Help me choose between Fordham (Gabelli)/UMD (Smith)/UMich (Ross)/random nontargets.
Hi! My family is full-pay (upper middle class) but cannot afford to pay $70-80k/yr. Parents can pay ~$150k total and the rest would be funded through loans & me working in college. I won't be specific but before I get dumped on, my SAT is 1500+ and I'm top 10% of a competitive high school.
I know there's a LOT of posts like these, but it would help me out so much if I can get some insight :)
Fordham Gabelli (Pros):
- Strong NYC finance outcomes: Direct pipeline to NYC IB/finance through fantastic Smart Woman Securities chapter.
- Automatically smaller classes compared to larger public schools.
- NYC location = better networking opportunities.
- Gabelli has a solid reputation in finance.
- Beautiful campus and great connections through alumni.
- I know a lot of people there, making networking easier.
Fordham (Gabelli Cons):
- Crazy expensive: Even with merit, $60K/year + NYC cost of living.
- AP credits don’t transfer as easily.
- Housing issues: Likely have to move off-campus or commute after Year 1 to reduce debt. Bronx is questionable and I don't want to spend 2.5 hours of my day driving back/forth to home.
- Merit aid is conditional: Fordham might reduce aid if I don’t live on campus and definitely if I get outside scholarships.
- Overall school ranking is low & has stagnated. From what I've seen, the students aren't a fan of the current leadership and cost increases too.
- Mixed on campus culture: Visited about a year ago & not a fan of the ‘rich kid’ culture (even though family is well-off too). Felt the lack of diversity could be an issue for 1st time here. Not Catholic.
UMD (Smith) Pros:
- Got into scholars program: Smaller classes, better professor access, and (likely) stronger networking opportunities. Really nice dorms for the first two years.
- Traditional college experience: Big campus, school spirit, sports, etc. Fun social life!
- Reputation is rising: Ranked ~T40 nationally, Smith is 23 for business, and is becoming more selective.
- AP credits accepted easily: More flexibility to graduate early or take extra courses.
- No scholarship penalties: Merit aid isn’t reduced if I get outside scholarships.
- DC/Baltimore proximity & Consortium: Not stuck in the NYC/tristate bubble. Part of a consortium with Georgetown, American, etc. Get southern culture but not excessive.
- Great fintech opportunities as a backup plan.
- Some programs (I don't know the quality of them so if someone can comment on that, it would be SO much help): Wall Street Fellows, Smith Investment Fund, Lemma Senbet Fund.
UMD Smith Cons:
- Breaking into NYC IB is much much much harder: From what I've seen, most recruiting is for DC/Baltimore finance, not NYC?
- Fewer direct resources for IB recruiting compared to more finance-focused schools.
- Will be bit overwhelming in the beginning.
Not my flagship (this may change - family is considering moving), so will that bring up any red flags?
Mentally have crossed out UMich because it's too expensive out of state ($100k+ in loans) and does not give merit. Also family isn't comfortable with the travel + costs, and I don't love the weather. I'm curious if anyone think it's worth it, though. Also got into Babson, but full pay and non-target.
Finally...
Rutgers (New Brunswick) Pros:
- Got into honors college (!) = smaller classes, better research opportunities, stronger professor access.
The Road to Wall Street program is well-established and has strong IB placement for top students.
Rutgers (New Brunswick) Cons:
- Not a fan of the bus system
- Campus culture is very Asian-heavy (I’m Asian but c'mon) and anything else is too fratty.
Dislike NJ, and still quite expensive.
Binghamton / UMass Amherst / UConn (Flagship):
- Pros: Most affordable than other options, Dean's academy for Amherst.
- Cons: Weaker IB pipeline, making NYC finance much harder to break into. Cold & too rural (at least for Bing/UConn). I'm more introverted but it seems very boring.
Sorry for the long post. Mentally leaning towards UMD cost-wise and socially, but a bit worried about its outcomes. Please let me know what you think, any meaningful thoughts are greatly appreciated. Lastly, am diversity (woman) but that card can only take me so far. Thanks!
I’m leaning towards UMD or UMICH. Getting and offer will be much harder but still very doable from UMD. For reference I go to a state school and got a BB offer. Like my school, UMD is probably really top heavy and you’ll have to be in one of the IB clubs to get an IB offer.
