UMich Ross UG as an international student
Hi all, admitted to Ross, which is currently my top option. I am still waiting on all the Ivies/Duke/Stanford/NU after having been deferred from Wharton UG. I wanted to ask what you all think about Ross placements and culture for an international student. I know only a handful of firms sponsor visas so wanted to ask if these firms recruit heavily from Mich or not. Worth to mention my current next option would be Warwick or Bocconi in Europe (waiting on LSE) but the overall difference in costs would be about 150k USD. My parents have been saving for college a long time so costs, while considered, wont be a detriment
Ross doesn’t have the stem OPT extension if I recall correct. That could fuck you
Yeah, will likely to a stem dual degree. Graduate in 4.5
What kind of language do you speak apart from english? Bare in mind that even from LSE it will be an uphill battle to break in.
Not saying that it will be easier in Ross but networking doesnt work in LDN and even in LDN most of the time HRs just screen out internationals anyway.
*languages
Warwick is a solid target in UK and has great on-campus atmosphere and IB culture. If cost is a consideration, I would suggest pick a 3y UK degree over a 4y US degree.
Warwick is more of a semi-target, would honestly place Bocconi over it for London recruiting, and the 3-year nature of UK degrees is the absolute worst thing. Such a cramped, rushed timeframe that you barely even get to enjoy university. The 4-year system in the US while more expensive is worth it for the experience and time you get to be a student.
Would clearly opt for LSE or Bocconi, clear targets for London, globaly recognised and cheaper than Ross
No sane person would pick London over the US. If he has the resources to study in the US, why should he choose Bocconi or Warwick? I studied at Bocconi but would have never picked it over a US top school. Suggesting to go to Warwick is beyond absurd btw.
It is not we are comparing a top Ivy to London. Considering the visa challenges for international students, the UK seems like a safer choice. Warwick undergrad > Bocconi UG for London, and being just an hour by train from London makes it much easier to attend those insight days and networking events.
Bocconi is €17k/year so €51k overall
Ross is $62k/year so $248k overall (€235k)
The difference would be more like €180k+. Personally, I don't think it's worth spending €100k+ on education in 2025, even if you can afford it. Not to mention, Bocconi is among the top 2-3 best bachelor programs in Europe, while Ross is not even in the top 15 in the US. I totally understand the whole MAGA trend, but think long-term: Europe will recover, and at the end of the day, it's a 500m+ people market versus 300m for the US.
The thing holding me back is the wage differential between america and the UK. In terms of BBA, ross is ranked 4th in the USA, behind wharton mit and berkeley. I've also seen that it is a top target for IB and consulting with strong placements in NYC and Chicago. For bocconi, I've seen that a lot of people also need to do a 1 year masters to land london IB which is quite a bit lower paid.
Ross is a semi-target for high finance/IB, so if you get into Ross I wouldn't take that over your EU options. Still a great school and possible to get in, but to pay 150k more isn't worth in my opinion. However, there is also the option to transfer out of Ross after a year and set yourself up for success at an Ivy.
If you get/end up at a target school (Stanford/Ivy/even NU), then I would personally take those options over your EU counterparts. I only say this because if you're at a target in the US, you have an extremely high chance of getting an IB job, if you're in the right clubs. I'm not sure about EU, but I've heard all targets are evaluated the same way and networking has less of an impact in the US (again, could be wrong but this is from what I've heard/read). I know of an NU club with about a 70% high-finance placement (PE/IB/HF). If you're able to get into these clubs (which seems like you're prepared for), you'll have an amazing opportunity to end up at a top IB firm. Good luck either way!
OP - did you end up getting into any of the ivies etc} have a similar background so interested
Nah I didn’t. Bit surprised but is what it is for internationals. I have duke left but not too hopeful since Ivy day.
Mind providing a quick overview of your stats? SAT, grades, top ecs? I can pm you if you prefer
Ross is good but it's only a target if you already have connections or experience in finance. The prestigious clubs won't look at you twice if you don't already have experience and/or you are already great friends with their members (i.e., an in-state student whose high school has 10 kids go to Ross every year). I am an out-of-state student at Ross and it's definitely a good education but do not bank on the IB placement if you haven't already started networking/getting experience. The culture is rough and unforgiving, and the students are more often than not extremely selfish and emotionally unaware. If you're not in a club, your networking gets reduced to completely cold emails, which usually fall on deaf ears because everyone and their mother at Ross/Michigan is sending the same types of emails. Umich, on the other hand, is an incredible university and perhaps one of the best undergrad experiences you can get. Smart people go to Ross, and you'll have a great network/career once you graduate... it just might not be what you expect directly out of undergrad unless you're a cookie-cutter hardo IB bot, or, alternatively, you're a socialite who can quickly make great friends with literally everyone. If you care about things other than IB placement out of undergrad, I'd say Ross is worth it.
Have you find the club recruiting as hard as people say? I have prior experience with an internship and relatively focused ECs that will be seen as impressive
With prior experience you'll probably find it easier than I did. I think it's hard in that being accepted has very little to do with your intelligence or your potential, and is instead based on the biases of 19 year olds that don't really know how to run any recruitment process. The two things they look for are being friends with their members and already having connections/experience that they can use to help everyone in the club collectively get better placement. Leverage a rich uncle or something idk... I just found that even though I was generally smarter than the members (interviewing well, having a perfect GPA and ACT, taking financial modeling courses and doing my own fintech projects... even now I'm doing better in my classes than the prestigious club members), I was kinda left in the dust since I was new to the whole thing (no connections or experience cause where I come from it's just not nearly as accessible).
As far as other people... very, very few people have incredible success and are able to join 3-4 clubs/business frats. Most people I know that got into clubs had to try 3+ semesters before getting anything of value.
did you get into NU?
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