3.85 GPA, should I apply Early Decision to NYU Stern only, or both Stern and Economics to increase my chances

I’m a grade 12 student from Ontario, Canada who is currently applying to university. I'm very interested in breaking into banking, but have come under a difficult decision. 

I have a strong academic and extracurricular profile, including a 3.85 GPA, leadership in various organizations (including founding an investment club and various NPOs), and management of a personal portfolio exceeding $400,000. As part of my university application process, I am seriously considering applying Early Decision (ED) to NYU Stern School of Business.

However, I am torn between two options: should I apply exclusively to Stern, or should I rank Stern as my first choice with Economics as my second? While Stern is my top choice, I also have a deep interest in Economics, and I understand the value of a backup option. At the same time, I’m concerned that if I apply for both and get admitted to Economics instead of Stern, I might miss out on stronger opportunities elsewhere. I plan to apply to over 20 U.S. universities, including other target and semi-target schools.

My primary focus is on positioning myself for a successful career in investment banking. Therefore, I would greatly appreciate your professional insight on the following questions:

1.           Does being accepted into NYU's Economics program place me at a significant disadvantage in breaking into investment banking compared to NYU Stern?

2.           Given my goals and profile, would you recommend going all-in on Stern, or would you advise listing both Stern and Economics to broaden my chances?

Thank you very much for your time and any guidance you can provide.

4 Comments
 

a rejection at stern and an acceptance at CAS is better than just a rejection at stern. Apply for both if you're interested in going to CAS. I'm currently at stern and i applied for both

 

Hey, thanks for taking the time to respond. It appears that CAS still gives me the opportunity to break into IB. To add for some clarification, I plan to take an SAT in November and December, and NYU’s acceptance is dec 15, so I was thinking if I did score highly on the November one, I could submit that to them as well. My biggest concern is getting into CAS right after I receive a very strong test score from the December SAT, which means I may have been able to get into stern or other target schools that I am applying to, but since I ED’d to CAS I’d have to go.

Overall, would you say it’s worth the risk to only apply Stern and bank on my SAT scores to get me into a different university with similar potential for breaking into IB if I don’t get into stern, or play it safe and apply to both Stern and CAS.

Once again, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

 

Apply to both Stern and CAS so you have a backup. Stern is more competitive than Arts & Sciences for admission and is much better for recruiting. I have a friend who is studying at NYU, and he told me that most of the recruiting resources are accessed by Stern students only. You have the NYU network as an Arts & Sciences student, but Stern students have certain advantages, such as the Stern network, recruiting resources, and finance/accounting classes.

 

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