University of Miami VS Fordham
I got accepted into both. I want to work in investment banking at a big bank such as JP Morgan on Wall Street after graduation. From my understanding, Miami is more prestigious but Fordham has more alumni connections. My fear is that Fordham alumni is at smaller banks and not at banks such as JP Morgan and that if there are alumni at the bigger banks that they are noninvestment banking jobs. One of the people I know who works at Morgan Stanley says he has seen more people from UMiami than Fordham in investment banking at MS. Fordham is in New York and if I worked my connections right I could possibly still land a job in IB at a big bank. If my goal is to work at a big bank on Wall Street as an investment banker do you believe Fordham or UMiami would be a better choice?
Yeah Fordham has like 1 people in MS this year via diversity. I think Fordham has the best placement with Barclays out of all BBs. Virtually no EBs. I went to Fordham and talked to a bunch of kids already, and tbh your mindset of chasing big ditching small is not gonna work at Fordham.
Yes, seen 2-3 kids per year from Fordham to Barclays.
I was interested more in the Wall Street route and staying in New York. Would that be possible from Fordham? Also out of curiosity how do you know, do work in IB or just know a lot about the industry?
Do you think getting a 4.0 from Fordham could position me to transfer to a more target school?
Yes, that's what I did.
There are 3 SAs that went back to Barclays for full time. 2 of the 3 are women that went through diversity. It's going to be thought if you aren't diversity at fordham.
You will have more fun at UMiami and you can’t bank on banking from either school. Definitely go to Miami you won’t regret it
This is the truest advice you’re gonna get OP. Unless you are fron miami and have a burning desire to leave, it’s not even a question in ny mind to choose UM cuz qol is going to be ridiculously higher and the network will likely be better broadly speaking. If you’re dead set on IB, crush it at UM and do an m7 mba but do yourself a favor and choose UM for ug first. Also dont marry a career path before even getting to college. If you are a hard worker, open minded and opportunistic then good things will follow.
Good thing you specified on Wall Street, I thought you meant JP Morgan in Boise, Idaho
I hear JPM tops the potato industry loan syndication league tables in Boise
UM students are usually wealthy and already well connected. Maybe someone from the U can inform me otherwise but it seems as though that is how they break in.
this
UM places a handful of students each year into IB. Probably around 5-7 a year to desirable BB/MMs. BAML/Citi take 1-2 a year / JPM & CS will take one occasionally.
A small population of students try to pursue IB
it is doable from fordham but you have to grind for it
Both are non-core schools so you will have to put in significantly more work than others to get a reputable offer, let along JPM/MS. Fordham has better placement than you would think, but the kids going to Barclays etc. from there are likely the top kids at the school who have spent the past 4 years networking in NYC, doing semester internships in IB, and just being way more prepared than others. UMiami is possible, but will be very hard. I'd be surprised if there was a single bank in NY that actually had a pipeline for IB. Generally the best kids at each of these schools can get an offer, but these are often times kid with significant merit scholarships, honors programs, near-perfect GPA's etc. So basically it's possible, but you're going to have to work really hard and be a standout candidate.
So if I even wanted a small shot at JP Morgan or a bank of the caliber would you go with Miami?
It won't matter, if you get an offer from JPM neither school will provide an advantage. Neither school has an alumni network at JPM, and JPM has shifted its recruitment strategy and everything is HR-run (and school matters much less now). If I were you, I would be a lot more open-minded bank-wise. There are a lot more banks out there than just JPM. The kids from Wharton who end up at BAML/Barclays/Citi/CS are typically top candidates. You should be grateful to get any reputable offer.
Went to the U and work at a decent sized boutique in NYC now, so let me weigh in here. As most of the comments have mentioned, you can make it into banking out of any school if you network enough and grind out top grades. You have a very good advantage knowing you'd be interested in banking before even starting school, so i'm sure you'll do just fine either way.
Yes, JPM and MS are top banks, but there are numerous other high quality banks out there as well, so I would strongly advise against limiting yourself to those two as I don't think anybody (even top students at target schools) can definitively guarantee they will get spots at select banks. It would be a disservice to only consider those two and I think that might just be attributed to being a bit green when it comes to understanding how the mechanics of job placement in banking works.
Citi recruits heavily from Miami for Treasury and Trade solutions. This is a middle office position, not a front office banking position. However, I have seen a couple of the top students from Miami manage to get into the banking division at Citi. One thing to consider is are you going to be accepted to the Bermont/Carlin Scholars program, which is a direct feeder into Wall Street if you want it. The school can be fun but it really takes a certain person to thrive in that environment. It's a lot of rich north easterners with a splash of kids from SoFlo, at least from the experience in my social circle. Everyone also listens to fucking EDM, it's awful.
On the other hand, Fordham is a 25 min train ride to NYC. I don't have as much insight, but listen to those podcasts Patrick does (Monkey to Millions?) he mentors a young woman who goes to Fordham and she seemed to do really well since she kind of knew how the game was played early on.
All in all, I think the schools are comparable and i'd go where you feel like you'd be most comfortable. I'd also consider how much money these schools will give you. Neither of these places is worth paying full price (~65k a year). I do not even know if I'd pay half that price, but you know your personal situation better than I do. Happy to be helpful if I can.
I was talking to the person I know at MS and he says he has definitely seen people from UMiami at MS in IB. He also said most of them went to top MBA programs before working for MS. The Bermount- Carlin program you mentioned, obviously it's selective but have you seen people go into IB on Wall Street at either big or small banks out of this program?
Yes, i've seen people from Bermont/Carlin go to both big and small banks in NYC as well as other places. I personally was not a part of the program and I did fine, but definitely had to grind for it. Further to your first comment about Miami students at MS, this could be attributed to the MBA program they attended and not necessarily their undergrad program - totally changes the dynamic, especially if you recruited out of a top MBA program.
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