I think UMICH could definitely be worth it in this scenario though because it has great placement/ pretty good target and if you try somewhat you should get an IB offer. Also super big school with great alumni and football! The loans that you take on can be paid off within a year of work after college. Also if you come from an Upper middle class family any way worst case they have your back. In terms of your future and how to shape yourself up for success best, I think UMICH > UMD
Thanks for responding.
Issue w/ UMich is that it's easily $150k+ in loans with travel and direct costs. Not sure if I feel comfortable pushing my parents to do that when my siblings will be going to college in 5yrs. I'm lucky to be upper middle class but that's mostly tied up in assets.
Also I'm paranoid that there's no guarantee of a job w/ an income that high that will pay off my debt because of "the economy."
I am definitely looking it through and I completely forgot the value of their alumni until you mentioned! If you don't mind me asking, what state school do you go to?
Read my comment below, GO TO MICHIGAN!
How do you write up this entire post and not include pros & cons for Michigan Ross (the best option)?
1) Ross
2) Gabelli
3) UMD / Rutgers / Bing are same tier IMO
OP - You can break in from any school. Bet on yourself and go where ROI seems highest. You can also start working on transfer applications right away if you’re afraid.
Didn't include pros/cons for UMich as I thought it's not worth dwelling for something I can't afford even though the offer is there :) Same reason I won't be starting on transfer applications as transfer students don't usually get much aid and I already don't qualify for financial need.
The reminder of being able to break is a nice gesture
Surprised that Bing is considered same tier as UMD/Rutgers -- I thought it would be lower than whatever they are.
Look at 2026 placements for each school. Binghamton is currently in the lead.
A lot of banks are really diversifying their candidate pool.
You can place from anywhere.
Binghamton and Fordham are non-target, firmly. If you are top of your class at their business school, maybe you land in accounting or assurance at KPMG. Maybe. Waste of time and money. UMD/Rutgers aren’t much better.
Im currently a freshman rutgers HC. i think Rutgers is a great school and I personally love it, but RTWS isnt as good as it looks. rn, they count s&t, er, am, and cb/mo as "placements", so as long as you get a jr summer internship its a "placement". Id say RTWS places maybe 30ish Ib offers a year? as opposed to the 55 ish they claim
Ah ok, ty sm for letting me know. That's a bit disappointing. I'll be checking out it for the HC otherwise though so maybe that'll change my mind!
id say if its ur state flagship (its mine) its worth going to. however, its possible to break into IB from any of the schools you listed.
1 - Michigan
2 - Fordham
3 - UMD / Rutgers / Bing
4 - UMass / UConn
Weather shouldn’t be a consideration against U Mich if you’re considering Fordham. It’s going to be cold regardless
I know! Just don't like snow.
Go to Ross. It’s one of the top non-Ivy target schools, places across every top bank and even into the buyside out of undergrad. Have seen Bx, KKR, APO, and UMM too. All of these other places are a waste of time. Take it from someone who transferred from a SUNY comparable to Binghamton to an Ivy+ School with student loans and is currently involved with recruitment. Where you go to school directly correlates with what bank/group you place in, which impacts your PE Recruitment, MBA applications, and everything else down the line. That debt will be a rounding error after a few years of work, and it pales even further in comparison with what you’ll earn long term. Could you place from any of these places, yes. But recognize that it’s the difference between maybe placing at any investment bank and essentially writing your own ticket to whatever role you want. At a Rutgers, Fordham, UMD, or Binghamton, you will be sacrificing a lot of control over your career; you won’t just have to work harder to compete with candidates from Ivies, Duke, Georgetown, Stanford, Ross, Stern, etc., that extra effort will be a prerequisite to even have a chance to step on the playing field, where what ultimately gets you a first round will be luck, and even then, you’ll have to absolutely nail your technicals to stay in the running (they will absolutely go harder on you than a target candidate). You will likely be passed over by top PE firms and MBA programs, and at whatever bank takes you (if one does at all), you will be more expendable than the Harvard guy next to you. Tl;dr make yourself as valuable a candidate as you can at the outset, control the most you possibly can, and you will ensure yourself the best trajectory possible. Will also say, the quality of education and caliber of student you’ll meet at a place like Michigan is vastly superior to the other school you’ve listed. Schools with larger endowments have greater resources to allocate per student, which means more opportunities to distinguish yourself. Rubbing elbows with faculty who have written the textbooks for the classes they teach and students who were in the top ten percent of their HS has a massive impact on how you develop as a student and professional. Do not discount that.
