Ben Chon, former JPMorgan analyst and founder of RareLiquid, scraped public LinkedIn profiles to compile the educational backgrounds of 27,908 analysts across 18 top investment banks from the 2015 cohort onward, creating an investment-banking feeder school ranking covering 100 universities.

Few industries in the U.S. deliver around $200,000 in total compensation for first‑year new‑grad hires, and top‑tier investment banks are among them. New‑grad analysts at Goldman Sachs earn $180,000‑$215,000 in total compensation, while elite boutique banks such as Evercore and PJT generally start at $200,000.

Behind the high pay lie grueling working hours and a much‑discussed Target‑School recruitment system.

Ben Chon, former JPMorgan analyst and founder of RareLiquid, scraped public LinkedIn profiles to compile the educational backgrounds of 27,908 analysts across 18 leading investment banks from the 2015 cohort onward, producing a feeder‑school ranking covering 100 universities.

The report categorizes schools into four tiers and identifies core feeder institutions favored by each bank, shedding light on the little‑known rules governing Wall‑Street campus recruiting.

Super‑Target Schools

The traditional core talent pool for Wall‑Street investment banks. These schools consistently supply large numbers of analysts to every bulge‑bracket bank. They boast extensive alumni networks, well‑established referral channels and the highest concentration of on‑campus recruiting events.

This group features the highest analyst output per 1,000 undergraduates on the ranking, including top comprehensive U.S. universities and several elite liberal‑arts colleges.

Semi‑Target Schools

Banks run selective on‑campus recruiting here. While there is a solid base of investment‑banking alumni, campus events and openings are far fewer than at Super‑Target Schools. Students cannot passively wait for opportunities and must proactively reach out to alumni for referrals.

Lower Semi‑Target Schools

Official bank‑hosted campus events are extremely rare. Alumni are scattered, with only occasional success stories. Job seekers rely heavily on self‑directed applications and networking.

Non‑Target Schools

Virtually no official on‑campus recruiting pipelines exist. Nearly all opportunities are secured through LinkedIn cold outreach, alumni connections and online applications. Candidates face inherently higher barriers at resume screening.

Ranking Methodology

Two‑thirds of the weighting is based on the absolute total number of analysts produced; one‑third is based on analyst output density per 1,000 undergraduate students.

Total graduate output reflects the size of the alumni pool. Output per 1,000 undergraduates reflects the probability that an average student from that school lands an investment‑banking role. Both metrics must be considered together; rankings alone tell only part of the story.

Breakdown of the Four Tiers: A Higher University Ranking Does Not Guarantee Better Odds

✅ Target 15 (Super‑Target Schools, Ranks 1‑15)

These 15 schools account for 45% of all analysts in the dataset, with each school producing over 521 analysts. Investment banks host information sessions and on‑campus interviews. Alumni networks are deep and active.

Columbia, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania hold the top three spots, each graduating more than 1,100 analysts. Columbia University leads the list with 1,345 analysts.

Georgetown University surges to 4th place, followed by Yale and the University of Chicago.

Cornell has produced 1,144 analysts, yet its large undergraduate population pulls down its per‑thousand‑student density, placing it 8th.

Princeton and Dartmouth have lower absolute graduate counts, but their small student bodies yield extremely high talent density, securing their spots within the top 15.

Only two public universities appear in this tier: the University of Virginia and UC Berkeley. They achieve high absolute output thanks to large graduate volumes but sit at the bottom of this tier in per‑capita density.

Fun fact: Seven of the eight Ivy League schools make the Target 15; only Brown University falls into the second tier.

✅ Semi‑Target Schools (Ranks 16‑35, 20 institutions, 29.3 % of the sample)

Banks conduct selective campus recruiting, though resources are far more limited than for Super‑Target Schools. Students must actively pursue referrals.

Brown ranks 16th, the sole Ivy League school outside the Target 15.

MIT boasts a high overall national ranking, yet its graduates lean heavily toward tech, quantitative roles and entrepreneurship. It ranks 19th with 380 investment‑banking analysts.

Large public universities including NYU, USC, University of Michigan‑Ann Arbor and UCLA produce substantial absolute numbers of analysts, yet their huge undergraduate bases dilute their per‑thousand‑student density.

Liberal‑arts colleges shine in this tier: Washington and Lee University has only 278 total analysts, yet its density of 146.5 analysts per 1,000 undergraduates is second only to Columbia. Middlebury, Williams and Amherst also make the list on the strength of high talent density.

Two business‑focused schools, Baruch College and Babson College, also join this tier, proving strong subject‑matter fit can open doors to Wall Street.

✅ Lower Semi‑Target Schools (Ranks 36‑60, 25 institutions)

Official on‑campus bank recruiting is nearly absent; success depends heavily on personal networking.

This tier features many highly‑ranked universities for which investment banking is not a mainstream career path: Johns Hopkins University and Rice University.

Indiana University Bloomington has the highest analyst output within this tier, driven by its strong business program.

Flagship public schools such as Penn State and the University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign contribute large numbers of practitioners via broad alumni networks.

Carnegie Mellon and Georgia Tech are engineering powerhouses whose graduates gravitate toward tech and quantitative fields, yielding limited output for traditional investment‑banking roles.

