GHL CHI vs SF?
Which would you choose if given both offers theoretically? Which is stronger regarding deal flow and exit opps? What industries do each of the offices cover?
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FYI, you can only apply to 1, they won't let you enter 2 processes. I recruited SF.
Most exits that I've seen from GHL SF analysts have been into different banks after their summer internship (one went to MS SF, for example) but last year a guy went to Thoma Bravo. All who shoot for PE exit pretty solidly into UMM PE from what I've seen - despite it being a "dying bank" according to people on this site, it's still a widely respected bank.
GHL doesn't do a ton of deals in general right now, but it still gives a good experience. SF has an MD that really likes healthcare, so they do mostly healthcare deals. You will get no RX experience in SF, it goes to NY from what I understand. CHI does industrials, that's what's most popular in Chicago as a whole.
I'd personally network with both and see who I like more. They'll both do interesting deals, dealflow is similar, and you'll place into PE - it's just a question of your interests and your experiences with the people. I talked to 7 of the people in SF during my process - I absolutely disliked 2 of them, thought 3 were alright but didn't see myself being good friends with them, then only REALLY liked 2. GHL is small in general and both offices recruit 1, maybe 2 analysts per year. If you have to work with 1 guy that you don't like out of maybe 6 people for 90 hours a week, that's going to be hell. I personally didn't think it'd be worth it to go to a place where I disliked 1/3 of the people I talked to, despite how "flat" the structure is.
One more note, GHL CHI won't put you in their process unless you're leveraging or you go to UChicago/Northwestern. Check on LinkedIn - all of the bankers (I found ~25 on LinkedIn) are from UChicago/Northwestern except for 1 from UIowa, 1 from Notre Dame, 1 from BYU, 1 from U of Utah, and 1 or 2 from Wharton. Of those, a couple of them started elsewhere and lateraled into GHL - the Utah guy was a banker at Lehman before. SF likewise has only prestigious schools, but it's not the same level of prejudice (not all Stanford/Berkeley for example).
TLDR; offered both - either but I'd only try for CHI if I went to UChicago or Northwestern, deal flow - neither, exit opps - neither, SF - healthcare mostly, CHI - industrials
Just responding to a few things you mentioned:
Firstly, I believe SF takes 1 intern and CHI takes 2 per year. I know for a fact that CHI is already done with their process, and I believe SF is as well.
I can only really speak for the CHI office, but here's a few points: Exits tend to be very good for a Chicago office, as most analysts place into UMM regardless of destination (i.e. you can go to SF or NY and not be pigeonholed into the Midwest). However, you have to keep in mind that they don't let analysts stay on and essentially push you out after your stint is up, so if you are considering A2A, it's probably not the place for you.
The CHI office is only filled with industrials bankers, and most of the senior guys were poached from Lehman CHI after '08. The firm as a whole does a lot of cross-border work, and the Chicago office does a lot of deals with their Frankfurt office in Germany, so if you're looking for international exposure, it's a great gig.
Lastly, on the note about going to UChicago/Northwestern, that's not entirely true. While most of their office as well as other EB's in Chicago is comprised of undergrads and MBA's from those two schools plus places like Notre Dame and Indiana, it's not entirely possible to get into their process if you don't go there. In fact, I know multiple kids who have received offers from them in recent years who go to a Midwestern non-target. They really just care about having a good GPA and are known for having an insanely high cutoff for that.
Hope this is helpful!
SF was taking 1-2 analysts and they told me in my interview they were considering taking 3 this year because they're trying to expand. SF is done with their process.
GHL CHI only really looks at you if you come from NW/Uchi, you leverage an offer, or if you know one of the higher-up bankers personally (like any other bank). I know one of the non-NW/UChi people that I mentioned and they told me all about the process. I'm sitting at a 3.9+ GPA so I hit the cutoff, and for reference, around 80% of people at my school who shoot for banking place (~40 out of ~60 people/year). I mentioned the 1 person on LinkedIn at Notre Dame - he's an associate lateral from JP Morgan CHI. BYU did a summer at BMO then lateraled for a summer at GHL. Wharton is a VP that got an MBA, did a summer at Lazard, then was an associate at GHL CHI. Utah was a Lehman hire. UIowa was an SA at William Blair, then lateraled to GHL for full-time. Say what you want about your personal insight, but even if you're working at GHL and you're involved in the process, you can't tell me that that adds up to them caring about midwest non-targets. ~80% of the LinkedIn GHL CHI people are from NW/UChi, then the other 20% all started somewhere else and lateraled in, presumably by leveraging their offers.
On another note, they tout ~90% placement in PE across all analysts who work at GHL. This is great compared to other banks (GS is like 70%) but that's because of how many people work at GHL. If you have 100 people in a year at GS and place 70, it's not hard to understand why that might not be comparable to the ~8-10 people they'd need to place across the firm at GHL in a year.
Why do they push analysts out that want to go A2A? Most exit to PE anyways and they must need some associates.
Have a friend that went through the process at GHL CHI (no offer) and is from one of the two target schools. Supposedly took an intern from a state school this year. Can't confirm but I was given a name and a quick LinkedIn search will tell you that the dude is legit i.e probably could have placed from anywhere.
Definitely not the norm, and I echo the statements about Chicago office's PE placement being unmatched. They're done with the process.
What doy ou mean he could have placed from anywhere? What was so great about him?
Bump - Which office should i take if given the chance to recruit for both?
Chicago by far, best GHL office for exits with MF/UMM exits
Exits are good from GHL CHI office, but wouldn't say that's it's that much better than the NYC office. The CHI office is really small so almost everyone ends up in UMM/MF PE if they want to
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