPA when applying for a job and you should include it in your resume. Typically banks screen resumes based on GPA and will often remove anyone below 3.5.
A GPA of a 3.7+ can make up for weaker experience, but is by no means a gimme. Banks prefer good experience to good GPAs (subject to a minimum in the 3.3-3.5 range).
For example, Penn's first top employer is Goldman Sachs, because more Penn (undergraduate) alumni work at Goldman Sachs than at any of the other twelve banking firms.
The typical investment banker has a graduate degree in business from an Ivy League school or other top-tier university and superior educational credentials [i.e., excellent grades (minimum 3.50 GPA), active participation in business and investment clubs, and participation in at least one internship or summer program at ...
- University of Pennsylvania.
- Georgetown University.
- Harvard University.
- Columbia University.
- New York University.
- Cornell University.
- University of Notre Dame.
- University of Michigan.
What are the odds of becoming an investment banker?
The lucrative and fast-paced career of an investment banker is a highly competitive one. For instance, in a recent year, 236,000 applicants competed for roughly 3,500 internships at Goldman Sachs. This is common across the industry where acceptance rates for programs are typically less than 2%.
For those seeking a career in investment banking, a bachelor's degree in finance is a prerequisite. Other potential acceptable majors include bachelors in economics or bachelors in business supplemented with a minor in finance.
- Earn a bachelor's degree in finance or a related field. ...
- Consider a graduate degree or MBA. ...
- Register with FINRA and obtain certification. ...
- Take part in on-the-job training. ...
- Advance your career.
Bagging a job at Goldman Sachs (GS)' is a phenomenon rarer than receiving an acceptance letter from Harvard University.
Only 11.8% of 2023 Fortune 100 CEOs attended an Ivy as undergrads. Only 9.8% hold an Ivy League MBA. Of the 20 CEOs of the nation's biggest companies by revenue, only 1 attended an Ivy (Amazon's Andy Jassy, who went to Harvard)
Goldman Sachs does not give a specific minimum GPA requirement, though some sources suggest a GPA of at least 3.6 is preferred. Additionally, you may need to show relevant coursework and hard skills for certain programs.
Q: What are your GPA requirements? A: We value diverse degree backgrounds and experiences and while a GPA 3.2 (or equivalent) in your undergraduate degree is preferred it is not required. Our training programs are designed to allow everyone, regardless of major studied to succeed.
A 3.5 GPA is 90% or a B+/A- average. This means you probably mainly earned B's (3.0) and A's (4.0) in your coursework.
Earning low grades makes it very difficult to win traditional investment banking roles. You can still do it if you can find a way to explain your results and counter objections, but it's not easy.
Goldman Sachs, like many other companies, considers GPA (Grade Point Average) as one of the factors in its recruitment process. However, the company does not have a fixed minimum GPA requirement, and other factors such as relevant experience, skills, and qualifications are also taken into consideration.
Is Harvard a target school for investment banking?
Harvard University is ranked #8 for total hires into the top U.S. investment banks and has a phenomenal Undergrad Placement % of 2.29%, coming in at #2 on the list just behind UPenn.
Field | Percentage Entering | Total Compensation |
---|---|---|
Hedge Funds | 6% | $345K |
Investment Banking | 3% | $329K |
Consulting | 25% | $254K |
Venture Capital | 6% | $245K |
Yale ranks #9 on our investment banking target school list and its undergrads have incredible access to the top firms on Wall Street. Yale is an Ivy League school and is home to the Yale School of Management. Like many other Ivy Leagues, Yale does not have an undergraduate business population.
Not to be confused with its Ivy League counterpart UPenn, Penn State is a large school with great athletics and reasonable placement into finance. Penn State ranks #33 on our investment banking target school list, classifying it as a "lower semi-target" school.
Princeton is particularly well represented at the bulge brackets, sending the most investment banking hires to Credit Suisse (23%), Goldman Sachs (17%), and J.P. Morgan (14%). Princeton has relatively low exposure to elite boutiques, sending only 9% of hires there.
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