Do you think this is a wise choice?

I'm currently a freshmen at NYU Stern and received a 3.86 GPA for this Fall semester. However I feel depressed by the atmosphere of NYU, the lack of intellectual spirit as well as the lack of name recognition of Stern, especially as compared to ivies. I turned down Cornell and Duke to come here and am wondering if I made the right decision.

Do you think it would be a wise choice to transfer out of NYU Stern to the University of Chicago? UChicago really fascinates me with its strong intellectual vibe and I feel like I would fit in better there than where I currently am right now. I feel confident that I can do well in Chicago (albeit probably not a 3.8 level). Moreover, I see that UChicago gains its fair share of respect/recruitment around the community and is looked upon highly, whereas Stern is generally viewed as Wharton/Columbia/ivy rejects.

I am looking to enter S&T or IBD in at a BB in Hong Kong and wanted to seek the opinions of the WSO community in terms of whether transferring is a right choice, in terms of recruitment.

Any thoughts?

 

Turning down Duke is never a good idea...

If you don't like your school, that's a good reason to transfer, but I'd visit your friends at those other schools or something so you can make sure you're picking the right school this time.

As far as getting a job in finance, if you have a 3.9 from Stern, it's only your own fault if you can't get a job with that, nothing wrong with the brand name or gpa there that makes it incredibly necessary to switch schools.

 

Yes definitely, I'm also thinking of Cornell which I heard is very good with financial aid. Do you think UChicago is a better school than Stern in terms of recruitment? Also less kids from Chicago would be interested in finance in the first place right?

 
chubbybunny:
Really? Uchicago does not have better recruitment than Stern? Does this apply only to NYC or Asia Pacific or all in general?

I think that Stern has better NYC placements, but that Uchicago has better placement everywhere else.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

Anything out of the Ivies Asia Pacific hardly knows.

I graduated in 2009 from Stern with a job at BB so hard to imagine that Stern wouldn't place well as we come out of a crisis.

Like earlier post said if you have 3.9 and can't land a job from Stern then it's pretty much your fault. I can tell you that there are more people at BBs from Stern at undergrad level.

 
kbluearmor7:
Anything out of the Ivies Asia Pacific hardly knows.

I kind of disagree. Any top schools with easily pronounced names like Duke, MIT, Berkley is pretty well known as well. School listed on the top 30 national universities with lots of Asians and international Asian, decent business and science degrees are decently well known as well: USC, CMU, Northwestern, NYU.

----------------------------------------------------------------- Hug It Out
 

As a junior at Stern, I can relate to your first two points (Atmosphere, lack of intellectual spirit). As someone who doesn't want to go into investment banking, I can say that Stern isn't as amazing as I thought it was in high school. With that said, there are some native Asians who go from Stern to APAC banking. If you don't find yourself intellectually stimulated, I suggest directly contacting some professors about readings you can do on your own. The Marcianos are both fantastic professors (Sonia teaches Management and Organizational Analysis, Anthony teaches Advanced Corporate Finance) and incorporate a lot of strategy, game theory and agency cost issues into their classes that might help you feel like you're getting a very well-rounded education.

 
Best Response
jkdman63:
As a junior at Stern, I can relate to your first two points (Atmosphere, lack of intellectual spirit). As someone who doesn't want to go into investment banking, I can say that Stern isn't as amazing as I thought it was in high school. With that said, there are some native Asians who go from Stern to APAC banking. If you don't find yourself intellectually stimulated, I suggest directly contacting some professors about readings you can do on your own. The Marcianos are both fantastic professors (Sonia teaches Management and Organizational Analysis, Anthony teaches Advanced Corporate Finance) and incorporate a lot of strategy, game theory and agency cost issues into their classes that might help you feel like you're getting a very well-rounded education.

s far as intellectual stimulation, you can always ask around about some UG research possibilities and stuff like that to get more involved with profs.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 
happypantsmcgee:
jkdman63:
As a junior at Stern, I can relate to your first two points (Atmosphere, lack of intellectual spirit). As someone who doesn't want to go into investment banking, I can say that Stern isn't as amazing as I thought it was in high school. With that said, there are some native Asians who go from Stern to APAC banking. If you don't find yourself intellectually stimulated, I suggest directly contacting some professors about readings you can do on your own. The Marcianos are both fantastic professors (Sonia teaches Management and Organizational Analysis, Anthony teaches Advanced Corporate Finance) and incorporate a lot of strategy, game theory and agency cost issues into their classes that might help you feel like you're getting a very well-rounded education.

s far as intellectual stimulation, you can always ask around about some UG research possibilities and stuff like that to get more involved with profs.

That's also important. Basically, if you're like me, you're gonna feel like much of what you learn is pretty boring and there will be a handful of classes that interest you. That plus the fact that everyone in Stern wants to go into banking and the school is tailored around that means that you're gonna have to make the extra effort to really feel stimulated.

 

You've go to be kidding me. Buddy you are a freshman, and havent even taken any serious Stern classes. Stern forces you to take a liberal arts core your first two years. Just be grateful that you managed to maintain such a high gpa. Granted if you don't like the school but still want to be competitive, the only other school that should ever be in your consideration is Wharton. That is the only competitor to Stern. While other people on this thread may cry about it thats the truth. UChicago has a decent program that focusedson, idk, Chicago recruiting.

Also, love your critique on "intellectuall spirit", where do you get this?

 

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