Undergrad Berkeley $19k/yr vs Vanderbilt $12k/yr
I've been admitted to the two for undergrad - undeclared at both. Vandy will cost me 12k per year and Berkeley will cost me 19k. The cost difference is honestly pretty small and my parents are more than willing to pay for all of it. I live in California but I wouldn't mind working in NYC, Chicago, etc. after graduation.
Assuming I can get into Haas, which would be better overall (internships, recruiting, brand name) for investment banking? If I didn't get into Haas I'd be doing either econ or computer science. At Vandy I could major in anything since they're very flexible with switching majors and colleges.
Environment wise and opportunity wise, which would you choose?
Vanderbilt
Why's that?
Berkeley. It's an excellent school right next to one of the best job markets in the country, which makes internships, networking and full time opportunities much easier to come by.
I heard Vandy's been getting a lot of recruiters from GS, BAML, Bain etc. Are you saying that Berkeley Econ (non-Haas) would be better than Vandy for banking?
There’s no opportunity Vanderbilt can provide that Berkeley couldn’t, but there are many opportunities Berkeley can provide unique to its location in the Bay Area, especially with your interest in CS, unless country music concerts and camo shorts are that important to you.
Berkeley is the #1 public university in the country.. It is the flagship and top UC school. It's by far the better choice in terms of job placement. However, classes are brutal and is much more difficult than Stanford.
Is this post meant to be ironic? Your username is Communist and I guess you're pretending to be a classic Berkeley graduate that has to project their Stanford insecurity onto everything. Why would Stanford have anything to do with this discussion lol
Vanderbilt
Made a throwaway account to say this. Vanderbilt is starting to do pretty well for IB, and the students are getting more knowledgable about the process. Plus, the students have academic profiles (admit rate, test scores, GPA in high school) matching and in some cases surpassing ivies and comparable top schools, so they're doing something right. Not sure about how UCB does, and I'm sure they do well, but I know Vanderbilt is sending a good amount of people to almost all BBs. Less representation from the EBs, but I know a few people with Moelis, and LAZ was recently doing informational interviews on campus with emphasis on their oil & gas group. Also, if you're not dead set on BB, there are a decent amount of other banks (think STRH>), HFs, PE firms, etc. that recruit very actively. UCB may be better for CS (I would wager for proximity reasons, like NYU and finance), but Vanderbilt's engineering program also places very well.
If you go to Vanderbilt, there are great student orgs of like minded people (investment club, the business fraternity, investment banking club, Vandyhacks, etc.), the students are on average pretty social, and the Vanderbilt network is solid. Vanderbilt obviously won't send as many people to IBD as Wharton, but if you look at trajectory Vanderbilt is definitely on the up and up. Look at LinkedIn, you'll see many incoming analysts, associates, etc.
Visit both schools
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Keep in mind that the three business fraternities at Berkeley monopolize IBD recruitment, and that job placement is overwhelmingly in the Bay Area. So if you are set on IBD, you'll absolutely want to consider joining one of those groups. I'm not sure whether that's the case at Vandy — elite private schools tend not to monopolize job placement as much. On the other hand, you've got a tremendous amount of job options in the Bay Area outside of IBD.
Roughly comparable, but I'd take Berkeley just because of your ancillary interest in CS. You're going to have more opportunity to explore both the business and tech industry from the center of the tech world, and you may end up enjoying tech more. If you decide and keep on the path for IB, Haas has arguably better placement anyways (but again, roughly the same).
I'd visit both campuses just to see if you prefer the culture at one significantly over the other.
Berkeley by far. It's the #1 public school and a respected institution all over the world.
Vanderbilt is overrated and not on the same tier as Berkeley.
Wow, I'm getting a lot of varied opinions here. Is there no general consensus as to which would be stronger for banking?
They're both good schools - do research and think about which one is the better cultural fit
Thanks for your responses. Currently leaning towards Vanderbilt at the moment. I've also been admitted to Dartmouth but I've completely ruled it out because I strongly disliked the freezing winters and I couldn't see myself in that environment for the next 4 years of my life (I've visited 3 times already).
Enjoy Nashville - great city.
Come to Vandy! I'm there right now, and while we are not considered a target, plenty of banks recruit here (particularly BAML). I know several sophomores who have gotten BB IBD internships simply by networking - the Vandy network is stronger than you think. Feel free to ask me any more questions you have
Dartmouth is definitely the best choice for banking, but I understand that you have to like the school you're going to. I think this depends on location and interest honestly. I don't believe Berkley will help you as much recruiting in NYC as Vandy will (the difference is likely marginal) whereas if you're into Tech/VC then Berkley is the way to go. 7k/year isn't that much of a difference, but Vanderbilt is the most highly reputed University in the south (Emory and Rice are a close second) vs Berkley being a top public school nationally. I think you've already made up your mind though and you should be at ease as you can get into IB from either.
I would go to Dartmouth, Berkeley, and Vandy, in that order. Frankly, I perceive the larger difference between Dartmouth and the other two than the differences between Berkeley and Vandy. If you're talking about the opportunities in banking Dartmouth is vastly superior than the other two.
All are great schools though. Good luck.
Berkeley hands down. The reputation and brand name of the school simply carries more weight. You'll have way more options down the line as well.
Go to Vanderbilt. It's a well respected, selective institution with loyal alumni. Berkeley's barrier to entry is way too low, and they're going back to practising affirmative action this year. Banks recruit there just to fill their diversity quotas.
BTW if you can't get into Haas then I doubt you can clear the 3.3 GPA for prerequisites to get into CS. In my experience, Econ is also viewed as a backup major there for kids who can't make the cut into Haas. Almost half of Haas students are double majoring in Econ anyway, making a Berkeley Econ degree basically redundant on its own.
Do you really want to go to a school that's running at a $150 million/yr deficit? The admins have no idea what they're doing, and I would have little faith in the quality of the programs there with 2,000+ lecture sizes. Not even an exaggeration.
Besides, do you really want to go to school with these kids?:
The year before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0LzBDFIFmASounds like some real bright kids that go to this school. Good luck getting to class!
Banks go to Berkeley to fill their diversity quotas? This idiot doesnt know what he's talking about. Go to a school in the Bay Area, a world recognized top public university over a school in the South with shitty sports programs.
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