I've asked Sternies on their Facebook group and they all agree that Stern has a tremendous presence on wallstreet, as many major firms go to hire there annually.
Based on your experiences, is Stern really that highly regarded among major firms?
Also is Stern a respected college in the West Coast just as it is in the East Coast? Or is its prestige limited to the East Coast?
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Stern is really great for getting a job on wall street. Its not a very fun school to go to tho.
Stern isn't a great school to attend, I went there for undergrad. The job reports are misleading - literally everyone in Stern wants to do IB, whereas if you go to let's say Duke undergrad, only a few people want to do it....so the conversion rate is lower at Stern than its peers. Plus, you need to compete against your classmates and do a bunch of during-the-school-year internships which suck. Also, strict curve, full of back stabbing people, lots of stress that is completely unnecessary, people with poor social skills, no school spirit, etc. Oh ya, and it's ridiculously expensive.
Go to another top 25 school and just major in something like Econ. You'll have more fun, and will have the same, if not better, chances of landing an IB job.
That said, it does place well in the street...but the admissions standards are much higher at Stern than the rest of NYU, so if you can get in there, you can get into another top 20/25 school that is a much better experience.
Do you think Indiana Uni Bloomington - Kelleywould be a much better option? It seems to do very well in accounting and consulting, and it's only $35-36k a year.
And how do they backstab you? I was talking to a Sternie just now and he said there are some selfish people who dont want to help you or go off on their own, but I didn't think it would be as bad as you describe
.
I considered going there for college (wanted to do that special program that takes like 25 students, can't remember what it's called) but decided otherwise.
In my opinion, the only benefit of NYU is its location. Wall Street firms always need academic-year interns, and NYU (and Columbia) are the only good options to hire from. This makes the students there better positioned for junior recruiting. That translates into a better alumni network. Compare that to a place like Yale, which has none of those academic-year opportunities. But there doesn't seem to be much pedigree coming out of there. Cost is also an issue - it's an expensive school in a very expensive area.
I would see what other schools you get into before you decide. It's still early for college admissions, no?
It is indeed early and I got into NYU Stern, IU Kelley, and U of Michigan.
I initially thought about going to Stern as it was my top choice, but its $70k/year tuition and the rumors surrounding the school (like competition, everybody is jacking off to IB, etc) is making me have many doubts.
Furthermore, I'm not planning on doing the IB -> MBA -> Associate or Buy-side like many Sternies seem to do, so thats another one.
I'm definitely thinking about IU Kelley as it'll be only $35k a year. but it is considered "2nd tier" to schools like Stern, or Ross (U Michigan)
IU Kelley is definitely a tier below ross and stern. I'd personally go to Michigan given those choices. You get the "full" college experience (frats, football, etc) and will have great placement into IB or whatever else you want to do. If it's not too late to apply (no idea when college deadlines are), I'd also look into UVA, UNC, and Berkeley for a similar experience along with a top business program.
I'd pick umich. I have a few friends who transferred from nyu to umich and they love it.
Are you out-of-state for University of Michigan?
Yes, so it'll be around 60k a year but I havent heard back from their FA office yet.
Yes, so it'll be around 60k a year but I havent heard back from their FA office yet.
Indiana is a solid and underrated school, but Michigan, UNC, UVA, and UPenn are all superior. I'm not sure if you are into private schools, but consider Georgetown, Notre Dame, Boston College, Wake Forest, Emory, etc.
Also, does Michigan really cost 60k a year now? Fucking ridiculous.
It's not just Michigan... even a cheap in-state, high quality school like UCLA or UC San diego are all doing tuition hikes at 4-5% a year, so for Cal in-state students who enter in 2015, they'll have to pay $38-39k a year in tuition by the time they graduate, and this is IN STATE.
Sometimes, I wish I was born in Germany or some country where higher education doesn't burn all your money.
Lol, Penn kids gonna hate you for thinking UPenn is a public school.
in state tuition at UCLA is $12.7k/year, what are you talking about?
the TUITION is $12.7k a year, but thats not the only thing we are paying.
If you go on UCLA's Website, there is a whole bunch of other costs along with the tuition that add up to $33-34k/year.
I second dingdong08, you should only attend an expensive private school if it's top x (define x) or if you have the cash to blow.
im aware of that but your post said UCLA tuition is $39k which isn't accurate.
@"79trades" There's no level of "prestige" or potential FT offer that warrants you dropping 300k on NYU Stern undergrad or 240k on umich. I can't think of a more effective way to throwaway your financial future. Go military and attend for free (fraction at NYU) if you 'have' to go to those schools. This follow up post/forum topic is seeking confirmation bias, find another way.
Jesus Christ. $70k for private, $60k for out of state public, and in the $30's for UC's? I obviously knew college had gotten expensive but I had no idea it was so eye poppingly high. Talk about a bubble.
Good luck kid. Don't blow $70k on NYU if you don't want to do the banking route or even stay on the east coast. One of the larger problems with NYU is that you'll blow a ton of money on everything else also. Think >$4 for a Starbucks. And don't blow $70/year on anything except an Ivy/Stanford. What's your career goal? And what about your in state schools?
Who cares if it is prestigious? What matters is that you will be close to Wall Street and have a huge alumni network to work with and try to get your foot in the door.
That's not how it really works. A handful of people "network" in, but at the end of the day, Stern is in a certain tier of schools. The major firms are going to take x% of kids from every school in that tier of schools. Vast majority of students go through traditional recruiting channels at big banks that every other school goes through. The bar is just higher at Stern, since a bunch of classmates have during school year internships, but that doesn't seem to help in getting a job. Someone who goes to Northwestern just gets in without the in-school internships.
