HS Senior (Canada) – Admissions Strategy & Path to IB
Hey all,
I’m a current high school senior (international student) with a 4.0 GPA and 9 APs (all 4s and 5s). My standardized testing isn’t as strong — I have a 1390 SAT (currently grinding and aiming for 1450–1500).
Over the last couple months, I’ve spent a lot of time speaking with a family member who works in investment banking, and I find the work extremely attractive. The intensity, the pace, the analytical rigor, and the chance to work on major deals all appeal to me. I’m also not blind to the compensation aspect, which is another motivator. I understand the hours and stress involved but think it’s a tradeoff I’d be willing to make.
My extracurriculars are strong, but none are directly business-related — my interest in finance is a newer development. Because of that, I’m considering applying to schools through Arts & Sciences (as English or liberal arts) rather than directly into business, then internally transferring to econ or business later.
I’m currently looking at UVA, UNC, Berkeley, Penn, Western and Vanderbilt. How realistic is this plan, both in terms of admissions as an international student and in terms of internally transferring once there? What schools should I be looking at?
Lastly, I’ve always loved programming and would ideally like to minor in computer science (or something similar). Do the schools I mentioned typically allow that flexibility?
Any advice from people who’ve gone through a similar path would be greatly appreciated.
I can’t speak to recruiting at American schools but I can for Canada.
The only two options that give you a real shot at the US are Western (ivey) and Queens (Commerce).
It’s possible from McGill/UofT/Waterloo but incredibly rare (literally 0-2 kids a year).
At queens being in the finance clubs matters A LOT. Particularly Quic/Limestone. At western, being on WIC (almost) garuntees you an offer but tons of people sign without being in the club. As long as you network well and have your interview prep down you can sign.
Both of these schools have pipelines at many of the best US firms but they are competitive. Everyone’s recruiting journey looks something like this:
1st year:- Maintain 85%+ average - Search fund internship- leverage search fund internship for any sort of meaningful finance job (most “good” jobs are nepotism here lol)
2nd year:- Recruiting for Sophmore year internship starts in 1st year summer- Sophmore internship will determine how seriously people take you when you email them and they look at your resume for junior recruiting- 1st semester: Email email email email email email email - 2nd semester: prep prep prep prep prep, you likely won’t leave your room for 2 months
If you have the chance go to an American target because it makes it 100x easier but if you get into Queens/Ivey then an offer is yours to lose.
Not accurate to say Waterloo only sends “0–2 kids.” Over the last ~3 years there’s been a steady stream of placements into top U.S. firms. Waterloo AFM students have landed at Blackstone, Evercore, PJT, and Morgan Stanley, among others.
If you’re a top student at Waterloo, you’ll have pretty much the same opportunities as Ivey/Queens, the path is just less concentrated and you need to network hard, but the ceiling is very similar
There's no marginal benefit to choosing Waterloo over Queens/Ivey. You have to work harder, network more (waterloo alum also rarely help each other) for worse opportunities. Ivey has a pipeline to EVR M&A, AFM has only placed people in PCA. Queens/Ivey also get GS NYC, BDT, PJT (M&A), etc which waterloo kids don't get any looks at.
Ceiling is definitely not similar but top kids at Waterloo would be top kids at Queens/Ivey and yet they place worse
Evercore has placed multiple people in Menlo Park + NYC M&A
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