Cornell Students and Graduates: How strong is Investment Banking recruitment for non-AEM majors?

I'd say Cornell as a whole is generally a semi-target. So no, you're not at a big disadvantage compared to schools like Duke, BC, BU, Tufts, Etc. And those schools send a few to wall street every year. Just get a good GPA, (3.7+ to be safe), network A LOT (just like any semi/non-target student would do), and do a lot of research and show interest in the industry.

Source: Cornell is popular with my family, and so is finance. Basically 50% of all my relatives who attended college went to Cornell.

Double legacy at Cornell - both parents went into IB and IB related industries, 1 other relative graduated from Cornell and is doing IB at BB now. 2 distant relatives from Cornell: one student w/ an SA offer, and an older graduate (he's like 30 now) who used to be in IB but is doing something unrelated now. When I applied to college I also got in and did a lot of research about IB prospects. In the end I didn't wanna go because imo Ithaca is fucking depressing.

That might seem like a lot of people, but don't be fooled, because it's by no means easy: my family is pretty hardcore in general. And remember each of my family members graduated in very different classes, and were one of the few in each class who did so well.

But yes, you have a shot. Cornell is a solid semi-target. A lot of banks don't make the trip up there but if you're good it's not a problem. Major-wise, I can ask what they all majored in. My parents both did up to PhD level Econ/Physics though, so their undergrad major is unlikely to matter. Plus this was forever ago.

I'm a current student, I actually transferred here. I'm not it AEM. All majors and schools have access to the same OCR. Also, all of the BBs have OCR here. Happy to answer any other questions you might have.

The general rule on this website I've seen (any older users can comment on this): If your university has a business school, recruiters will gravitate to those majors before others.

That rule does sort of make sense too. Why would an investment bank go out of its way to meet the few kids who are interested in IB in every single school/major within a university when they have a large pool of students at the business school? That doesn't necessarily mean you have no shot, but I bet you're going to have to show more interest.

By the way, my school (a semi-target) offers OCR to all majors for investment banks. That doesn't mean the students who even major in A&S Econ actually have a shot compared to the business school kids.

dubyawhy, has no idea what he is talking about... sounds very green as well. I will never understand why kids take it upon themselves to give advice when they have very little experience. Banks recruit for all majors and every bank comes/recruits at Cornell. From BX to GS to JPM to Laz, even some PE/HF gigs. Grades are more important than major imo - you may get questions about why you chose your "non-finance" major but ultimately what we care about is did you excel, are you smart/intellectually curious, and do you work hard. Note that AEM / Econ is likely to give you an advantage over others but not a significant one.

Take a look at a few of the threads on here, many are very helpful. This is an easy question to answer.

Why are you comparing Cornell to Tufts and BU? I thought Cornell is a lot better in both academics and recruiting? Anyway, I was talking to a MD at JP Morgan and he said your major does not matter at all, as long as you have a solid gpa in your math classes.

Duke and Cornell pass a certain threshold and that is all that should matter to you. Just get good grades and show interest in Finance and you should be fine come recruiting.

At Cornell a 3.5 or above all but guarantees you a BB IB job if you take the time to study some interviewing materials. Sure, that BB might be UBS or Citi, but everyone I know who really wanted IB, got IB. Firms that take the most kids are JP and BAML.