<p>What types of things/courses of action should I take if I want to go into Private Equity after college. I'm going to be a freshman at Wharton next year.</p>
<p>Most people do Private Equity/Hedge Funds get in after doing investment banking and bleeding for two years. Practice staying up till 5AM (just kidding :) ) and try to land some internships. Wharton is an investment banking factory by the way.</p>
<p>My S (2005 grad) got into a hedge fund directly out of college. He was figuring that he would eventually get there but he received an offer right away. Now after 8 months on the job, he received a promotion to a Portfolio mgr. on the asian desk. He will now work from 4 p.m. till 3 a.m. and get to bed probably by 4 or 5 a.m. His little bro' at Stern thinks those are awesome hours! He's the night owl!</p>
<p>My S majored in Math with a Statistics concentration from UChicago. To get the job, he was up against a Harvard, Wharton, Stanford and other top college applicants. The two that got jobs were my S and a grad from Stanford in Chem Engineering. Go figure. I think my S nailed the math exam and the interview. UChicago prepared him well!</p>
<p>Oh...p.s. study financial math!</p>
<p>A few kids from Wharton will directly go into PE right after college but for the most part they enter after doing an analyst stint at top BB's.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that Hedge Funds and PE are very different careers and require very different types of people.</p>
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Also keep in mind that Hedge Funds and PE are very different careers and require very different types of people.
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<p>Do you think you could please elaborate on that?</p>
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Do you think you could please elaborate on that?
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<p>Working for a hedge fund usually means you're either a trader or someone who's working with the traders (a quant) <a href="http://www.tower-research.com/team.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.tower-research.com/team.shtml</a> read about these guys, most are from backgrounds that involve math and engineering. </p>
<p>Private Equity on the other hand is more suited for people who have done traditional banking (in other words, not trading) because Private Equity requires a very specific knowledge in terms of modeling that you can't get in all groups at a bank, usually you need to be in M&A and one of their top groups. Also certain banks just do a better job at sending kids to Private Equity, for instance UBS LA is supposed to have great numbers for sending kids into PE.</p>
<p>To go into it directly from undergrad, you either have to graduate from a top school or have really good connections.</p>
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To go into it directly from undergrad, you either have to graduate from a top school or have really good connections.
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<p>I think Wharton is tops for business.... I just don't want to go into the slavery that is Ibanking</p>
<p>Is Northwestern considered top and will it be too difficult to go directly into PE after an undergrad in Econ over there?</p>
<p>unless you're going to Harvard or Wharton(and even then...), it's pretty tough to get into PE directly after undergrad. It's already hard enough to get into banking, PE is -much- harder because they accept less people.</p>
<p>the path most use is doing banking for two years as an analyst and then switching over to PE.</p>
<p>Yea, Ibanking is really tough, but jobs in private equity and hedge funds are no better.</p>
<p>To get into PE: Start in Investment Banking, Corporate Law, become a Financial Advisor, CPA, or even an entrepeneur. Then get a job at a firm or start your own firm.</p>
<p>To get into HF: Become a mathematician, computer programmer, stockbroker, trader, or any quant finance job. Study Physics, Computer Science, Math, Stats, or any quant subject of that sort.</p>
<p>I would love to start an Investment Company when I am done with getting a BA degree.</p>