NYU Stern vs UChicago for IB

Hi all, 
I am a high school senior who was admitted to both these schools (UChicago under early action and NYU ED1). Although ed1 is binding, I am able to renege on it since I applied to financial aid and they didn't give me any (I can pay, but this gives me a valid reason).

I know UChicago is a miles better university, but I was wondering how big the difference would actually be for recruiting if there is any? I don't love the UChicago environment meaning the 8hrs+ a day studying etc. Im confident I can handle it, but I don't love that. I would prefer to live in NYC for sure, the lack of campus doesn't really bother me. I also have a lot of friends at Stern doing well in the best clubs, so I should have some recruiting help from that. 

I know Stern gets a lot of hate on this forum but a lot of people I've talked to about this consider it a great school. Overall, would it be a huge mistake to forgo uchicago?

30 Comments
 

I am able to renege on it since I applied to financial aid and they didn't give me any (I can pay, but this gives me a valid reason).

 

Buddy’s at Stern and just landed nice BB offer. Was on the phone with him for an hour yesterday and he was saying there is a huge support system once you get into one of the clubs (TFS, SOF, etc.). He emphasized how important it was to be in clubs to get interviews out of Stern so when you say you have friends in Stern clubs, make sure those aren’t just LinkedIn connections but real people who know you well enough to help get you into one of the better clubs at Stern bc you have very slim odds of even getting an interview in NY if you don’t get into a good Stern club. This is from what my friend at Stern had to say about recruiting.

 

Yeah this is what I've heard as well. But these are close friends like attended my prep school and still facetime them every month or so

 

I think both are pretty close enough in terms of recruiting.. just depends on cost and your location preference. Stern's environment is going to be a lot of studying / prep as well, considering how competitive the clubs there are and you're gonna need to be in a club to maximize your recruiting chances

 

They're close enough in school quality, especially for IB recruiting.

Having gotten one degree from Chicago and another from NYU (I won't get more specific than that), I know both environments well including undergrad environment at both.  And both are fine, but I just wanted to say I found the UC envioronment to be underrated when I was there, and I found the NYU environment to be overrated.  Both still good.

Hyde Park as I'm sure you know gets the "where fun goes to die" reputation and I had that fear too before I started there.  It just isn't accurate.  Sure there are some super-nerds who embrace that shit, but most people are normal and want to have fun like anyone else would.  Further, NYU has its own version of the non-fun person . . its not really a super-nerd but more of the 20 year-olds who act like they're 35 and very off-campus-minded in terms of like, seeing themselves more as New Yorkers than as college kids.

And NYU's campus reputation (or lack thereof) gets too much of a free pass IMHO.  Of course the public generally knows NYU is blended with the city and isn't really a campus, but I question the degree to which the public understands this. Like there's really zero campus to speak of. You can sense some of that on a visit, but its only after really spending some time there that you get the compounding effect of having no campus identity whatsoever. 

That's a big trade-off at the undergrad level. These will be some of the most important relationships you ever build, I think it detracts from the magic materially when every time you step outside your dorm or classrom you're sharing a sidewalk with the entire world.

I'm not saying choose Chicago, they're both still great and my best advice is respect your gut.  I think investing in multi-day visits is a good idea. Spend 2-3 days at each place and pay close attention to how you feel there.  I just wanted to get it out there that I think Chicago's vibe isn't as dark as they say, and NYU's isn't as bright as they say.

 

UChicago. I'd say for IB recruiting it should be similar, but if you're thinking about MF PE or HF down the line, UChicago is way better.

 

dk much abt uchicago but the culture at stern is pure shit. If you want to always be competing against people that live and breathe ib and internships, go to stern. Club culture is also suuuper important here, its terrible. not sure how it is in Uchi but if its any different Id go there. I picked stern and highk regret it

 

10 hours freshman year id say, like 30h sophmore fall. Probably like 125 kids get an offer a year, 25 athletes 60 clubs, 20 nepos 20 grinders. the top clubs have like a 1% acceptance rate. 5-7 kids and like 500 apps. you wont get a hedge fund offer without being in qfs or iag (quant club and long only equity club)

 
Funniest

Stern likely a better fit given you're outsourcing the question to a wall street forum for pre-professional recruiting 

 

...how many people at uchicago do you think recruit for ib vs nyu stern. outside of the context of this forum this question is not a debate 

 

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