USC Marshall Thoughts?
Hello all,
I am a senior in HS applying to college. My stats are alright but I think I'd have a pretty good chance at ED to USC Marshall. I know that it is often placed high on many lists, but am concerned about actual placement for IB/S&T. I would prefer to live in NYC/Chicago out of college and am concerned with how well USC places into those cities as I know it has very strong LA/SF pipelines. And in the case I couldn't really get to NYC/Chicago, how is the west coast banking scene?
I’ve interacted with the school over the years. Mainly through their MBA program but have seen undergrads alumni on LinkedIn or Wall Street or whatever. It’s a pretty LA focused school. In my humble opinion it’s best suited for those who want to settle in LA and make a life/career out there. Not really designed for NYC recruiting. There is plenty of respected finance out there. Mainly from the Milken era and things since. Moelis LA strong. Every bank / credit HF seems to have at least somewhat of an output there. Also could be helpful for tech / SF banking if you are open to that. Gaming obviously strong in Vegas and then energy in Houston. Chicago may be less of a stretch than NYC due to distance and less intense competition compared to NYC. Though I understand Chicago may be more industrial or consumer focused.
At USC there are prob some alumni pipelines and jobs for the Southern California area. If you go there would make sense to go through those. Once you are inside a bank like at Moelis LA or whatever. It could be easier to transfer to the NYc office. Or even like Canyon partners are whatever. Ares very good there too in credit. Leonard Green. Tons of good names. Doesn’t really seem a need to move to NYC. Visiting may be enough. But again I’ve lived in nyc my whole life and have been to socal maybe once lol. Oh yea - HL is already HQed in LA but has a fairly distributed workforce closer to clients and their niche industries wherever they are.
Broader west coast banking, SF may be the biggest hub due to all the wealth made in tech over the last 20/30 years.
Either way good luck.
Thank you and appreciate the feedback. My main reason is just NYC/Chi culture + have lived in Westchester my whole life. Probably easier for me to leverage personal/family connections in NY but I'm sure LA is great as well.
Thank you and appreciate the feedback. My main reason is just NYC/Chi culture + have lived in Westchester my whole life. Probably easier for me to leverage personal/family connections in NY but I'm sure LA is great as well.
If you’ll do the recruiting and have a job lined yourself and see USC as just a fun place to do your undergrad then yea I can see the logic. Good luck
How would you compare to IU Kelley/Wisconsin/UF/Bucknell ? Those are closer to target schools for me, USC is super selective but ED will give a good edge. They usually “rank” lower on lists however have good programs to my knowledge
Not hard to place into NYC if you’re locked in, concerns on this site are very overblown. Source: current student who placed into NYC without being in TIS (ib workshop)
Congrats. Yes I’ve noticed everyone on here thinks Ivy/Stanford/Duke/Stern or bust 😂 but yes I’m sure USC places well overall and its prestige isn’t unwarranted. Anything else I should know before applying?
I went to USC and transferred to a school better suited for finance after my freshman year. USC is decent for the East Coast, imo. I know a lot of people who did place in NYC, but they put in considerably more work than my peers at my current school. Getting into the right clubs/frats matters a lot.
Did you only transfer for career reasons or did you not enjoy it? Would like to know if there’s social downsides or whatever
nah I'm from San Diego, so I just wanted some distance from home. USC is great socially. Genuinely no complaints.
Very feasible to land West coast banking, and it's quite common to get East coast IB spots as well. A lot of it comes down to being prepared and making sure to join the right clubs (as is in any school), but it's not the end all be all.
Any firm and location is within reach coming out of USC, but it's still effectively a semi-target for East coast while being a true target for West coast. Overall, rate of people who seriously recruit and land is quite high relative to other semis/targets out there, so take that as you will.
Since you're from Westchester and already have NY connections, I'd say go for it with the ED! Might as well enjoy the LA weather for 4 years. Like the guys above mentioned earlier today, NYC is totally doable if you hustle and get into the right clubs. Good luck with your application!
Thank you!
USC Marshall actually has a really strong pipeline to New York IB, so I would consider it a strong option (minus the location if you prefer New York).
Their IB recruiting is managed by Professor Julia Plottes and there are a few avenues they provide to students:
To my knowledge, all of those programs are heavily geared towards NY recruiting, so USC is not a bad place to be.
Went to USC Marshall undergrad and wouldn't recommend ED if you are set on NYC. While the USC name brand is great on the west coast, it just does not carry the same weight in NYC. USC representation at banks in NYC, while improving, just isn't there yet, especially at the senior level where there is hardly ANY USC rep. Having a lot of senior bankers from your school at a certain firm can be helpful during recruiting, and trying to recruit to NYC from USC won't give you that. On the other hand, USC's access to firms in LA is almost unparalleled, and USC kids can often place into seats that they wouldn't be able to place into in NYC (buy-side and EB) just due to lack of alumni / pedigree. USC has great representation at Ducera and HL LA if you are at all interested in RX, as well as a ton of credit shops in LA / SoCal (Oaktree, Ares, Pimco, etc.). Also, there is a great media/entertainment and aerospace and defense scene in LA, if either of those things interest you. USC also places well in SF, but because tech is so huge I think that SF recruiting will still be competitive, even coming from USC. Some firms in LA will give you an interview simply because you have USC on your resume. You won't get that in SF, and certainly not in NYC. I think it's still worth applying, and is a great option. If you end up going, I also wouldn't be discouraged from recruiting in NYC as it is definitely possible, it's just way easier in LA. I think tho to look at schools similar to USC but on the east coast for NYC recruiting (UVA, Emory, UNC, etc. )
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