Investment banking target schools, from the schools' own data
A target school is a university where banks recruit on campus. No bank publishes its list, but schools publish where graduates go: 156 of Wharton's 2025 graduates who reported a job went into investment banking. Banks such as Barclays and Deutsche Bank say they consider applicants from every school.
Updated
- A school banks recruit at. Deutsche Bank says it keeps ties with certain universities. None of the banks we read lists them.
- Any school can apply. Barclays says applicants from campuses it doesn't visit are judged on the same criteria.
- Wharton: 156 into banking. 37% of its 2025 graduates who reported a job function.
- Michigan Ross: 27.6%. Of BBA job acceptances in 2025. JPMorgan hired 14 Ross graduates full time that year.
- From anywhere else? Apply early, join open events and practice the questions every candidate gets.
What a target school means
What the banks themselves say about recruiting on campus.
A school a bank recruits at
Deutsche Bank says it keeps relationships with certain universities where it actively markets itself. That is what people mean by a target school. None of the bank careers pages we read publishes the list.
Every application still counts
Barclays says it can't visit every campus, and if it doesn't visit yours you can still apply and be considered against the same criteria. Deutsche Bank says all applications are considered.
Timing can differ by school
Bank of America says its recruiting timelines and processes may vary by school, and points students to their career services office.
Some events are open to all
Moelis offers all students a series of virtual recruiting events each year to learn about the firm and prepare for interviews.
From Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Bank of America and Moelis careers pages.
Where graduates go, by school
Each school's latest outcomes report, read October 15, 2026. Schools count on different bases, such as all graduates, job takers or one major, so compare within a row, not across rows. Listed A to Z, not ranked.
Columbia (College and SEAS)10% into banking
Investment banking was 10.0% of the 661 graduates of 2025 who reported an employer's industry, second only to internet and software. Top hiring organizations include Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays and Citi.
Columbia's 2025 Beyond Columbia surveyCornell Dyson (Applied Economics and Management)33% into banking
Investment banking and brokerage was 33% of employed graduates in the class of 2025, at a median base of $110,000. Employers include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citi, Jefferies and Barclays.
Cornell Dyson's employment outcomesEmory Goizueta (BBA)76 graduates into banking
76 graduates of the BBA class of 2025, 19% by Emory's count, went into investment banking and capital markets, at a median base of $110,000. Hiring firms include Evercore, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Lazard, Morgan Stanley and Houlihan Lokey.
Goizueta's BBA employment reportIndiana Kelley (finance majors)16% of finance majors
Investment banking was 16% of placements for finance and real estate majors in the class of 2025, the largest single role. Kelley's top hiring companies include Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Houlihan Lokey, Moelis, Morgan Stanley and William Blair.
Kelley's finance salary statisticsMichigan Ross (BBA)27.6% into banking
Investment banking was 27.6% of BBA job acceptances in 2025, at a median base of $110,000. Full-time hires over the 2024 to 2025 school year include JPMorgan 14, Bank of America 13, Goldman Sachs 9, Citi 9, Jefferies 6 and Evercore 5.
Ross's BBA employment dataNYU Stern (undergraduate)30% into banking, 2021 to 2025
Investment banking was 30.4% of jobs taken by Stern's classes of 2021 to 2025 combined. Over those five classes JPMorgan hired 103 graduates, UBS 67, Citi 66 and Goldman Sachs 66.
Stern's class of 2025 outcomes reportPenn (College of Arts and Sciences)88 graduates into banking
88 of the 584 College graduates of 2025 who reported a job function went into investment banking, 15%. Top financial services employers were Goldman Sachs with 17, JPMorgan with 14 and Morgan Stanley with 10.
Penn Career Services reports by schoolTexas McCombs (BBA)114 into banking, sales or trading
114 of 792 full-time acceptances in the class of 2025, 14%, were in investment banking, sales or trading, which McCombs counts together, at a median base of $110,000.
McCombs's BBA employment reportWashU Olin (BSBA, class of 2023)32 graduates into banking
32 of 174 graduates with a known job function, 18%, went into investment banking, at a median base of $110,000. Olin's newest published report covers the class of 2023.
Olin's BSBA employment reportWharton156 graduates into banking
156 of the 423 Wharton graduates of 2025 who reported a job function went into investment banking, 37%. Top financial services employers were Goldman Sachs with 26, Morgan Stanley 23, JPMorgan 17, Bank of America 10 and Jefferies 9.
Penn Career Services reports by schoolIf banks don't recruit at your school
The process is the same online for everyone. What a campus visit gives you, you build yourself.
Show the five steps
First
Learn the timeline
Summer analyst applications open more than a year ahead, many in the winter of sophomore year. Know your dates before the fall.
Fall
Join the open events
Sign up for events open to all students, such as Moelis's virtual recruiting events, and the banks' early insight programs.
Before you apply
Talk to people in the job
Short coffee chats with analysts give you the reasons for one bank over another that a campus visit would, and names to mention.
As soon as it opens
Apply early
Bank of America reviews applications and interviews before its deadline, so an early application gets a look while seats are open.
Interviews
Practice out loud
Every candidate gets why banking, why this bank, your story and the technicals. Practice them aloud, not just on paper.
8 questions to practice, from any school
The fit questions every banking candidate gets, plus two that come up more when your school sends few people into banking. Our wording.
Fit questions6 questions
Asked of every candidate.
Why investment banking?
What a strong answer does
One deal or experience that drew you in and what you learned about the work. Not the pay. Example answer
Why this bank?
What a strong answer does
Something you learned from a person at the bank, tied to your own experience. Example answer
Walk me through your background.
What a strong answer does
Two minutes that end on why you're in this interview. Example answer
What does an investment banking analyst actually do all day?
What a strong answer does
Models, pitch books and diligence, with the hours, in plain words. Example answer
Why should we hire you?
What a strong answer does
Two strengths with proof from your own work. Example answer
Do you have any questions for me?
What a strong answer does
One question only this interviewer can answer. Example answer
When your school sends few bankers2 questions
Asked more often when banks don't recruit on your campus.
Not many people from your school go into banking. How did you get here?
What a strong answer does
Say what you did on your own, such as a model you built, a club you started or the people you called. One minute, no apology.
Who have you spoken to at the firm, and what did you learn?
What a strong answer does
A name, their group and one thing they told you that changed how you see the job.
Practice the interview, out loud
Soreno's AI interviewer asks banking fit and technical questions, follows up on your answers and scores them. Free for 7 days.
Questions people ask
What is a target school in investment banking?
A university where banks recruit on campus, with events, resume drops or interviews there. Deutsche Bank describes it as keeping relationships with certain universities where it actively markets itself.
Do banks publish a list of target schools?
None of the bank careers pages we read does. What you can read is where each school's graduates go, from the school's own outcomes report, as in the table above.
Can you get into investment banking from a non-target school?
Yes. Barclays says applicants from campuses it doesn't visit are considered against the same criteria, and Deutsche Bank says all applications are considered. Open events, coffee chats and applying early make up for the missing campus visit.
Which schools send the most graduates into investment banking?
Among schools that publish a number, Wharton reported 156 graduates in investment banking in 2025 and NYU Stern says 30.4% of its 2021 to 2025 graduates went into it. Schools count differently, so read each figure on its own terms.
Why isn't my school on this page?
We list schools whose own reports give an investment banking figure. Duke, Georgetown McDonough, UChicago, Yale and Northwestern publish a finance share but no banking figure, and many schools publish nothing.
What is a semi-target school?
An informal term for a school where some banks recruit on campus but fewer than at the schools above. No bank defines it.