Georgetown MSB vs Michigan Ross vs UC Berkeley
Hi everyone, I am a high school senior. Not long ago, I made a post asking about Georgetown vs Berkeley, but the other day I was accepted to Ross, and now I have questions about it as well. I'm wondering how these three schools fair for placement into IB/MBB/PE/VC (obviously PE/VC opps will be nonexistent out of undergrad, but I'm wondering which of these schools has the best alumni network in these industries). For reference, I'm not at all opposed to staying in the west coast. Also, regarding Georgetown, I'm aware its placement into IB is killer, but I'm worried the school is rather one-dimensional in its focus on finance, and I'm not sure I want to be confined to pursuing IB. Also for Berkeley, I would have to apply to the business school (Haas) my sophomore year. It has a 30% acceptance rate, but I think I have what it takes to get in. With that said, which of these three would be the best option? Thanks in advance!
Edit: I also want to mention that for the time being, I am leaning towards UC berkeley, as I felt that I fit in there the most. However, I still am open to all three schools. Also, I am in state for berkeley, but finances aren’t an issue.
Ross places into consulting better than Georgetown. My friends going to McKinsey and is an econ major with no special connection/URM status. For IB it’s a wash but generally they get better BB recruitment while Ross does well with EBs. Haas is a riskier path with cutthroat competition.
Choose based on experience. Georgetown will have political intellectuals and a more elite vibe. Ross is full of east coast/west coast rich kids but the culture of the school overall makes it a great time. Visit for sure.
With regard to PE/VC we get lots of action including being a target school for ares vista insight venture stripes group and many smaller VC firms. Access to Chicago and NYC recruiting equally means many ops to go around.
Hey thanks so much for the response. Regarding haas, I realize its definitely a riskier path, but do you think there's an upside? I realize you're in Ross, so you probably don't have major tabs kept on other business schools haha, but do you have any knowledge on Haas recruiting?
Personally I wouldn’t take the risk with Haas. It’s not worth it to be cucked. Myself, I’m choosing between Georgetown and UVA, but I’m leaning toward Georgetown. Did you go to the event they had over last weekend to welcome the new class? I went there and 2 of the student speakers for MSB were going into IB. I talked to one of them and he was taking some CS/Python classes. He assured me that you can take whatever classes you’re interested in outside of finance, and that would include consulting too; it isn’t just about finance/business if you don’t want it to be. The business school has a lot of majors that I’m sure you’d find your specific interest in. As for Georgetown vs. Ross, it’s kind of like my dilemma with UVA. Do you want a smaller, more tightly knit school with a great community (Georgetown), or do you want a much larger (7000 vs 20000 people), more fratty/Greek scene (10% vs 20% of undergrads) (Ross)? It depends what you want in college entirely.
As for their Georgetown’s consulting specifically, see https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fgeorgetown.box.com%2Fs%2Fyg…. Page 28. According to it, 13% of MSB undergrads who responded to the survey (74% participation rate), went into consulting. They break down all the majors, employers, and job titles in there for everyone. I highly recommend you look through it. Again, I’m not sure about Ross, but I’m sure they have similar career destination reports if you Google it. If you do end up going to Georgetown, I’ll probably see you there. Maybe we can even be roommates! (I’m going to need to look for one soon.) PM me if you end up deciding Georgetown, or have anymore questions.
Ya I’ve taken a look at the career reports. Georgetown doesn’t seem to place very well for MBB. Also, what I don’t like about the career reports is that when they list 10 people going to Goldman, there is no way of telling whether or not those are BO/MO/FO roles. That’s why I posted on here to get opinions from people who are actually in the industry.
Ross is actually only like 2500 ppl and we have a very tight knit community.
Overall I’d say any 3 of those universities will place you where you want to go. Fewer people are interested in consulting than IB, so that’s going to hamper the numbers quite a bit in career reports, and it’s going to be harder to find data. The most important aspect to focus on is what you want in a college for the next 4 years. I assume you’ve done research on the sizes, culture, weather, etc., and I really think that should be a factor in your decision along with job placement, if not more so. Cause, in two years, you could say fuck consulting or fuck finance in general, and want to pursue something else. I know you probably feel like your deadset in consulting (just like I feel about IB) and hate getting told you might change your mind (I was too). But, it’s importsnt to keep an open mind and go wherever you feel yourself at. Cause if you say fuck finance/business all together, you want to be somewhere where you’ll feel at home regardless, and not be miserable that you picked a school solely for its placement. Obviously it’s not Harvard vs. community college, so you shouldn’t feel obliged to pick one over the other outside of what YOU want. If you’re leaning toward one specifically after all the research you’ve done (which I’m assuming is a lot), you’re probably going to end up there. You’ll be successful wherever you’ll go, so I hope you find and pick your dream school. (And if it’s Georgetown, we will own the school haha.) If not, definitely keep in touch. Gotta build that N e T w O r K.
