Laurier BBA, Waterloo AFM, or Shulich
I was wondering which uni would set me up the best considering the placement rate and job prospect in recent years for financial and consulting roles (eg. IB, S&T, PE, Asset/Wealth Management)
Laurier's coop program is great, but even with that is it better than the rest? It is also not guaranteed either, which is a risk. However I know the alumni network is great and can help greatly.
AFM has guaranteed coop but it is heavily focused on accounting and fewer students go the CFA route instead of the CPA one, which results in less people placing into financial roles. But both Laurier and AFM have off cycle coop, which can help. I've also heard that it is hard to secure financial coops from the waterlooworks system.
Shulich has had a great reputation, but I've heard that the reputation has been going downhill, and that they send majority of students into accounting roles.
Full disclosure - not an alum or student at any of these schools but have friends at some.
Schulich
Great school, York is a big commuter school so student experience won’t be as tight - and the friends you make in school is the real ROI in the long run. Being in a great community WILL matter a LOT.
AFM
Waterloo is a very nerdy school, lots of engineers and comp sci. I don’t know anyone in AFM but I’ve heard it’s pretty nerdy and not very tight knit.
Laurier
I would say this is the best on the list in my opinion. Laurier has a great student life - which matters I promise you - people tend to be chill and Laurier places well onto Bay St (some of the most chill people I worked with were from Laurier.)
Of course this is my subjective take. Visit the campuses and speak to alumni before making a decision.
Personally, I’d take Laurier.
I've heard that AFM places very well on Bay street as well, and a risk is that Laurier isn't guaranteed coop. Would you say that taking the risk is worth it?
Depends what you want. AFM afaik is a more quant program, Laurier has more alum (which matters a lot) and from what I’ve heard, alumni that are actually willing to go to bat for you.
In terms of Bay St. Idk what the numbers are. There’s probably some stat that says AFM is best, and another that says Laurier is best. My honest advice is this;
Get off this platform, go visit the campuses and see where you feel most at home.
Don’t forget that you’ll be spending four years there…..
For Bay St you’ll do just fine at either if you put in the work.
The world is a lot bigger than finance and Bay St, find a place you’ll enjoy and have good memories of.
In my subjective view, Waterloo = Schulich > Laurier.
Waterloo at least has some international brand recognition compared with Schulich or Laurier, and the fact that it offers co-op is a major advantage. I am not sure about this, but if you are in AFM, are you limited to accounting co-op roles only?
Schulich is generally seen as being on a similar level to Laurier, but I would rank Schulich slightly higher because it is located in Toronto, which makes it much easier to do coffee chats in person. That matters more than people think. NYU sends a lot of people to Wall Street not because it is a great school.
Laurier, in my opinion, is the weakest option because it does not have much international brand recognition, and unlike Schulich, it is not located in Toronto. That said, it still sends a decent number of people into IB, so it is still a valid choice if that is what you want.
In AFM it may primarily be accounting coop roles but you can get placed into financial coop roles as well.
I was in a similar situation last year except AFM wasn't an option for me. I'll dive into each of these schools based off anecdotal data so take this with a grain of salt.
AFM
As you know Waterloo is renowned for the co-ops. You are correct that they do place in accounting primarily but they have had exceptional finance placements as well (recently sent to GS NY and Moelis London I believe). In addition, the work experience you get is great of course. I don't know much about the club landscape but I believe they have Waterloo Private Capital and an investment fund which all have great lands iirc. I can't comment much on the course load though since I haven't been in touch with my AFM buddies for a while.
Laurier
Laurier also has great co-op as well. Talked to some buddies who go there recently and course work doesn't seem too crazy. I think the most renowned club they have is LIFA and again they have great lands iirc. The caveat you mentioned is that co-op is not guaranteed, however, if you're ambitious enough to aim for banking I'd like to think you're smart enough to get Laurier co-op. Also keep in mind that the additional year that Laurier and AFM offer does give you a bit of time to adjust to university and really think about your career options.
Schulich
Schulich is also a reputable accounting school, however it has been placing quite well in finance for quite some time. Their two main finance related clubs are YUSIF and YFC and they both have great lands too. The weak point is that there is no co-op however if you want to off-cycle is always an option by either doing school and work or taking a year off. The course work is not the hardest either. Also keep in mind that if you're commuting you'll be able to save a good amount of money.
All in all, they are all great schools with great opportunities as long as you put the work in and utilize the resources at hand.
If you had to choose one, which one would you choose? I'm leaning more towards AFM due to the guaranteed coop terms. Do you know how hard it is to secure a finance placement coop in the program?
Gun to my head I would probably pick AFM because of the co-op and the additional year. When you're off-cycle you aren't competing against the Ivey and Queens kids generally so that is always a plus. As for how difficult it would be to secure a finance placement, that depends entirely on you and how hard you network and how well-prepped you are. As long as you get good chats in and know your stuff, landing a finance role is quite doable. I suggest going on LinkedIn and seeing their lands (imo they are quite solid) and maybe chat those people and how they approached recruiting. They could probably offer you a better perspective. Again, this is just my subjective take so be wary.
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