Help! Cornell ILR vs Northwestern Econ

Hi all, I was accepted to Northwestern econ and Cornell ILR. I was wondering which school would be better for an ibanking/financial career? I know that NU's econ is really strong and that I will have a large possibility of landing a job in Chicago. However, even though I will be attending Cornell as an industrial labor relations major, I have heard of many people from ILR breaking into ibanking and financial careers. In addition, I know that Cornell's Ivy league brand name will help and that it is a target school for most finance firms. But the only concern that is holding me back is that I will be majoring as an Industrial Labor Relations major. I was wondering how hard/likely/possible it is to break into finance through ILR. Will (Cornell ILR+Ivy League Brand Name)>Northwestern Econ? Thanks!

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Best Response

Both are great schools. In terms of prestige I would rank Northwestern Econ probs over Cornell ILR. But honestly Cornell ILR is an easy B+/A- at Cornell if you try just a little harder than your peers. High GPA and yea I know people who break into IB after ILR so if you wanna pad up your GPA, possibly a choice

 

Wouldn't Cornell's ivy league status help me get better connctions? and is ILR really that easy? I thought it was A LOT of reading.

 

Check LinkedIn and do some DD, I would guess Cornell has more 'Finance' related alumni in the Greater NY Area than Northwestern. That is if NYC is your goal but both amazing schools so congrats.

 

So in the end will Cornell's brand name (ilr or not) carry more weight than being in northwestern econ? If I want to do a career in finance anywhere in the states. And I've heard getting a finance job will be really competitive at Cornell, won't it be the same at NU? Also, I cannot transfer to any other school within cornell because I will be an external transfer student.

 

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