Another kids Decision of a lifetime...
As a result of another members post on transferring from one school to Cornell, I noticed that the collective WSO thoughts were to transfer to Cornell.
This made me think about my current situation and would love some advice.
I'm going to a shitty college, trust me when I say shitty - non target for sure, with the diluting hopes on breaking into IB.
I'm a senior, graduating in a total of 3 years (maybe 3.5) from this university and just finished up 2 years, about to start the 3rd. Majoring in Finance.
I have an M&A internship under my belt and now starting a financial analyst internship with a F200 company through some mad hustle. (I know it has nothing to do with IB, but I'm networking and trying to intern with the one of the local IB's before I graduate)
Do you guys agree it would be a good idea, even at this last stage in the game, to transfer from this shitty college to say...maybe... a place like University of Michigan - Ann Arbor or University of Chicago...etc.
With all things counted in, including college tuition, opportunity costs of avoiding a better school, future salary, chances for IB, etc... Should I transfer out?
I haven't applied yet, not even 100% sure if I'll get in, but if its something that would be better for me in the long haul, maybe it should be done, even in this late stage.
Would it be better to just finish, try to land a good job, say a financial analyst position at F200 company for 2 years and than do MBA/Masters/Business School...whatever, at a target school.
Let me know what you guys think in the grand scheme as well as short term. Appreciate all the help fellas.
honestly i think just the brand name and possible connections you can get by transferring to a school like UMich or UChicago is worth it, you also get access to on campus interviews with top notch companies, while at your other school you won't get access to these companies except through networking. If it is only for one year or one semester you really likely wont spend that much more money and I think it would be worth it.
As a person who graduated from a non-target in metro detroit, it's really a tough answer. If you do transfer, you'll have to put in another 2 years minimal. Colleges generally want 64 credits at their school in order for you to graduate. Plus then theres the classes that you'll probably have to retake due to transfer equivalents.
What is your end goal? Do you want to stay in Michigan or do you want to move somewhere else? If you're staying in Michigan you can stay at the school you're in. If you want to go somewhere else, getting into Ross will help.
If you can get into one of the firms in Michigan, I would say go for that. The experienced gained in the year or two that you won't be in school because of graduating early will be worth more than the degree differential.
In a couple of years if your prospects still aren't looking like what you wanted, go the MBA route.
Side note, before I moved to NYC I looked all over Michigan and couldn't find anyone hiring interns. what M&A firm did you intern at if you don't mind me asking?
Skinnayy:
I'm trying to get into IB, and after that, VC.
You're probably talking about Wayne St as the school, I'm going to OU, so you can understand how much it sucks compared to others vying to IB positions.
The M&A internship isnt at a M&A firm itself, more of a business that grows through acquisitions of other offices, I just intern with the M&A department. I'll PM you if you want more details on that, it's nothing significant though. Seriously.
So you think it'd be better for me to just stay the current school, finish up, work for a good position at a reputable firm and than try for MBA to break into IB after wards?
I graduated from OU. With a computer science degree to boot. There are some firms that do go to the OCR there that you could get in with. Also, you can go to U of M's OCR for 20 dollars. I was a UofM Dearborn student and they still charged me the 20 dollars.
I don't know how often they recruit for paid internships or the like, but if you can get by with an unpaid internship, I would get in touch with SRR (probably the biggest firm in Michigan) and Leonard Capital Markets.
I would 100% recommend you finish up at OU and then work a year or two and then go to an MBA. If you can get into an MBA program at a good school right after graduation that's even better as you can take that two years for your MBA that you would have been spending had you transferred to another school.
There's also a few VC firms in downtown, maybe they can let you do an unpaid internship and you can leverage that into full time. I know the supply side of candidates isn't like it is here in NYC, so you should have a decent shot.
Look, you're almost done, and if you're going into your junior year, you'd have do a minimum of two years at the new school to meet credit requirements, only to be a super senior or a super senior plus (and those guys are typically lame). If you're graduating early for financial reasons, going to another school is a silly move. Instead, do well in school, keep networking, and try to hit up a top-notch MBA program in a few years.
Not worth it in the long haul to have that good undergrad school on resume? Is it fine to just have a good firm and great MBA including the shitty undergrad if I want to get to IB?
If you have an MBA, your undergrad won't matter. It's like high school, which doesn't matter once you have a BA. With an MBA, you can move into an IB associate role and then VC. That's so far down the line, though, that it's not worth serious consideration right now.
IMO if you want to break into IBD, then switch to a brand name school b/c u will need all of the alumni networking & OCR advantages these campuses will offer. If you are considering staying local (as Skinnayyy implied above), then it probably just make sense to stay put.
I do want to try and work in a major city... Detroit is in shitss. Trying to hit Chicago hopefully. NYC is to expensive so my tastes.
Do you agree that its wise to finish up, land a good job and get a good MBA program and move to IB after I finish MBA... in chicago hopefully? Do able or no?
Thats some dope advice, I think I'll probably stick to that if I cant think of something quicker. And just try to network to the best company for next year graduation and than work to MBA and move to IB.
Also, my friend from OU is a VP at BB in NYC after working in Chicago for a couple of years. So it's most definitely do-able.
Transferring is a very feasible path for you, however there may be better options. I'm not totally well acquainted with what your situation might be like (I've never been in your shoes), however I do think it's worth looking into things like the Harvard 2+2 program and similar things.
In the grand scheme of things, whether you transfer or not is not very important. You are still very young and have a very long career ahead of you. Finish up at your school, haul ass, and you will get to where you want to go.
I personally know a guy who graduated from a no-name university with GPA and whose only "internship experience" was a lawn-mowing gig Junior year in college. He eventually became a MD at a BB and is now a partner at a well-regarded VC fund.
I would go for UChicago. But if you have meaningful M&A experience then you should be fine.
UChicago accepts like 9% of transfers. It is also really hard to get a good GPA there so it's only worth it if you are adept at math, assuming you plan on majoring in Econ or something. No point in transferring and getting a 2.0
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