College Search
Hello! I'm a high school senior that is currently going through the process of applying and researching perspective colleges. I play basketball, so my college search is somewhat limited as it is more about what schools recruit me, than me having the choice of schools I want to go to. Over the past year, I've developed a curiosity in business, although I am not exactly sure which category or exact career field I want (Which is good because I have four years and all of college to explore these options). This year, I am taking AP Macroeconomics, portfolio management, Honors Stock Market Analysis as well as a member of the Business society so I am getting some more exposure into possibly what I want to do.
From what I've researched it seems like after college a lot of people get into investment banking for two years before going back for their MBA and deciding where they want to go. As far as colleges go for investment banking opportunities coming out of college what is the opinion toward NESCAC schools? Right now, I have Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan and Tufts recruiting me as well as Babson at the D3 level as well as Dartmouth at the D1 level. Would going to one of those schools hurt my chances because I've seen that although those schools are all ranked amongst the top 25 in the country, they normally don't get much as far as Wall Street opportunities and what people consider to be target schools? I just wanted to hear what you guys thought about these NESCAC schools and those opportunities as well as Babson which isn't regarded as a top school but has a great business background.
On the other hand, I am considering walking on at some of the larger universities. I've had contact with Stanford, Duke, Northwestern coaches about this possibility. Would you guys say it would be more beneficial to attend one of these schools then say one of the top NESCAC schools? Obviously, I'm not going to base my college decision just off of this criteria, but it is something I wanted to explore and learn more about. What would be some other larger schools that I could reach out to, who have a history of success landing jobs on Wall Street?
Thanks a lot for the help!
Speaking out of experience from what I know (which is a limited sample) Williams - Goldman seems to be big in terms of the alumni network. Friend of mine got in IBD at GS SSG and is joining full time next summer
Babson - Seems like a solid spot for Investment Banking as well. Family member went there, so naturally I looked it up when I was looking for Colleges. Turned out that the Alumni and recruiting is very strong as well.
Damn you must be good.
this is coming from someone who was never good enough to run xc/track in college so take it from what its worth. just my research from when I was looking at colleges..
you have really good options, but it's hard to tell what you want. i'm assuming you really want to play ball in college and you probably know that nescac schools (and all d3 for that matter) don't offer athletic scholarships. you also say that your choice of schools is limited by where they recruit you. is this implying that you can't get into some of those schools without being recruited? does this also imply that money isn't really a deciding factor for your family?
So I think you have to ask yourself how big of a priority you want basketball to be. If you go to a NESCAC school you're going to have a great team that still puts more emphasis on academics. That's the beauty of NESCAC D3 because the level of competition is still really high without compromising school. Coaches are going to care about you more as a person and you will probably get more start time. On the other hand, D3 is D3. You won't be playing at the highest level and what not. That's why you really need to ask yourself what you want from basketball.
You mentioned potentially being recruited at Duke/Stanford. These are great schools, but make sure you love the sport before you commit to going to these schools. Your experience at these top D1 teams are probably going to define your college experience and unless you're top talent, you might not get much starting time. Will you be riding the bench all 4 years? Will the team or coaches really give a shit about you? What do you want?
All of the schools you mentioned are great for investment banking. Playing a varsity sport is a huge plus. In my honest opinion, I think most people who are talented but who might not be at the tippy top of their sport should seriously consider NESCAC schools (I think Dartmouth is small and cozy enough to pretty much be be like a NESCAC). Getting in is difficult without a sport. NESCAC schools are the best of both worlds and you are still attending some of the best undergraduate institutions
Now if you could care less about ball and just want to go somewhere for IB, then go to one of the universities you mentioned: Stanford, Duke, and Northwestern. Get in and then quit the team I suppose haha..
I go to one of those Nescacs. I can say that our school has a great relationship with many of the bulge bracket banks but not as much with EBs - only Guggenheim was on campus this year. We also had MS, JPM, Goldman, CS, UBS, Citi, BAML, BMO, Stifel, DB, Barclays all come to campus for info sessions, and some had on campus interviews. Alumni network is strong and will help as much as they can. PM me if you have more specific questions.
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