A&M Business Honors or Mccombs
Hey everyone I just had a quick question as a high school senior choosing colleges and being the first one in my family to attend college. I was recently admitted to A&M business honors with a full ride and UT Mccombs (non-BHP). I’m interested in doing IB or Consulting in Houston or NYC after school so which of these schools do you think would make it easier to accomplish this. Thanks for your thoughts!
As a fellow Texan myself, McCombs for sure. I’ve seen a lot of people working in banking from McCombs, but I can’t remember one from TAMU.
Thanks for the response! So even though I didn’t get into Honors you recommend UT over TAMU?
Absolutely and don’t look back. McCombs puts you in a way better position than Mays. You’ll also enjoy your time way more in Austin than you will in college station.
Did you get a full ride for McCombs, or do you have to pay for all of it? If the latter, how much debt will you have to take out or can your parent comfortably foot the bill?
If you'd have to take out significant debt, I'd consider A&M. A&M sends a couple people to NYC every year, and historically about a dozen to Houston. Texas will send more to each, especially NYC, but if you do the right things at A&M, it's not that hard to get into IB. I can't speak to consulting.
I won’t have to take out any loans and my family can comfortably afford it. Just wondering if the connections at A&M business honors would make a significant difference over being a normal student at UT
Former business honors here, so can probably provide more color than most here. business honors does provide differentiation and pretty much makes you a lock for Aggies on Wall street and Horizons which are key to getting into banking, everyone in my AOWS/Horizons class got IB offers, I had a 3.6 and ended up with multiple superdays, not that hard to get into banking as the competition is much less than Mccombs. Its a great program and I loved my experience there, combined with the full ride it is an excellent choice that you wouldn't regret. Also the number of kids going into banking is growing every year (upwards of 20+ now) and more going to NY as well.
McCombs is the much much better school even without honors. Also I believe business honors at A&M isn’t considered very different from regular business while at UT bhp is a completely separate program with it’s own classes that counts as a full independent major.
McCombs all-day-everyday
To put it into perspective, I just graduated from McCombs (non-bhp) with a 3.50 (aka reaaaally shitty GPA for IB recruiting) without being a member of any IB-focused orgs (i.e. Texas stock team, TUIT, IBA, or WSFM - BUT I was in USIT and in a social frat so those did help a bit - I just didn’t really know what IB was until like junior year so wish I got involved in one of those said orgs earlier) and still managed to land a FT offer at a large MM. Oh and also, I was rejected from A&M Mays honors when I went thru the college app process. Granted, I had to network a bit harder than most, but point is the McCombs brand carries WAY more weight than A&M. So yeah, McCombs by a mile. Plus, who wants to join a cult in a shitty college town anyway?
Ex-O&G analyst now industrials. Didn’t go to either of these schools but McCombs easy. Next question.
How easy was it to lateral out of O&G? and at what kind of a bank were you at (from a deal flow perspective), previously?
I go to TAMU. I'll just say this- anyone who wants IB from TAMU and has a 3.5+ gets it (at least at a Houston bank). Idk if we have a bunch of ivy league or UT hardos commenting, but I've seen everyone I know who wanted IB get it. Truth is, not a lot of people that go to A&M want IB which is one reason I think the placement really lags UT. I think the only bank I havent really seen an Aggie go to is Evercore Houston. The placement into NYC is significantly worse than UT though as most Ags don't want to leave Texas so there's just not the network there. I've had no trouble getting people on the phone/ getting interviews though.
That said, McCombs does have better placement. I just wanted to write the above as people were making it sound like TAMU doesnt place at all. The placement significantly improves every year.
I recently talked with a friend and he said most placement is with MM or boutiques. Would you say this is true or do most people get offers from BB
So out of people I know who went to BBs in Houston: JPM, Barc, Citi, BAML, CS, WF (idk if WF is considered BB or not tbh). Idk anyone that placed at MS or Goldman in Houston recently. We did have some who placed in Goldman a couple of years ago. If you go to tamuhorizons . Com , and go to past placements- there’s some that aren’t on there, but that shows a lot of them. I will say if you want to end up in nyc, UT would probably be better. Though Tamu has been getting much better in placements in nyc with people at JPM, PJT, RBC, and some other MMs. Fact is UT has a better IB network outside Texas at the moment but Tamu is catching up. If you’re staying in Texas you’ll be good at Tamu. Like I said before the only bank I haven’t seen a Tamu grad go to is Evercore Houston. Someone else on the thread did make a good point about internships. If you want to do fall/spring internships there are boutiques in atx that take interns.
Yeah this is pretty spot on ^ i recruited a lot in Houston and I will say TAMU places just fine there given their horizons program. Both b-schools are well respected at the end of the day but if you’re purely seeking IB placement anywhere in the country, UT is definitely your better bet
I had to make the exact same decision 5-6 years ago and I went with McCombs. I think looking back it was definitely the best decision. At UT, leaving Texas for name-brand IB shops is quite common and if you are interested in opportunities in SF / NY, you can definitely get them if you are not in BHP.
While the BHP kids might have a leg up because of the network / preference for selective finance orgs, if you grind and stay plugged in the network, I'd assume you'd be able to find a great offer. Plenty of non-BHP kids get jobs each year in IB or Consulting and a good % of these jobs are outside of Houston. If money is not a huge concern, I wouldn't be pressed about the decision and opt for McCombs. Also, in general, Austin is a much better city for getting part-time internships which can play favorably while you recruit.
This thread is why I hate all aggies. You can’t escape them in Houston and their damn graduation rings
Tell us how you really feel
Can’t speak for banking in Houston, but in Dallas PE I know quite a few UT grads (couldn’t tell you if they were BHP or not), still have yet to meet someone from A&M in traditional PE, banking, or HF, though I meet tons of them on the real estate and commercial banking side.
BHP is not needed at all for banking from UT (current UT student/IB SA posting)
Sorry for the late reply the power has been out here for a couple of days. Is it extremely competitive for getting into orgs like Longhorns on Wall Street and are they required for IB?
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