In other words, you will have a fantastic opportunity to live an extremely comfortable life and amass millions/low tens of million dollars in net worth through Chicago finance. (because Chicago lends itself to MM IB, which I believe MF PEs don't look kindly to.īut in Chicago, are there plenty of IB analysts making 200-250K, associates making 350, VPs making 700 and MDs making 2-8 million dollars a year? Absolutely. I'd say the main finance opportunity that will be the biggest uphill battle for someone from Chicago would be MF PE. but in an era of Zoom with many first rounds being virtual, not nearly as difficult probably as it used to be). And if you're intent on moving to a firm in NYC, you can definitely make it happen (just tougher to get away for interviews. And if you want to lateral to NYC, it's going to make the process more difficult and more annoying. Look, living in Chicago clearly limits your opportunities vs.