Transfer students are disloyal. Thoughts?

This is the dumbest thing I have read today. Loyalty to your university? A major goal of college is to get a job and if another uni gives you a better shot, then transfer (if other factors don't outweigh job prospects). If he didn't transfer to your alma mater, would you have talked to him? Damned if he stays in his non-target and now, I guess, damned if he transfers to a target. 

The kid could have been miserable at his old school. Maybe yours is a better fit, maybe he made a mistake in selecting his first school, maybe yours has a certain program he likes, maybe yours is in a different geography, etc. 

There are many valid reasons to transfer, not all of which will be related to recruiting. I don't think students really owe any loyalty to their schools either. 

TL;DR: People transfer for tons of reasons so just see what he has to say (as you said you plan to do)

Dude, he’s asking for a coffee chat why are you talking about loyalty...it’s not that serious. Plus you work in finance - if you have legitimate loyalty to any institution, you’re probably doing yourself a disservice 

Who the fuck would have loyalty to a university that will happily fuck them in the ass with student loans? And what, you're mad at this kid for transferring schools so that he could have better career prospects in the future?

Sometimes this non-target hardo mentality is worse than the target elitism. 

This is so weird. If he transferred OUT of your university I would understand you being hesitant but he transferred IN so, in my mind, he was willing to put in the effort to transfer for an opportunity to attend your alma mater and you think this a bad thing why? because his grades and ECs were too good from his old university??

Maybe some people don't factor in when WSO considers one school to be higher on the non-target school rankings for IB. Maybe he wanted to be closer to home, or he got a more affordable deal worked out with financial aid, or his life fucking sucked at his old school. The fact that you think he's dumb/disloyal/whatever for transferring from one non-target to another because it's slightly worse of a school is absolutely asinine. You are everything that is wrong with the finance world. 

People transfer for all sorts of reasons. I know I seriously considered it. At start of your chat ask him point blank “tell me about yourself, how did you end up at xyz?” He should have a good answer because typically you have to write an essay about why you want to transfer. If it’s a non target to another non target and he’s a finance major it was probably because of:

1. money

2. not fitting in with the student body or wanting a bigger/smaller/more urban/rural school (I know you can say do your research but you can change a ton over the 12 - 18 months from when you apply to transfer deadlines and admissions officers tend to stretch the truth)

3. Wanting to be near family or friends

Wouldn’t stress it too much. (I’m assuming your Alma Mater is something decent and he didn’t transfer from Saint Cloud State to Bemidji state but rather something like Iowa State to Wisconsin or Carleton to Grinnell. I’ve seen people “transfer down” from Georgetown to non target state schools and BC to Kelley. 

As a transfer myself, I may be able to offer some insight. My situation is a little different in that I transferred to a target school, but I had legitimate, non-career reasons for doing so as well. Here is my perspective nevertheless:

Your concern about his loyalty is not entirely unfounded. As an applicant myself, I have wondered whether people will question my loyalty. To be frank, I intend to recruit again for FT or lateral on the job unless I love my internship. (I feel like this is a fairly common sentiment among those who did not land their ideal internship though). On the other hand, believe it or not, I was effectively given an opportunity this spring to transfer again to a "super-target" due to some unique circumstances. Although part of me did strongly consider it, I ultimately remained loyal to my current institution. Additionally, I am also extremely opposed to reneging and turned down two earlier internship offers as a result.

All of that said, if he transferred from one non-target to another, I'm not sure why you would be worried that he will "trade up" again if the opportunity presents itself. It was most likely due to fit reasons, not prestige/employment opportunities. It's definitely fair to ask him why he transferred, so pay attention to his answer. In any case, I feel like investment banking is not an industry that is exactly known for its loyalty considering the extreme amount of turnover throughout.

Can't wait to read a post explaining how a banking team eliminated one candidate from the selection for having switched colleges.

My opinion of this post is FUHNANCE HARDO!!!!

OP, you are the reason people think bankers are stiffs.

Lighten the fuck up. If he’s not come across well in his emails with you like you suggest, then of course don’t stick your neck out for him. But to suggest you should have loyalty to a university, an institution which you pay (sometimes) hundreds of thousands of dollars to attend purely to get best possible job afterwards, is inane.