College Choice: SUNY Albany

shit son, since when was SUNY albany that much money?

My opinion:

If it was a real "target" school, then the 40k difference would be worth it. Don't pay 40k extra for Fordham. Simply not worth it.

You can probably land Back/Middle Office gigs from Albany. One of the managers when I worked in BO at a BB went to SUNY.

There were a lot of Fordham kids in BO as well. Not worth it.

If you were paying 40k extra for a target which you give you a guaranteed shot at IBD recruiting, then it would be worth it. But not Fordham.

I go to a school with a similar if not lesser reputation than UAlbany, and I was still able to land BO internships at BB's.

LOL Fordham. I remember hearing some chick on the train bitch about how she went to an ivy league school and how people should be kissing her ass. I was on the way to an interview, having gone to a state school.

If that doesn't illustrate this next point, I don't know what does: save yourself $40K/yr and spend your time networking. If you can get into a REAL target school, then it's worth the extra money. If you don't the job you want out of school, get a masters in finance from a target and recruit hardcore. Above all, keep your GPA up no matter what you have to do, it's the one metric you can control and it's the first thing people will look at after your school name and experience.

SUNY Albany would be a no brainer against Fordham for a 40k price tag.

One more very important point. Are you paying in-state at Albany? That would mean you are a NYS resident.

While certainly not a target, SUNY Binghamtom places some kids into FO positions each year. Try to go there. Or maintain good grades and transfer there.

Fordham sucks. No where close to a target and not worth the money. Please, if you make it to a FO ibd gig, don't spew crap on here about how you made it from a state school, how targets suck, and how you turned down a target because you couldn't afford it.

Not at all saying you will do this, but I have a suspicion that many of the posters who claim to "have been accepted to a target and couldn't afford to go" are full of shit. I suspect they got accepted to an expensive private school that isn't a target but they think it is.

If you're NOT thinking about transferring, Fordham. They do have a decent amount of alumni to network with, and you're near the front lines of finance (NYC). Also, if you want to transfer from either to a legit target, Fordham is much more academically rigorous and the adcoms will look better upon that.

60K for Fordham + NYC cost of living? You should go to Albany - plenty of successful alumni.

Update: I was accepted directly into U Albany's 5-year MBA program as well as CUNY Baruch. U Albany with my scholarship will cost me just over $17,000 and Baruch will be just under $20,000. Which would help me more in the future.

First, I think you should change your screen name if that really is your real last.first name.

Second, UAlbany is completely worthless anywhere. Baruch is not a target school, but you are making us question your intelligence by comparing Baruch (from which you can walk to your interviews and intern during the semester) with UAlbany.

Seriously, this is not a question that you should be asking. Go to Baruch and aggressively try to find internships.

First of all, Krypton is a fool saying that SUNY Albany is completely worthless anywhere. For the money, it is definitley worth it. The business school at Albany has one of the fastest growing reputations out there and is currently has partnerships with the Big 4 and also consulting firms such as Towers Watson and Capgemini for accelerated career placement. The alumni network is extensive, from Big 4 Partners to Hedgefund CFO's. They key, as stated before, is to do well in school, network, and take advantages of a lot of new programs Albany offers that are unique to the school. For $20K, it's a fantastic opportunity for the money and can give you leg up in the job market.

There are kids at SUNY Albany who have landed gigs in IBD at JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, IBD at MM IB, S&T at BAML and other BB, Back-office at Blackstone, Big 4 consulting, Accenture, etc. That's from this years senior class alone, and that surely isn't close to all the offers received by class. They all networked hard and did well in school to land those type of gigs. Almost anything is possible considering the alumni network and growing oppotunities at the school.

That being said, Baurch is still a stronger name in the business world than Albany. If the price is close, I would go there as they have an very well established alumni network and great opportunities in the heart of NYC. Fordham is not worth the money, I would choose Albany or Baruch over Fordham.

Another option is to do well at your UG school then get a good job after so you can look to break into a top MBA program, which can help you land some of the top jobs out there. Anyway, Albany is an up coming school with a growing reputation, second only to Binghamton in the SUNY network and closing on them as well. If you applied to Binghamton, consider them as well, but Baruch over Albany currently, eventhough you still have opportunities at Albany.

I recommend Baruch. Based on everything I heard, Baruch has the best placement on WS compared to your other choices.