Which school should I attend to get into Investment Banking: UVA Mcintire or Brown?

UVA is in-state tuition (33k) vs Brown (73k)

My parents would pay UVA full while they'd be fronting me the difference in price (160k) for Brown that I would eventually pay back.

I'd go to UVA because it's cheaper but IB is super prestige-driven.

Any thoughts?

 

In terms of UVA, McIntire is not a guarantee as you still have to apply for it during your second year. If you don't get into McIntire, then I assume you would do Econ and I think Brown Econ > UVA Econ candidate. The advantage that comes from UVA McIntire being a an undergraduate business school is diminished in that by the time you are recruiting you won't have taken any actual finance coursework or business class apart from introductory accounting since you'd only start McIntire third year. In terms of Brown, I have a close friend who goes there and from what he tells me the grading standards are extremely flexible and enables you to strategically boost your gpa.

 

There may be some self-selection bias, but there are way way way more people in IB from UVA McIntire than Brown. That's not to say that you would have a better chance at UVA, it's just a different model-- would you do better fitting into a well-defined pipiline (UVA) or taking the path less traveled? (aka anyone from Brown who goes into IB)

 
Best Response

Really painful to read responses suggesting Brown if your immediate goal is I-banking. This is absolutely and totally wrong-these are likely responses from kids that have no idea what they are talking about think there is some sort of magic “prestige stamp” that results from going to an ivy.

There are many other reasons that could make Brown a better choice that are totally reasonable and personal to you, but on a strict by the numbers rationale ranked by your ability to get into a BB/IB, UVa McIntire should hands down be your choice.

Mcintire probably sends around 20 kids a year to BB/EB (admittedly a rough guess based on observation) and is a target school for every BB and most EBs. Brown is not a target for any of these places, and although they certainly send a few kids each year, it will be significantly harder to land a job. In my 6 years I have maybe met 5 kids that went to Brown-once again, this is not dumping on Brown at all, obviously a great school and there are tons of other reasons you might pick it, but a readily observable fact pattern makes Uva a better choice if BB/EB is your goal.

 

Agree with most the stuff you said, and would agree that UVA will be an option if the sole goal is IB. But the part that Brown is not a target at any BB/EB is just plainly not true....go through LinkedIn and you'll find plenty of Brown kids at GS/JP/Evercore, etc

 

I go to Brown and we literally sent 7 kids to GS IBD alone for this coming summer. Brown definitely is a target for some banks but not for all of them. BB's tend to recruit a good amount here but the only EBs that had info sessions were Centerview and PWP. People still manage to get into EBs through networking and alumni connections.

 

lenbias7 I would also keep in mind that during college, your career aspirations may change. From an optionality perspective - Brown will leave more doors open to you than UVA. But the commenters are right - I have met more UVA people on the street than Brown kids. So I think with hard work, you'll get there either way. Don't forget - its important to make your choice based on where YOU actually think you might like to go to school. As we've established here you'll probs be fine at either school if WS is your ultimate goal - but if you like one school more than the other go for that.

 

Brown doesn't have an undergraduate business school like UVA does that has a large number of people wanting to go into IB. With Brown, you can get into IB, but you just have to network a little more, especially for those banks that don't do OCR at Brown. You also have to be a little more proactive regarding interview prep, especially technicals. UVA kids are a little more primed with technical knowledge as their major of say finance helps them out.

$160K is a lot of money though and it is true, as previous commenters have said, that UVA is definitely a target school for IB and many BBs/EBs.

 

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