How does UT Econ and other state schools placement compare to NYU Econ?

Hey everyone. I am trying to decide between University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and New York University (NYU) for Economics and wanted some honest advice. I also looked at University of Virginia (UVA) earlier, but right now it is mainly UT vs NYU.

I was admitted to Economics and Mathematics at NYU, and at UT I would be trying to move into Economics. My goal is to break into finance, including roles like investment banking, asset management, private equity, or quant roles. I know these paths are not guaranteed and are pretty competitive, but they would be amazing outcomes. Ideally, I am aiming for a path that can grow into something like the 300k range over time, while still keeping realistic expectations.

I am mainly trying to understand the placement difference between UT Economics and NYU Economics and Mathematics in placement. I keep hearing mixed things. Some say NYU has a real advantage because of location, recruiting, and prestige, while others say UT can still place well if you put in the work.

I will be honest, I am a bit worried about placement. I have heard negative things about UT Economics, and even that McCombs School of Business does not always place as strongly as people expect in the bigger picture. I am also unsure how much it matters that NYU Econ + Math is more quantitative and in a more STEM-focused and being in CAS and somewhat selective, while UT Econ is in liberal arts.

Part of me feels like NYU might offer more upside. I know transferring into Stern is very hard, but it is something I could at least try, and being in New York might help with networking and exposure.

I am just trying to get a realistic sense of how UT Econ placement compares to NYU Econ + Math for finance, and whether NYU actually gives a meaningful edge.

Would really appreciate any honest insight. 

10 Comments
 

NYU with no doubt. If you want to have a single shot at quant roles ( & better chances at IB), econ and math is the way to go

 

This is an ignorant answer. NYU Econ is objectively not a great choice as a transfer student if you want to do IB recruiting as 1) stern clubs discriminate against econ/math majors 2) clubs discriminate against sophomores and especially against transfer students. In addition, the atmosphere at NYU vs a Texas or Virginia will be also be significantly different (no campus D3 vs big D1 state school), which is something you will have to introspect.

 

This is my other account. Sorry if I didn’t make it clear but I got into pre med for both so i would have to transfer regardless. I just wanted to know which would be better for me. I got into the Cas school for both so I’d have to internal transfer.

 

"How does UT Econ and other state schools placement compare to NYU Econ"

(1) Virtually every econ program does a poor job of training students economic theories and practices that are actually useful for making accurate predictions in the real world.

(2) Business school econ degrees often teach you much less useful econ than one that is outside the business school. Business school econ degrees are often more just finance training grounds than anything else.

(3) NYU is where you want to go if you want to maximize job opportunities.

 

First thing I'd do to simplify this: discard the BS that any econ department is "more quant" vs. another one being "more liberal arts".  It's all a function of what classes you take, and any major school (certainly both UT and NYU) will have the classes you need to make it as quanty as you want it to be.

Second thing I'd look into: how hard is transferring into Stern really, after factoring in that most of the applicants weren't ever strong enough to get into Stern?  If you're hell bent on making that transfer, you're probably some combo of more smart/driven then your NYU CAS cohort and maybe the true difficulty for your profile isn't as high.  Or maybe it's still hard, but look into it.  Find some people to talk to, get a sense of whether the best NYU Econ kids who wanted the transfer were able to get it.

To place directly into Wall St from an econ department is going to be more about the individual, so I wouldn't rely on any broad sense of which "department places better" because I don't think those stats will be reliable enough or apply well to you as an individual.

I think you're better off asking yourself, will you have the drive and focus to take advantage of two assets NYU offers over UT: a location that allows you to pound the pavement and network your way into something, and an opportunity to transfer to Stern.  Both of those assets have a low hit rate by any official statisic, but someone who's going to hit the ground running and be uniquely focused will gain value from those two things.

 
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