The Polsky Center supports the aspirations of students interested in a career in private equity through the Svider Private Equity Program. The program is supported through a generous gift from Chicago Booth alumnus Raymond Svider, MBA ’89, who serves as partner and chairman at BC Partners, a large international private equity firm.
If you looking to pursue a career in private equity, the Polsky Center can connect you with career coaches and seasoned investors for one-on-one appointments.
The Investors-in-Residence (IIRs) program provides mentorship and coaching to Chicago Booth students interested in learning about and pursuing careers in private equity. Successful Chicago-based investors are available to meet one-on-one with students throughout the academic year and host regular small group sessions and workshops. To book an appointment with an EIR/IIR, please fill out this form to request an appointment.
The Private Equity Alumni/Student Coaching Program matches Chicago Booth MBA students pursuing careers in private equity with members of the Polsky Center Private Equity Council and Chicago Booth alumni network for one-on-one mentoring and advising sessions. The program is designed to support rising second-year students in the Full Time MBA Program, as well as returning students in the Evening/Weekend MBA Program as they enter summer internships and recruit for full-time roles in private equity. Through individualized mentorship with top practitioners in the industry, students will gain new perspectives and be better equipped to enter post-MBA roles.
If you want to gain resume-boosting practice during your Booth student experience in private equity investing, apply to one of the Svider Private Equity programs and competitions. In addition, you can join one Chicago Booth’s Private Equity student groups and attend the annual Private Equity Conference, which is run in partnership with the Polsky Center.
The Chicago Booth Private Equity Case Challenge (PECC), generously supported by Chicago-area private equity firm Water Street, is a case competition that enables teams from Chicago Booth to assess the potential for a leveraged buyout of a publicly-listed company. The winner of the PECC is given the opportunity to compete against teams from other elite business school in the Oxford Global PE Challenge for a cash prize, organized by the University of Oxford.
The Sterling Partners Investment Thesis Challenge (SPITC) launched in 2011 with the generous support of Sterling Partners. SPITC enables Chicago Booth student teams to work with mentors at private equity firms over several months to develop original investment theses and recommend execution strategies.
The BPOC Private Equity Conference, hosted by the Chicago Booth Private Equity Group and the Polsky Center, is an annual event that brings together investors, students, and entrepreneurs to network and share insights into the dynamics of investing in a constantly changing economy. The conference builds on Booth’s tradition of bold and thoughtful conversation to provide private equity practitioners with knowledge from both industry and academia that would be hard to find in any other setting.
To gain experience at a private equity firm, Booth students can apply for the Merrick M. Elfman and Therese L. Wareham Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) Lab, which combines an intensive internship at a PE firm and an academic course.
The Merrick M. Elfman and Therese L. Wareham Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) Lab was created for Chicago Booth students to learn first-hand about the PE and VC industries. Through the combination of an intensive internship at a PE or VC firm and an academic course, students become active participants in the analysis of real-world investment decisions made by seasoned investors and also learn to apply their academic frameworks to their internship experience.
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