University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management

Hey everyone. I am an eighteen year older senior in high school, and I will be attending the Carlson school of Management at the University of Minnesota. I was considering going to the University of Wisconsin Madison, but decided Carlson was a better choice. Also, Northwestern and Michigan were too expensive for me. I will most likely major in Accounting and Finance. I know I am a bit young for WSO, but my dream is to get into investmant banking, and I want to start learning as young as I can. My predicament however, is that I heard the Carlson School of Management was not a good school for I-Banking. I am just wondering if anyone has any experience with the school itself and I-banking or with the Minneapolis area and I-banking. I will be happy to hear from anyone's responses. Thank you!

33 Comments
 
Best Response

You are right. If you really wanted I-banking and could have gotten into Northwestern or Michigan, you would be better served to go there.

Madison is also a better school when it comes to finance and accounting.

Still, Carlson is in the metro area, so you have access to some middle market groups. I'm not sure, to be honest, if any IBs really recruit Carlson students, but most of the local groups have some U of M grads on staff.

Look at Houlihan Lokey, Harris Williams, Lazard Middle Market, Greene Holcomb & Fisher, and Triple Tree (healthcare focused).

In the long run, expect to try and get into a top MBA program outside of the Minneapolis area.

 

Thank you very much for your input! I have all of my goals written down, but you are absolutely correct about where I need to get my MBA from. My goal is to get a 700ish GMAT score and get accepted into a top 15 MBA program. I don't want to work in New York and I know my chances at a place like Goldman are slim to none. But I would love to do I-banking in the Chicago or Minneapolis area. Thanks again!

 
AsianMonkyAmgajewski,

I considered going to Carlson last year too. They are great for F500, place decent amount of people into Deloitte Consulting, and I know for sure that Piper Jaffray recruits at Carlson, and I think Lazard MM also. There's also RBC capital markets. Good luck.

Totally forgot about Piper, OP. Another option with plenty of Carlson guys.

 

Hey, I am originally from minneapolis (I attend a semi-target in the south). I did some networking with MN Ibanks and while there are definitely a few carlson kids, you will have a much better shot at MM IBD at madison.

Don't get me wrong, its really hard to break in from either school and you will need to be a top student. I would STRONGLY recommend you attend the best school you can because you can almost always return to work in MN if you want (I was given an offer with minimal networking) b/c you always have the excuse I grew up in the area but you will have a very hard time breaking into...Barclays or Jefferies for example.

just my 2c but pm me if you wana chat

 

Indiana University is infinitely better than Wisco if that's where you were thinking of going. They are a huge feeder to Chicago too. IU is about 20% cheaper than Michigan, and oddly cheaper than Wisco.

 
peinvestor2012
BTbankerIndiana University is infinitely better than Wisco if that's where you were thinking of going. They are a huge feeder to Chicago too. IU is about 20% cheaper than Michigan, and oddly cheaper than Wisco.

MN & WI have tuition reciprocity. Otherwise, I would agree.

Do MN & WI have any sort of Banking Workshop? Just curious.
 

BTbanker can't know b/c he's out of state but Madison actually has an in-state tuition reciprocity program with Minnesota so it will be the cheapest by far.

 

Thanks so much guys! I will be going to Carlson for my undergrad but I am originally from Wisconsin. The price for Madison and Minnesota is virtually the same. I will be sure to look up the I-Banks that were mentioned. Thanks again!

 

I think piper jaffray recruits at Carlson. Checked out LinkedIn profiles.

I would take out additional loans and go to Northwestern or Mich if I were you, but that's just my personal opinion. I think the branding + alumni network would be worth the $

Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis - when I was dead broke man I couldn't picture this
 

Minnesota has an interesting dynamic...most young people want to stay in state. Therefore Carlson plays to that, on the UG and MBA level (feeder to corporate and consulting jobs (Big 4 accounting, IT and, to a lesser extent, strategy)... Target, 3M, Cargill, Best Buy, Medtronic, BostonSci, General Mills, Eaton, US Bank, Wells Fargo all are HQ'ed or have large ops in Minneapolis and are chock-full-o-carlson alum).

That said, check out their "Funds Enterprise" ($30+Mil investment fund), very similar to that of Wisconsin. I know for a fact that many of the undergrads that work in the fund end up in IBD and S&T roles at BB in NYC, Chi, and SF, as well as the middle market players like Piper, Lazard, HW&Co, and Houlihan in Minneapolis and other offices. Getting to BB isnt impossible, its a top 20 business school (obviously this does take into account the Ivy's or NESCACs that dont have undergrad bus. majors available). None the less, going to a target would be a more effective way to reach your goal, but unlike what many of the haters above claim, all is not lost....

 
FutureWallerWhere do minneapolis banks recruit at (other than the U of M / Carlson)?

I honestly don't know, especially for analysts or associates, but there I think there are some pipelines to/from UW-Madison, Booth (MBA), Kellogg (MBA), UMich, IU.

The only other school around worth a damn is St. Thomas (Opus), which has a strong local reputation. There is also Carleton College a ways south, there are a few students from there (very good liberal arts school).

 

The other smaller regional offices of banks don't "recruit" per say at other schools but they do interview other candidates from everywhere. I interviewed at a firm alongside kids from NYC, Chicago, etc. Most of them were from MN originally, like myself, but go to school elsewhere.

Also I know Piper has a pretty wide reach in terms of recruiting.

 
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