Undergrad School OPTIONS (please help)

Authored by: Certified Private Equity Professional - 3rd+ Year AssociateCertified Private Equity Pro

Woolymammoth1

Stern is definitely overrated and the kids there are such douchebags. And not the cool douchebags...the type of douchebag to have their major in their Insta bio and put finance-related captions on their pics. Total hardos.

Also, Williams/amherst are not interchangeable with Gtown. They are better schools

Investment Banking Analyst Cover Letter Template

dm100

med,

Out of curiosity, what was your thought process that led you to consider going into debt to the tune of $40k for a liberal arts degree, regardless of how amazing it may be?

Secondly, what do you think you will bring to the table when you go into an interview with a liberal arts degree and an "on-my-own" education for those concrete technical finance theorems?

DickFuld

mediumrare_:
Maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't it show passion/ambition that I'm studying concrete finance on my own (from series 7 stuff to excel/ppt) while pursuing a liberal arts econ degree from the best LAC? Wouldn't this make me stand out among a homogenous sea of Ross/Wharton/Stern finance kids that are all fighting for the same job??

Don’t listen to that guy, he has no idea what he’s talking about. The most important part about a college when it comes to job placement is the signaling effect. Going to a place like Williams signals that you’re smart, Rutgers, not so much. This is why getting a degree from Northwest Bumblefuck U has no value....it actually signals that you are dumb.

I would limit your choices between Williams and Georgetown.....both will give you tons of opportunities and are different enough that you can choose the school on other factors than ‘which gives me the best shot at IB?’. Good luck.

From Non-Target to BB CEO: My Story Go fuck yourself.

CisSiberianOrchestra

Oh boy. The advice in this topic is actually terrible. People are telling you to go to Georgetown, because it's easier to get an IB job from there... it's also $40,000 more expensive than Williams or Amherst. It's also $80,000 more expensive than Rutgers. I don't know much about Rutgers, so I won't comment on it. However, I am fairly acquainted with both Williams, Amherst, and Georgetown so I will comment on it.

Let me let you in on a little secret... there is more to life than front office IB roles. At a liberal arts college, you can pursue education for the sake of education, rather than paying $80,000 for vocational training. It makes you more well rounded as an individual and heavily prepares you for either: life after investment banking or life moving forward as an investment banker. You can't possibly sit there and say "I want to be an investment banker forever" because you've never been an investment banker. You could say screw it and decide that you want to go into public policy or any number of other things. College should be about teaching you critical thinking skills and exploring humanity... not a $20,000 a year technical school.

If you attend a LAC, you could decide to stay in IB after your two year analyst gig- you will be on the same playing field as a kid from Georgetown/Stern/Wharton/etc after like six months on the job anyways, except you will have had a much more unique undergraduate experience than them that you can continue to draw on for the rest of your life.

I was in a unique position that I didn't have to pay for any university that I wanted to go to (GI Bill). I was going to community college with the intent to transfer to Georgetown and attend the business school. The dean of Georgetown's transfer admissions handpicked my schedule at the community college and told me that when I applied the next year if I had above a 3.5 GPA... I was guaranteed admission. That's a pretty fucking sick deal.

And do you know what I did? I tossed it aside to attend another LAC; for reference, it's even further from being a "target" than Williams or Amherst. Guess what I'll be doing for my sophomore internship? Working at a BB in their Investment Bank. If I really enjoy it, guess what I'll be doing the following summer? Working at an investment bank. Where will I be working after I graduate? Not on Wall St, because who the fuck still has their bank there anyways?

Anyone who says that a LAC is not a proper way to get to IB is lying to you. You might have to grind a little harder to get it, but the alumni network looks out for its own as you are well aware, because you pasted a quote into this thread describing it.

Every single banker that I've spoken to said that I made the right decision. There is nothing wrong with anyone that chooses an undergraduate business school over a LAC and there is nothing wrong with anyone who choose a LAC over an undergraduate business school.