OpsDude, you're pretty much just a really bitter stern alum. Congrats on "moving up" to Kellogg (or is it Booth?) I'm actually really happy that working out in ops worked out for you. I just think the perspective you have on Stern is affected too much by your miserable experience recruiting. A quick look at your past posts show how you struggled with IBD recruiting and the pressure to conform at Stern.
I go to a school in the city as well, and at my school, pretty much everyone who is not hardcore about consulting is hardcore about investment banking. Its going to be the same at every school, but because Stern/Ross/Haas/Kelley/etc are undegrad business schools with mainly a IBD/Finance focus (and lack of consulting opportunities), all the attention is on investment banking. Stern is not the only school where everyone wants to investment banking, especially the schools where investment banking is the only career option. People just start sobering up (like OpsDude) once interviews come out and you realize that you just aren't cut for banking/didn't network hard enough/screwed up freshman year etc. And thats when the people that had herd mentality all along start feeling miserable.
Regarding school year internships, all the kids I interned with that had school year internships like OpsDude mentioned (Columbia, Stern, Haas kids in NY) all killed their internships. They were the ones that hit the ground running, and started taking on more responsibility early. I can assure you Haas kids go through the same internship during the school year approach, so do Columbia kids. It might be seen as something that makes the process more competitive, but its just like any other characteristic of a school (and can be something that sets interns apart). Columbia/UCBerkeley/NYU are known for being in (or near) the city, so kids should take advantage of it. It allows you to explore what you like, don't like, and might want to do (helpful especially for kids that are not sure what they want to do). I know Columbia kids that interned with top healthcare hedge funds, top VC firms (TCV), Houlihan Lokey/Evercore (non-M&A) part time during the school year. And I would say its a plus. This can be compared to just like how for some ivies (Dartmouth), being in certain frats helps immensely with getting interviews.
Just like any other school in a big city like NY, the campus life isn't what you would expect at UMich. Maybe OpsDude should have gone to UMich/Kelley/etc. NYU just isn't cut out for everyone. The fun and where people socialize are just more isolated because the city is so big. There aren't accessible parties marketed all around campus, because the people already know who they're going out with and everyone already has plans. The city is a lot of fun. And no NYU kid is going to be looking for frat parties when they can just hit the club/bars/lounges/concerts in NY. Its a different lifestyle and a different school mentality. My friend ended up picking Stern over Berkeley and Pre-admit Ross because this was the lifestyle she wanted (and she seemed like that type of girl as well). And shes having a blast.
I can't speak about the curve or the social skills people have at Stern though. This was probably unnecessarily long, but I've just been seeing terrible (and biased) advice on college choices here because of WSO stereotypes. You really just have to know what you want. I just think OpsDude had a bad time at NYU because he just happened to choose a school with the wrong fit. And the IBD focus ended up just making it more miserable for him.
That said, you can't classify any school automatically as great or not great to attend. You have to weigh different things to know what you seek out of the college experience/what fits you.
SGBanker nailed it. I had a great time at Stern because I hung out with the socially aware kids, got to intern for incredibly intelligent people, and was able expand my interests by going to different places with different people. My education was likely no different than most others, but I believe i learned more about people and making meaningful relationships than I would have anywhere else.
At the end of the day, if you go to any top 25 school and do decently well and are socially well adjusted, you'll have a good chance at getting into IB/MBB. It really comes down to personal preference for a city vs college town type of atmosphere.
Regarding Indiana, for some reason there are a bunch of Kelley alumni on here that keep trying to hype up the school on every thread. While its certainly possible to get front office IB jobs out of Kelley, its significantly harder than at UVA/Mich/Berkeley and I would only choose Kelley if money was a serious issue and it was much cheaper than the other options.
Stern is an excellent finance school. Because you are in the city you can make opportunities for yourself through internships, leveraging your boss's connections, and meeting people on your own that is just not simply possible at a school outside of major financial centers. Add to that incredible finance professors and faculty who have very powerful connections and credibility, then there is just simply no excuse for not getting a job out of Stern that you are at least slightly happy with.
Of course, not everyone at Stern is going to go to Goldman IB (although Stern does send a ton there but that is besides the point) but pretty much any finance job is within reach if you just make the effort and want it bad enough to put in the work. I know numerous students with sub 3.3 GPAs pulling down IB offers and I also know how much work they put in to get those offers and this is only b/c of NYU'a proximity advantage that gives you the encouragement to put the city to good use.
With regards to the consulting comment - Consulting must have has picked up a lot since OpsDude went here PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, FTI, Capgemini, Accenture, Solution Providers, Baker Tilly, Cambridge Associates, Towers Watson, Kurt Salmon, IBM, Sapient, Charles River Associates, Rosetta, and Marsh & Mclennan all recruit very heavily at NYU with a handful (~2-3 people each) going to places like Oliver Wyman and MBB (mainly BCG) through resume drops these firms conduct at NYU. I am not consulting focused but even I know that all these firms come here so there must some more that I'm missing.
Yes Stern is respected in all areas of the world and that is evidenced by the numerous international students that come from all ends of world the to attend the school. Something like 25% of Stern students is international and ~40 countries are represented. This brings in recruiters form all over the world - most common are APAC, Singapore, London, Chicago, Florida, West Coast (Mostly SF, LA & Palo Alto).
So you are not at loss for opportunities at all if you come to Stern. In fact, you will have more opportunities than 99% of students in college.
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