Hey guys, currently I am a sophomore at the University of Houston, unfortunately my school is terrible when is comes to OCR and it's very difficult to land an IB gig out of here. I have applied to a few target schools so that I can transfer out this spring and am waiting on responses. However, if things don't work out and I am not accepted to any of them I will be forced to apply to schools that are easier to get into so; are any of the following schools which I have considered targets or even semi-targets? Thanks.
Schools:
Southern Methodist University
Wake Forest
Emory
WF and Emory would be worth going to. Not targets but would at least have alums at banks that you could network with. Emory over WF if you have to choose.
Yeah, I was looking at the Rankings and Emory is ranked pretty high. What is your opinion on SMU? I saw that it is ranked higher than Texas A&M which is seen as a semi-target from what i've heard.
I'm not sure where the Houston banks recruit but I would not call A&M a semi-target. SMU is a decent school but unlikely much recruiting there either.
Emory is the best on that list. SMU is pretty terrible. If you want something thats close to you. I would look into Rice.
I will try for Rice in the fall if I don't get accepted to any of the schools I've already applied to, however Rice only has ~7% transfer acceptance and it would be unlikely that I would get accepted there if I'm not accepted to any of the schools I've recently applied to.
They are all much better than Houston. Do not stay there. Transfer.
Emory will likely see the most recruitment, albeit mostly for regional southeast banks (Wells Fargo, Suntrust, etc.) but I do believe some NY firms recruit there.
SMU is a fantastic school. I was accepted, visited it, and almost accepted the offer. Beautiful campus, beautiful females. It is good enough to place into IB. BB's and regionals recruit there on-campus for their Houston offices and a few spots in Dallas. There are also many HF, AM, and real estate firms out there. The benefit of SMU is it's full of students with rich, successful parents and has a strong alumni base. So networking is quite rewarding there especially if you're involved on campus or, more importantly, join a fraternity.
Can't say much about Wake as I don't know much about its IB placement. Maybe someone else can chime in. Do some linkedin searches and see if there are a solid number of alumni in i-banking. Overall, I'd say this school has the weakest presence in banking out of the 3. Mostly from speculation, though.
Thanks for the information, I will be rushing a fraternity for sure. Good to hear that there are still alternatives if I get turned down from the targets I applied to for this spring.
Emory is definitely a semi-target. Just about every bank recruits at least 1-2 kids from there every year. Would definitely consider the transfer
SMU is a garbage school- disregard what was posted above. It is full of stupid wealthy kids.
I'm assuming you are applying to UNC, Duke, UVA. UT might be worth looking into as well if you are interested in staying in the state.
Yes, I will be applying to UNC, Duke, UVA, and UT. I am not restricted to southern schools, but they are the only schools I really know about besides the Ivies that are targets for IB. If you know of any others that are transfer friendly let me know.
What are you guys talking about? SMU has great placement not only in Houston but quite a few in energy marketing in Louisiana. It is a very reputable school.
NYU, the top LACs, Boston College, Georgetown are all worth applying to. Also have to consider the type of school you want to go to, as all of these are very different places.
Thanks, I will look into those. I already know about NYU and Georgetown. My ideal school would either be a northeastern traditional "ivy" style school, or a southern more conservative school.
And although SMU has gotten a lot of hate, it would still be a lot better for me since I attend University of Houston, which is pretty much a dead-end if you're looking to get into front-office finance.
SMU is better than UH, and will place a couple of people in Houston every year.
PM me
UT would be great if you're paying the in-state tuition.
Love SMU. A truly great undergrad experience. I applied there as a safety, and would not have regretted going.
However, the other schools you listed are stronger. I will say this: admissions are a crapshoot, and you can apply to as many schools as you want. Do not let a $50 application fee stop you. Basically apply to every school you can in the US News top 40 / LAC top 20. Get admitted, then decide.
I've concluded that this is what i'm going to do. Thanks for the post.
If you want to work in banking in Houston and go to school in Texas, Texas is the best, then Rice, then A&M/SMU/TCU. After that it doesn't really matter because it's going to be very tough.
UT Austin is great. Their career services is very good as well.
all those schools are better than houston. i second what westcoast said. if you get into wake or emory you shouldn't have a problem with other schools on a similar league, and even with better recruiting/alumni so apply everywhere.
out of that list i would go with emory. they have a decent presence in NY.
Seriously consider Texas. All bulge brackets banks recruit McCombs for their Houston groups(with a little work you can get to NY or SF).
McCombs is only a ~18% external transfer acceptance rate which puts it up there with Brown, Cornell, and Georgetown, but I will probably give it a shot.
http://transferweb.com/stats/transfer-acceptance-rates/#.UL0h_5PjlGw
Disregard anyone who said SMU is a "garbage school". When I was considering attending, I shot cold calls out to BB i-banking alumni from Analysts up to Vice Presidents. They were all cool, helpful, and the general consensus is that if you put in the work in the classroom as well as networking, you can land a job in IB from SMU.
I don't believe WF will give you any noticeable advantage in recruitment from SMU. And I can guarantee that you will have more fun at SMU than WF, if that matters to you. I'm going to shamelessly plug Sigma Alpha Epsilon here if you attend SMU. Great chapter with alumni in IB. They currently have a couple analysts at JPM and more at other banks.
I agree with others though that if you get into any targets, definitely pick those. I would not waste time applying to LACs. The top LACs have transfer acceptance rates of ~3% at best. I know this because I went through the same process you are currently going through. If you have a high GPA and SAT scores, apply to McGill. They are hungry for international student tuition. OCR from BB's, MM's, and "elite boutiques", and an alumni base in IB that will topple most schools mentioned in this thread outside of the Ivies.
That's great to know, I was definitely looking into SAE if I was going to SMU!
just because there are alumni there doesn't mean recruiting is good. How many summer analysts from SMU were at bulge brackets this summer? Zero at most of them.
Maybe in NYC, SMU does just fine in Houston and Dallas.
I actually know a student there who was an SA at a Bulge Bracket Bank this past summer. It is possible out of SMU. You are just paying quite a bit in tuition and will have to be extremely proactive.
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