Realistically, if you continue on in finance you're going to go back and get your MBA anyways. If you choose to attend an undergraduate business school, guess what you'll be doing... a rehash of your undergraduate years. Except now you'll be paying twice as much for the privilege.

tl;dr- I was in your shoes without the money question. I chose the LAC and do not regret it for a second.

Authored by: Certified Private Equity Professional - 2nd Year AssociateCertified Private Equity Pro

mrharveyspecter

Best Response

First off congratulations on all the acceptances. You've got some great schools to pick from and really can't go wrong. I've give you a quick run through of my thoughts.

NYU Stern (Finance)-- $80,000 total debt

I'd only pick stern if you really want to be in NYC and money won't be an issue. From what I hear, Stern places ok in NY, but the competition is fierce and you're always going to be overshadowed by Colombia. Opsdude on this forum went there and has pretty much only negative things to say about his experience. I'd pass on this one.

U Mich Ross (Finance) -- $160,000 total debt

Would potentially be a great option if the debt load was lighter. Michigan would be a lot of fun(given you like sports and partying) but it also places well across banking, consulting, etc and has a good alumni network. When I was at Morgan Stanley, there were a surprising amount of interns from Michigan. I would consider Michigan if you could do there for free and wanted more of a fun college experience while still having career options open.

Rutgers Honors Business (Finance) -- 0 debt (they will pay me to go to college)

Another good option, but its not going to compare to the other schools you got into. Even with no debt, you're only looking at 40k other places which is pretty small in the scheme of things. This is a good safety, but I wouldn't really consider it too seriously. Maybe try to leverage this into a free ride at Michigan?

Stevens Business (Quantitative Finance) -- $40,000 total debt

Don't know much about this so I can't comment

Williams College (Economics and something else) -- $40,000 total debt Amherst College (Economics and something else) -- $40,000 total debt

I'll bucket both of these together because I think they're 1. Very Similar 2. Your best option overall. Putting aside my liberal arts bias, Williams and Amherst are on par with the Harvard, Yale, and Stanfords of the world. They're elite academically and have strong alumni networks in anything you could want to do. One caveat is that you'll have to hustle a little bit more than at a Michican or Georgetown just because there will probably be less on campus recruiting due to the size of the schools. But if IB is the path you want to take and you're ok with sending out a few networking emails to alumni, you'll have a good chance at whatever job you want. People bash on the LACs for not training you for a specific vocation, lack of OCR, etc, but an overlooked fact is that coming out of a Williams or Amherst, the pool of competition for people that want to do MBB or IB is much lower than at a Stern where literally everyone wants to work at Goldman. So long short of it, both of things schools will get you where you want to go. Debt load is light for both, I'd make sure to visit the campus' if you can and just decide which one is the better fit. Amherst always seemed a little more elitist to me whereas Williams was more down to earth, but what I really liked about Amherst is that it was so close to other big universities which gives you more optionality.

One thing to note, the LAC feel isn't for everyone. Sports, parties, and greek life aren't the focal point of the school, which is fine, but you should know that going in.

Boston College (Finance) -- $80,000 total debt

Good school, but given its more expensive than the others and not as good, this is a pass.

Georgetown McDonough (Finance) -- $80,000 total debt

This is an interesting one. Georgetown undergrad business is a massive sleeper in terms of IB placement. I think they're actually one of the strongest feeders to wall street among all undergrad schools. DC is also a great city and 80k in debt isn't awful if you fall in love with the school. This one could be a darkhorse for me if you get a good vibe from here.

Villanova (Finance) -- $80,000 total debt

Similar to Boston College, maybe a little bit ahead as a I know that Nova sends a bunch of kids to wall street each year, but again more expensive than Amherst/Williams

So the TL:DR on all of this is

Amherst/Williams, visit both and take your pick
Georgetown if you want something more cosmopolitan
Michigan if you want a big state schools/sports/party feel without sacrificing too much career optionality. You'd have to get that debt load cut down to at least 80k though and ideally less.