On the law side, Wesleyan shows up pretty consistently as a “feeder” to top law schools (when adjusting for size of UG population), and top law schools are the deciding factor on big law. Cravath, DPW, Simpson, S&C, Skadden … will all talk to you if you’re at Yale LS even if your undergraduate institution is decidedly less prestigious or selective. Have a look:
I am a lawyer, and having been through law school and practiced will all kinds of people with varying backgrounds, I am firmly in the camp of believers that any undergraduate course of study is fine for law school prep as long as one didn’t avoid writing. That said, I can’t think of a more ideal undergraduate preparation for law school than Wesleyan’s well known and very rigorous CSS curriculum. This business of having to knock out 5 to 10 page papers on an almost weekly basis and all the reading those kids do … it’s like boot camp for law school.
In terms of banking, yes, Wes places kids every year at the banks. There are schools who I’d expect produce a higher number and steadier flow of kids in that direction (e.g., Middlebury), but despite its reputation for political activism and strident “against the man” ethos, you will find a surprisingly healthy number of “finance bros” at Wesleyan. Many play a sport, and a good % of them major in Econ and many are connected.
If I absolutely knew banking was my future and that’s all I really cared about, I’d consider Wes if I otherwise liked the school; but I’d also apply to some other schools known for that track. Excluding the tippy tops (I assume nobody needs to tell you that Wharton undergrad is a standing invitation to Wall Street), you could think about schools like SMU, Boston College, Lehigh and Emory, each of which has their pack of alumni on WS. If I were going NESCAC and I absolutely wanted IB, Williams and Middlebury would do very nicely. But Wesleyan can certainly get you there.
I tend to think Wesleyan does a little better in placing for consulting than it does straight IB, but there is probably some confirmation bias in my thinking on that topic.