Also, as for career destinations for MBB. Haas sent 2+ to Bain (they don’t disclose exact amount). https://career.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Survey/2016HaasEmpR…
Boston and McKinsey aren’t listed.
Georgetown (https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fgeorgetown.box.com%2Fs%2Fyg…) sent 9 to Bain and 6 to McKinsey. Boston wasn’t listed.
Of the respondents, Berkeley has a higher rate of people entering consulting (20% vs. 13% at Gtown), but those could be less well known firms, and are apparently not MBB.
Just something to think about alongside what I said about the atmosphere. This is if you’re dead set on comparing recruiting.
Also I’m more than willing to take the risk with haas. If I can’t make the cutoff for haas, I definitely can’t make the cutoff for IB. Besides, from the people I’ve talked to, econ majors can still hustle and sneak into haas recruiting events and ultimately land the same jobs. So the risk is a non factor. By the way if I do end up coming to gtown I’ll def pm you. I’m in need of a roommate too hahah.
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Go to Ross. I have friends at all 3 and if you join the right orgs at Ross you are set for any career path. Also Umich is just more fun than the other shoots and a less cut throat culture.
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I was deciding between these three as a senior. I ruled out Michigan mainly because of the weather and Georgetown because it was too expensive for me.
All three are great schools, but I've loved my time at Cal. Here are the placements of just Haas students: https://career.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Survey/2018Haas-Bus…
Cal Econ placements are pretty comparable too. While I do believe that Georgetown is the strongest target here, their graduation placement survey doesn't list the actual job titles seniors are taking. Not sure how many of them are taking BO jobs. Idk about Ross, but they probably send more people to IB than Haas because more people want to do IB there. But Berkeley essentially runs a monopoly on Banking in SF and has great presence on the west coast (LA, Portland, Seattle). Also Berkeley places well in software, tech, and consulting (probably better than Ross and comparable to Gtown) in case you were interested in those fields.
If you see yourself working on the West Coast for consulting, tech or IB, I'd take Berkeley. If you were gunning for New York, Georgetown is the best option here.
Edit: Going to an EB (Evercore/PJT). Also, the difficulty of Berkeley is overrated. There are alot of stupid people here who were the top 5% of horrible Californian high schools: the shiniest of turds. Join a frat, have fun, get into some business orgs and you'll be set. Trust me.
Hey dude,
thanks for the response. And yeah, regarding the Georgetown career survey, that's exactly what I was worried about. There's no way they are placing 12 at GS FO lol. Also yeah, I definitely see myself looking into tech/consulting. Finance is great (especially the pay), but I've had summer internships at wealth management firms and have spent a few years now managing my high school's endowment, and shit I just don't know if I want that to be my life for 3+ years. Also with the difficulty at Berkeley, that's what I was thinking too. Even at my high school, I look around at the other people heading to Berkeley, and not to be pretentious, but there's no way they are gonna be serious competition. Well anyways, thanks so much for the answer -- its really exactly what I needed to hear. I'd love to PM if you have a chance.
Yeah shoot me a PM. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
The job destination survey for Georgetown I listed does list job titles. It says “Investment Banking Analyst.” I didn’t know IB analysts could be in BO. I thought IB analysts were all FO. Guess I’m wrong though.
Junior @ Haas - I can tell you that we literally dominate West Coast recruiting here in SF. obvious competitors are Stanford, Claremont McKenna and USC (sort of).
I can tell you the Bay Area is also fucking beautiful, today its 71 degrees and yesterday it was a cool 65.
I did a boutique MM TMT bank as a Sophomore - due to alumni connections, and now I'm signed with an EB for this Summer.
Berkeley is very diverse in terms of things you are exposed to and can learn. I ended up doubling in CS and Biz as well and Haas is pretty lax and allows for me to do both.
We have a lot of connections in tech (obviously the valley, SF & Oakland's new startup scene)
You'll have a much more holistic experience @ Haas. I will admit that the bank I'm working at has another Ross guy and they recruit heavy out of Ross, so take it for what it's worth.
PM me if you wanna learn more, congrats & Go Bears!
In my opinion, Ross is a no-brainer. The earlier comment about getting into the correct club or fraternity is correct, but even so, check out their placement. https://michiganross.umich.edu/undergraduate/bba/careers/employment-data They blow out Georgetown in both IB and consulting.
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