Several top liberal‑arts colleges remain on the list due to small enrolment sizes and high talent density.

✅ Non‑Target Schools (Ranks 61‑100, 40 institutions)

Collectively they account for less than 10 % of analysts in the dataset. Success stories do occur, yet there is almost no institutional recruiting support; students must create opportunities independently.

Half of these 40 schools are public, and seven are liberal‑arts colleges. Graduates from these schools can still land investment‑banking offers, though substantially more effort is required.

Three Core Hiring Principles for Investment Banks: Prestige, Geography and Individual Merit

Prestige and alumni feedback loops reduce HR screening costs

All Target 15 schools fall within the top 40 of U.S. News national rankings, with seven among the national top‑10.

Faced with massive resume volumes, HR teams use university prestige as an initial filter. Wall‑Street’s strong alumni culture amplifies this dynamic: senior bankers and analysts frequently hail from elite schools and tend to support fellow alumni, creating a self‑reinforcing cycle: elite‑school graduates join banks → build alumni influence → return to recruit on campus, feeding a steady stream of new hires.

Nevertheless, overall university rank does not equal investment‑banking competitiveness. MIT and Carnegie Mellon are academically outstanding, yet their graduates disperse across many industries, resulting in lower investment‑banking‑feeder rankings. When evaluating schools, look beyond general rankings and examine alumni resources for your target industry.

Geography: The Northeast Corridor dominates

Nearly half of the schools on this ranking lie within the U.S. Northeast Corridor (Boston‑New York‑Philadelphia‑Washington), representing 60 % of the Target 15. Investment‑bank campus recruiting heavily relies on coffee chats and in‑person interviews.

Students in the Northeast can travel to New‑York‑based events at low cost. Students on the West Coast and in the Midwest face higher time‑ and travel‑related barriers. Many offers stem from summer‑internship conversions, giving northeastern‑based students practical commuting and housing‑related advantages that amplify geographic benefits.

Path for Non‑Target candidates: Offset resource gaps with strong qualifications

Attending a lower‑tier school is not a career death sentence. Prioritize relevant majors such as finance, accounting, statistics, financial engineering or computer science. Secure high‑quality finance internships early and master hard skills including valuation and financial modeling. Proactively conduct informational interviews with LinkedIn alumni and leverage internship achievements and industry knowledge to mitigate the disadvantage of your school brand.

Revealed: Each Bank’s Preferred Feeder Schools

The report highlights sharp factional differences in institutional preferences across the 18 banks.

Columbia‑aligned banks

Columbia is the top feeder for four bulge‑bracket banks: JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citi. Its Manhattan location, large graduate cohorts and deep alumni network drive this outcome.

Penn (Wharton)‑aligned banks

Lazard, Evercore, Moelis and PJT — four top‑tier boutique investment banks. Boutiques focus heavily on M&A and favour business‑trained candidates. Wharton’s undergraduate business curriculum aligns exceptionally well with role requirements.

Boutique banks have fewer openings but offer extremely high compensation ceilings; some roles exceed $270,000 in annual pay.

Cornell‑aligned banks

UBS, Barclays and RBC. Despite its geographically remote campus, Cornell’s Ivy‑League brand and large student body make it a strong talent source for international banks building U.S. teams.

Harvard‑aligned banks

Goldman Sachs and Centerview. Within the Centerview sample, 6.6 % of analysts are Harvard graduates — the highest single‑school share for any bank in the dataset. Highly selective, high‑paying elite boutiques place heavy weight on top‑tier elite‑school networks.

Other notable matches:

‑ University of Virginia is a core feeder for Jefferies and Houlihan Lokey

‑ UNC‑Chapel Hill feeds Wells Fargo

‑ Deutsche Bank favours Duke University

‑ UC Berkeley is the top feeder for boutique bank PWP and one of the few West‑Coast schools delivering consistent investment‑banking talent.

Key takeaway: Large bulge‑bracket banks prioritize large talent pipelines. Small, selective boutique banks value elite‑school backgrounds. Even among prestigious universities, offer probabilities vary widely depending on which firm you target.

Candid advice for applicants and families

These rankings reflect historical employment outcomes, not binding admissions rules.

✅ If you attend a Target 15 school: Prestige is merely an entry ticket. Intra‑campus competition remains fierce. There are no guaranteed wins. You still need strong internships, GPA and interview performance to secure offers.

✅ If you are from a Semi‑Target, Lower‑Semi‑Target or Non‑Target school: Do not rule out investment banking, yet be realistic. You will not benefit from built‑in campus‑recruiting advantages. You must plan internships earlier and commit to consistent networking.

⚠️ Important caveat: This dataset reflects Wall‑Street‑based U.S. hiring practices. It cannot be directly applied to Asia‑Pacific offices in Hong Kong or Singapore, which operate under separate alumni‑evaluation frameworks.

Investment‑bank compensation is attractive, yet it comes with extremely long hours and high‑pressure working environments. Choose your intended career track first, then assess university resources, rather than blindly chasing brand‑name prestige.

Your university may help you pass resume screening, but landing a final‑round offer ultimately hinges on your own capabilities.