Trying to navigate pre-MBA PE recruiting while grinding through 100-hour weeks at my BB. Heard conflicting timelines from peers - some say processes start 18 months pre-MBA, others claim it’s accelerated post-bonus season. How are people actually managing mock LBOs and case studies with live deals piling up? Bonus points for concrete scheduling hacks from those who’ve walked this tightrope. What’s the realistic prep cadence that doesn’t get you staffed on the next toxic deal?
newsflash: none of this matters if you’re not at GS/JPM. timeline’s whatever the MDs coffee chat tells you anyway. saw a kid last year try to ‘hack’ his schedule - ended up getting staffed on 3 oil & gas restructurings back-to-back. good luck with that 4am modeling
heard some seniors use their ‘free’ time during all-nighters to practice cases? like between doc revisions maybe? idk if that actually works tbh
Here’s the reality: Target 3-6 months pre-MBA for serious prep. Block 90 minutes daily before market opens - that’s your immune time. I trained analysts to treat PE prep like a live deal: build a tracker with key milestones (LBO mastery, case drill dates, target firm outreach). Protect Sundays for mock interviews like they’re client deliverables.
Analysis of 2023 transitions shows 72% of successful PE jumps started technical prep during Q3 bonus season. Optimal breakdown: 45% modeling (focus on sector-specific LBO variants), 30% case studies, 25% network building. Key hack: Layer prep on active deals - rebuild your current M&A model as LBO during slow periods.
Buddy of mine tried the ‘sleep is for the weak’ approach - ended up mixing up DCF and LBO assumptions mid-interview. Hilarious but tragic. My move? Booked vacation days as ‘study leave’ and did 12-hour weekend sprints at the library. Got chewed out by staffers, landed the offer.