What’s the cost difference between Maryland and Michigan? How much more in loans do you need to go to Ross?
Merit has not come out for Maryland yet but I expect it's ~55k/yr without being given anything while Michigan is $85k/yr. Maryland will come down to 30k/yr for the final 2 years because my parents would like to reside there permanently. To go to Ross I would need 130k more in loans.
At >$100K different, I'd save you and your parents some cash and go to Maryland. If you get good grades there and do some legwork, you'll be fine.
I’d consider Fordham. It definitely doesn’t compare to Ross, but if you put in the work, BB is very doable, especially as a woman. The business school itself is decent, SWS places well, many students intern during the school year. The notion that the best outcome is joining big 4 audit/tax is straight up false. I’ve met a couple people going into Barclays, Citi, BofA, etc.
Source: two of my close friends attend.
Yes, and those few who had to work their asses off to get into Barclays, Citi, and BofA will most likely be workhorses at those firms for the rest of their careers (assuming they don’t get laid off, if they aren’t top performers, they’ll be the first to get cut if the firm has to tighten the belt). MF and UMM buyside roles will most likely not happen, and MM/LMM will be more competitive than they otherwise would be. That essentially takes PE off the table (you won’t get it during an MBA without meaningful prior buyside experience - lack of relevant modeling skills).
Dude the more I read your posts on this thread the more it’s apparent you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
Non-targets have no looks at UMM / MF / other good PE firms? Again, completely just untrue. I’ve seen many people go to best of the best buyside firms after nontarget and banking. Of course would it be more helpful if you went to Harvard? Of course not saying that, but to say they don’t have a shot after being in a good banking firm / group is ridiculous thing to say. “That essentially takes PE off the table and MBA then” - dude, seriously what are you smoking? This is the most untrue and stupidest thing I have ever read. I’ve seen tons of nontargets after banking go to pe firms of all types and top MBA programs - this is a moronic statement.
You seem to put no weight on actual ability and intellect. Being a non-target does have its downsides, but you’re just flat out making shit up that isn’t close to reality. Not sure whether you 1) have no real finance experience or 2) you were dumped by a nontarget girl
Please spare everyone your further BS on this thread
I agree with Gekko. The odds are heavily stacked not in favor. A specific example of this is BoFA. Once the Fordham MD (FIG guy) got pushed out, three fordham analysts left too (without exits). Coincidence?
And I know of two people from Fordham specifically in lower tier BB's that went through PE associate recruiting. 1 (top bucket at BB) got no looks from UMM or Megafunds, and landed MM, and another got a single megafund interview that didn't translate. There was also the evercore guy from the school who exited extremely low for someone coming from THAT group in evercore, most likely the same situation when dealing with headhunters.
Would strongly vote Michigan here. Understand the sticker price is scary but when you break down the math it becomes really manageable. Assume you get zero aid and pay the have to pay the full ~80k / year out of pocket.
Your parents have offered to contribute 150k which pretty much takes care of 2 out of your 4 years of school. We can super conservatively say that you yourself can earn an additional 80k over the 4 years of college (definitely could be a lot more than 20k a year if you're actually working part time during the school year and doing internships in the summer).
This pretty much leaves you taking out loans for 1 years worth of school. There's really not a world where you should be graduating with >100k of student loan debt. Again, this number sounds big, but I'm not at all exaggerating when I say that you very easily can extinguish 100% of your student loan debt before you finish your analyst program. I have lots of friends that saved 150k+ in their analyst years and still lived very comfortably in NYC.
All the rules and fearmongering you see online / in the media about taking on big student loan debt doesn't really apply when you're in a career field that can pay you 150k+ out of undergrad. And frankly, if you're a girl and already know you want to do IB / are locked in when you arrive to campus as a freshman, you 100% will get a job from a place like Michigan.
This to the infinite power.
Other comments covered the main advice on what to pick so I’ll just add that going to a different state’s flagship means literally nothing. It’s not a red flag or even a flag at all.
Yes, and Michigan is a legitimate school. Getting in there is infinitely tougher than any of OP’s other choices. Maryland, UConn, Fordham, Rutgers, Binghamton?!?! Come on.
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