Best value undergraduate schools to break into IB
I am a high school junior who is interested in finance, specifically investment banking and private equity. However, my family’s financial situation is to the point where all the top private universities are simply unaffordable as my family is upper-middle class (too rich to get any need-based money, but too poor to pay sticker price for four years). Contrary to my what my family wants, I want to leave the state of South Carolina to pursue my dreams of being more than my peers around me. In other words, I don’t want to go to a cheap non-target that will make networking virtually impossible. I have confidence in my soft skills and drive, but what are the best state schools or private schools with good merit-based opportunities that can help me get my foot in the door? I wouldn’t mind working in Charlotte, Atlanta, or Houston; I don’t have to work in New York to be happy. For the record, I want a career in finance for a couple of decades to have enough money to launch a political career in my 40s.
TL;DR- My financial situation is that top private schools are too expensive, what are my best options for a
Idk exactly your family’s situation, but some top privates will give significant financial aid for family income of under $200 - $150K. Just saying, maybe don’t count them out so soon.
My family income is in a range higher than that. I think my family could technically pay, yes, but it would be a large burden on them. Some potential schools I’ve been looking into are W&L, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, UT- Austin, Texas A&M, USC, and Wake Forest to try and get an affordable education. UVA, Vanderbilt, and Duke are very hard to get into and offer ridiculously low amount of aid anyways.
Awesome. Wasn’t sure but figured I’d throw it out there. All of the schools you mentioned are solid. My advice would be to apply to lots of schools across the top 25 plus top public schools and see where you get in. Then balance fit, reputation, and finances.
You probably already know that though. Good luck man.
Thanks man, sounds exactly along my lines of thinking.
I can speak to a few of these. UGA sends a decent amount of people to IB every year. Look into something called the Corsair Society. Placements obviously don't compare to a target but you have a solid shot at a MM like STRH in Atlanta or WF, plus a decent shot at a BB like Citi. Without intense networking I'd say STRH or WF is doable easily.
UF does pretty similarly. They have a program called MSF that sends like 20 kids to IB every year. Also sends to STRH and WF, but also to RBC, Jefferies, Evercore, etc. Without being in this program Raymond James, STRH, and WF are all doable.
Indiana is probably the best of this group. If you get in the IB workshop (IBW) then you get access to some solid placements. MM is average but they also send a few to BB and EB banks every year. Can definitely get Chicago, NY is more competitive but very doable.
UT-Austin sends a decent amount of people to NY every year, but where they really excel is Houston placement. All of the banks are represented in Houston and recruit for their oil and gas groups separately from their other offices and they recruit very heavily from UT Austin - target school for Houston.
Don't really know about the rest of the schools. Most of them probably have some amount of people on the Street and you'll have to network your way in. It's always doable, but it will take a lot of work.
Thank you very much, very helpful!
I would point out that most of those schools (W&L, Wake) are just as, if not more expensive than the ivys are. If you are dead set on IB and are willing to work extremely hard to get there, I might gamble on myself by taking out a student loan and going to a top target if you can get in. If not, then UT Austin is probably the best value schools for IB, assuming that USC is referring to South Carolina and not Southern Cal
USC is the farthest thing from affordable unless you’re on scholarship or some sort of aid
I was in a similar situation to that (family is from a NY suburb)- lived paycheck to paycheck but had too high of an income to receive financial aid and too little after tax to pay anything meaningful for in state public, out of state public or private school (this was due to high fixed costs from expensive mortgage). We were unlucky, and specifically I was because I had zero support in going to college, I had to find one where I got a full ride- which I did- was at a non target but networked my way into IBD NYC.
I suggest that you look for schools that are in close proximity to the locations that you deem acceptable to work (NYC, Charlotte, Chicago, etc.) and then try to get a full ride from any school and then network your way in. I would never suggest going more than 30-40k in debt however- you WILL regret this so just dont do it. You can definitely get in from a non target if you network hard enough.
jesus bro.... you’re a junior in HS and are already making plans to “work in finance for a couple of decades to launch a political career” chill bro, chill
why cant he have high goals? everyone’s different man calm down
Bold of him to assume that finance won't significantly reduce headcount and be on a decline in a decade if not 2 decades.
Best value schools are going to be state schools. I would look into Indiana Kelley along with UofSC.
Honestly speaking, there isn't really an easy way to put this, but you're probably going to have to shell out a lot even in the best circumstance. The best schools for financial aid are probably the ivies except for Cornell (not that they're bad they just don't have a lot of money and don't give a lot of aid...they have a great business school that's a target), Stanford U Chicago, you get the picture. They're obviously all ridiculously hard to get into. Other than that, hope for a good merit scholarship from a semi-target, but be prepared to pay anywhere in between 20k-40k even in the best situation. I know it sucks, college is too fucking expensive, but if you really have what it takes to get into a good school and get that offer, it'll pay off. High risk, high return...or you could commit to being a doctor and staying in school for the next ten years, at least it won't matter what school you go to.
My cousin is a mormon and goes to BYU, apparently you don't even have to be apart of their church and tuition is like
BYU does not place well into banking
Seems like you already have a good plan of which schools are feasible. Go with your gut.
I was in the same situation as you - from ATL area, went to school out of state (think Ivy or top LAC) and got some financial aid but family comes from middle class neighborhood so not full ride. If you stay in the south, W&L (Johnson scholars program), WFU (expensive, idk about merit aid), UT Austin (in state tuition eligibility scholarship), UGA (Merit Scholarships, Citi target), Georgia Tech, and Auburn have solid recruiting with with banks like STRH, WF and regional shops. I'd pick these schools in this order. If you want to make it to EB or top BB, it's still possible but you have to network hard.
You're correct in that I'd stay away from your in-states b/c recruiting out of Clemson/USC will likely be tough. Good luck
In state college with some sort of IB program.
Florida isn’t bad if you don’t mind being in the south Target school for Raymond James, Wells Fargo and STRH plus every regional boutique in Florida
The typical route is to do a boutique internship in Jacksonville or Tampa (2 hours away from UF) sophomore year and then apply for one the MM above I’d say if you really want IB you can probably get it tbh, lot of people here would rather do corporate finance, B4 or consulting.
With MSF you can aim for RBC/EVR and some BBs but it’s a gamble. Lot of the MSF class ends up in the same banks above and at that point it’s not worth doing the MSF program.
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