McGill vs Colby for finance

After a brutal application season, I only managed to get into McGill and Colby. I’m looking for some general outside opinions on which school would provide me with the best odds of breaking into high finance in the US.

I feel that McGill is an overcrowded school that’s quite easy to get into, and a school that’ll underperform for US recruiting given the current Trump drama. I like Colby as a whole but am worried it’s too unknown in the industry .. I’ve seen some say that Williams, Amherst, and Midd are the only LACs worth attending?

I’d be in McGill’s business school majoring in Finance, and at Colby I’d likely do their Econ — Financial Markets major.

All advice is greatly appreciated!

Edit: I was also waitlisted at CMU, Rice, and Midd but am assuming it's a lost cause.

14 Comments
 

def Colby. good lac meaning you can connect to other lac alum too. most importantly, do u wanna do ibd in us or Canada? if you do mcgill, your odds of landing us ib are slim, as banks have quota for Canadian and international schools (many dont even consider out of country kids)

 

Thanks for your answer! I definitely want to work in the US as I am originally from nyc and have citizenship. I’ve lived in Canada for a while but don’t really like it.

Also, do you attend Colby / another LAC? If so, how has it been if you don’t mind me asking?

 

no but have friends recruited from one of LACs mentioned and Canadians who made it to eb. being in Canada puts you at an insane disadvantage. if you go to Colby other lac alum will also help. 

if you're set on nyc and cost isn't an issue, Colby no question

 

There is no alum network on Wall Street. It’s a very good school but even for Canadian banks, we hire Ivey / Queens a lot more than McGill. The most common path for Canadians in the US is through Bay Street, which hires mostly from Ontario schools because these schools are closer to Nay Street hence easier to network. McGill is very good and well recognized internationally (especially in Asia and Europe), but not for finance in North America. 

 

nepomogger

Do you have family connections in the industry? Can make a huge difference from Mcgill if you want to break in. However, if not then Colby, I am recruiting from Mcgill Arts right now and have really only been able to network with people through family connections. 

username checks out

 

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