Umich LSA vs Rice Jones vs WashU CAS

Hi everyone,

Want some last-minute advice before I commit. Was accepted into Umich LSA (Econ), Rice Jones (Finance), & WashU CAS (Econ). Interested in IB-> PE but not totally committed down that road yet & feel like I could handle quant finance (36 ACT/ 1580 SAT)

If you have any last-minute advice, please let me know!

Best school for IB

Umich LSA
37% (16 votes)
Rice Jones
37% (16 votes)
WashU CAS
26% (11 votes)
Total votes: 43
16 Comments
 

I actually do like energy so that works for me. You think it’s feasible to get to UMM+ PE from energy tho? 

 
Most Helpful

Ok, I’m certainly not an infallible source and I’m sure others could rip into my analysis here, but my impression is that every UMM fund and most mega funds are leaning pretty heavily into infrastructure investing, and interestingly, there’s an enormous hiring gap occurring in that space.

This is because a competent junior member in this space needs to not only understand corporate finance and traditional financial accounting, but also needs to understand project finance, tax equity, and the new legal frameworks of Biden’s IRA in order to be dangerous in the renewables and energy space.

KKR and others are allocating billions to the energy transition, and the nexus of that allocation is occurring in Houston, and the only talent pool they can pull from are the O&G/energy IB groups. It would be pretty far-fetched to attend Rice for that reason alone, but I think if you get good grades and specialize in a niche, you would have a pretty good shot at finding something in energy in TX.

Another thing to consider is that energy LBOs are very different from the typical case you learn in school. Energy projects have a fair amount of operating leverage, which is similar to industrial manufacturing businesses (a classic LBO vertical), but you also have to underwrite commodity curves and offtake contracts. These are uniquely difficult considerations that only can be mastered from direct experience in my opinion.

I wish you luck, and I think if you decide to go to Rice, you’ll find some super interesting opportunities.

 

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