A degree from a prestigious university can be a huge advantage in investment banking. This is especially the case for banks with bulge brackets based in the US and London. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to find an investment banking job even if you’re not a target school, or even a semi target school. It’s just a matter of more effort and a wider network to locate a job.
The most important thing to take into consideration is whether or not your school is “targeted”. These are schools that regularly send large numbers of investment bankers to the most prestigious firms. Banks prioritize these schools since they are confident that their students possess the appropriate abilities and fit into their culture.
The schools that are targeted include Harvard, MIT, Wharton, Columbia, Chicago Booth, Kellogg at Northwestern, Darden at UVA and Fuqua at Duke. List also includes Imperial College London, Baruch College in New York City and other highly regarded schools. The finance programs at these schools are renowned for their analytical rigor in addition to their practical applications. They help prepare students for jobs in the industry of investment banking. These schools also provide many networking and informational activities for students who are interested in this field.
You can increase your odds of getting into a target university by taking part in extracurricular activities that are related to investment banking. You can do this by attending seminars in investment banking or joining finance clubs or participating in a coop or an internship in finance your sophomore year. It’s also a good idea to get two or more leadership experiences on your resume before the recruitment season starts in your junior year.
