UC Berkeley (Non-haas), Vanderbilt, or Columbia

Hey everyone. I was just admitted to UC Berkeley as a stats major, Vanderbilt econ, and Columbia econ. My goal is to get a BB/EB job after graduation and dont care about location. Berkeley is 150k cheaper than the others over the course of 4 years so Im leaning Berkeley but Im posting here just to make sure Im making the right decision.

I know for Berkeley, haas status doesnt matter too too much. Its mainly the finance clubs that would make the biggest difference for me. But I also know that vandy and especially columbia are easier to recruit from. Can someone give me insight on whether this would be the right decision to choose Berkeley over Columbia? And how difficult would Berkeley be for recruiting with non-haas status

4 Comments
 

I probably won’t consider Vandy with having the other two options because it’s not even a semi-target for many banks and offices and their placements are not as good as UCB & Columbia. In terms of UCB and Columbia, both schools are great and will definitely not shut doors for you in ib recruiting. But Columbia will definitely give you a lot more advantages. Not only because it’s a target school(I believe UCB is semi/non-target for East Coast) for most banks but also because there’s fewer people so it’s easier to get resources and network for IB recruiting. I’m personally from another similar tier public school, and mostly all the resources are allocated to people in finance clubs or programs. This is specifically true when you are not in their business school. But the finance clubs themselves are hard to break into; there’s always more than three rounds of interviews and 2% acceptance rate. It also depends on where you want to work (East/west coast). More alums from UCB are in west coast so while it’s easy to do networking in west coast offices, it could be a bit more difficult for east coast recruiting. But again, both are great schools with great placements and won’t shut any doors for you as long as you put efforts.

 

Adding on to this I would suggest: if you want to work in NYC specifically, do Columbia. If you have no preference over locations as you mentioned, you can also consider Berkeley since the tuition seems a lot more attractive.

 

Quisquam qui itaque qui pariatur quo dolores aperiam. Temporibus in et nihil eveniet et quod. Consequatur quia quo vel animi nisi. Qui porro magnam tempore expedita impedit.

Temporibus qui id deleniti. Quia fugiat hic odit quae delectus.

Est quo odio rerum pariatur assumenda dolore odit eum. At omnis consequatur voluptatem necessitatibus autem dolorem qui. Enim quidem quibusdam labore. Voluptatem dicta et ut cum. Eaque explicabo dolores ipsum. Voluptatum adipisci sint repellendus voluptatum. Impedit sint aut dolor hic ut aspernatur placeat.

Tempore ab omnis quo sapiente voluptas non expedita non. Aut tempora dolorum et quia quas.

 

Inventore dolorem aut velit accusamus dolor magnam rerum non. In similique laborum perspiciatis aut a natus.

Dolorum numquam id distinctio molestiae ut. Repellat qui voluptatem quibusdam qui officiis voluptatem et magnam. Molestiae exercitationem ipsam et officiis accusamus consequatur. Labore ratione dolores et adipisci deleniti quisquam voluptas facilis. Repudiandae architecto et quaerat sunt sint aliquid incidunt ab.

Recusandae accusantium sit sunt sunt. Quod itaque molestias minima possimus. Eaque accusamus voluptates et asperiores. Deleniti magni ut et deserunt in odio enim quia. Qui et excepturi sequi et vel alias vitae. Repudiandae ipsum voluptates voluptate sit alias sit eos. Veritatis aperiam ullam aut enim dolorem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”