Oxford vs. GTown McDonough vs. ND Mendoza
Hi all, I'm a current HS senior and US citizen. My three options for undergrad are Oxford History & Economics, Georgetown McDonough, and Notre Dame Mendoza. Have ~1 month to decide.
some specific considerations:
- I'm a US citizen, so no need for visa sponsorship in the US
- I strongly prefer to work in the US (family + compensation + culture), but fine with 5 years London
- I will recruit IB and consulting, maybe PE
- Christian so I welcome conservative/faith-heavy environments, but not opposed to more liberal one either
- interested in entrepreneurship long-term
- annual final costs for all 3 schools come out to be roughly similar
- appreciate intellectual formation of Oxford tutorial system
some specific questions:
- how difficult is transferring from London IB to major US offices? what are the different pathways, and what are pros and cons for each?
- assuming I go to Oxford, is it better to do London first -> US second OR directly recruit for US offices
- what is perception of Oxbridge among US employers?
- any placement/reputation difference between Mendoza and McDonough? meaningful differences in internal recruiting culture? I understand that for London IB, Oxford should get any job relatively easily, whereas GTown is obsessed with finance recruiting and so a lot of internal comp/
- what are other factors I should be considering?
Any and all insights/advice would be appreciated.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s a breakdown of your considerations and questions:
1. Transferring from London IB to Major US Offices
2. Perception of Oxbridge Among US Employers
3. Placement/Reputation: Mendoza vs. McDonough
4. Oxford vs. US Schools for Your Goals
5. Other Factors to Consider
Recommendation:
If your priority is to work in the US, particularly in IB or consulting, Georgetown McDonough seems like the best fit. It aligns with your career goals, offers strong recruiting opportunities, and positions you well for US-based roles. However, if you value the intellectual rigor and global exposure of Oxford, it could be a great choice, especially if you’re open to starting in London IB before transitioning to the US.
Sources: Is UK IB experience worth anything in the US?, Advice for London applicants, What was the point of Ivy League? Major Regret and Depression, FT recruiting timeline London, Student from Japan applying to IB in the US
Go to Oxford absolutely. Oxford is an incredible place and opens doors for you for the rest of your life. If your goal is US IB, then you can do that with Oxford, whether directly or via London—>NYC.
There’s others better suited to comment on the difficulty of London—>NYC in IB, but I understand that it is doable and your US citizenship helps a lot here.
Regardless your approach could be:
1. While at Oxford recruit for both NYC and London roles.
2. If you get a good NYC offer, take it.
3. If no NYC offer or you get a much better London offer, take the London offer and look into moving to NYC later on.
Honestly though, with your US citizenship, I don’t even think Oxford would disadvantage you for US recruiting vs Notre Dame or Georgetown — I could be wrong here as I did not recruit for US from undergrad so do not have firsthand experience.
Ultimately you’re in a great position and they’re all strong schools. I’d go Oxford 100%.
Thanks for the advice. Regarding your point #1, I am curious how feasible recruiting for NYC/US roles from the UK, even from Oxbridge, actually is. Thinking from their point of view, why hire an Oxford kid over a HYPSM, Ivy+, or other target school kid when the US candidates are known quantities that had OCR access?
at the same time, I think I can definitely network w/ US people or get smaller internships throughout the year, as Oxford has very long breaks between terms.
also, do you know how common internal lateral transfer for US citizens is? I imagine the big BBs have structured programs for it, and my US citizenship takes away the largest barrier, but it still seems an unconventional path.
Please go to Oxford.
As someone from neither the UK nor the US, Harvard/Oxford are quite literally tied for being the most well-known and prestigious university in the world. They have universal name recognition anywhere in the world you go; the same can’t be said for unis like Yale or Cambridge, let alone Georgetown or Notre Dame…
very true. however, I am curious whether the same prestige/admiration for Oxford is shared by US employers and future business partners, specifically.
It would likely be viewed on par with YP and below HSM. At the very worst it would be viewed as a low-tier Ivy which still surpasses Georgetown and Notre Dame. You being an American citizen will allow you to recruit in the US more smoothly than if you were an international.
The Prestigemaxxer himself has spoken
What’s wrong with that?
If you’re an American citizen then go to Oxford. You can recruit directly into US and still take a stab at London.
Georgetown likely has the strongest on campus recruitment scene for Wall Street if working in the US is your end goal.
Strong OCR makes your job hunt exponentially easier.
If London was your end goal, you would have the most options coming out of Oxford.
All three schools carry a decent amount of prestige. Arguments about the benefits of incremental prestige only exist on WSO lol
So here's how I'd rank your options
If you want to work in NYC/US: Georgetown>Notre Dame> Oxford
If you want to work in London/Europe/ROW: Oxford>Georgetown>Notre Dame
I definitely want to be in the US long-term (maximum like after 4 years in London). Would you say that the density of GTown placements in IB is as good a thing as people make it out to be? There'd be more alumni to contact and good OCR programs, but I'd also be competing with a very very pre-professional crowd in which it may be harder to stand out. I don't doubt I can stand out but the path of lesser internal resistance seems ideal. Could be wrong.
Georgetown's placement into IB is absolutely what people make it out to be. It is a target school, and virtually all firms recruit from there for their US roles.
I had multiple offers 6 months prior to graduation.
You comment about competing with other students for the IB roles is interesting. To that I'd say you'll be having to compete regardless of which institute you go to. Arguably much easier to make it to NYC IB from a US target school. More alumni contacts, more OCR programs. If you went to Oxford and you intended to come to NYC, you'd be competing against the same folks, except you won't have any OCR programs for NYC and a limited US alumni network (relative to Georgetown). Arguably you'd have to try even harder to standout. Less internal resistance but drastically more external resistance.
Gtown psyop right here
As a Brit I’d say go to Oxford. It’s the 2nd most universally recognized university brand in the entire world and would offer you a magical undergraduate experience. Plus you’re American so you can probably recruit for NYC out of Oxford. If NYC doesn’t work out for you then you have London in your backyard which is the superior city imo despite the haircut in compensation.
tbh i think georgetown doesn't get enough recognition on here, the peak frameworks data showed it was the second highest per capita target placing into ib. for reference the top 5 were
1 wharton 2 georgetown 3 harvard, 4 columbia and 5 nyu.
Aside from wharton you have better odds at a good new york ib placement from georgetown then literally any other school.
I had to choose between Mendoza and Oxford last year. chose Oxford (don't regret it), send me a dm I can talk more at length about it
From your experience how do Oxford students see themselves as compared to Harvard and Cambridge, and how has your perception changed in terms of which universities have universal international name recognition since being there?
we believe we are the best university in the world. not sure how accurate that is, but its the dominant sentiment.
Yeah Oxford is the easy choice here. Literally the 2nd most prestigious university in the entire world.
If you truly don’t mind being in UK temporarily, Oxford is the right call I think. I went to Harvard and would think of Cambridge and Oxford as on pr (Oxford actually slight edge to Cambridge from what I’ve heard). Can’t really speak to recruiting but I know several folks from b school who went there and ended up working in the U.S. Its probably more a function of Oxbridge grads may not try to work in the U.S., but I suspect those who do don’t have much trouble doing so
Curious to why you think Oxford has a slight edge over Cambridge because I’m deciding which Oxbridge university to apply to next year and would want to work internationally. Going to the university with the better brand recognition/international prestige would definitely help.
Oxford is the 2nd most recognizable university in the world after Harvard please go there.
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