Lehigh vs. Claremont Mckenna for NYC

Hi, I'm trying to decide between these two schools to apply early decision to in the following year. I understand that they are very different schools and are of varying levels of difficulty to get in to; however, throughout my (extensive) college search these have been the two that stood out. I live on the east coast now and would ideally like to work in IB in New York following graduation. I know that neither of the two schools qualify as targets for that particular city; however, I am wondering which one will give me a better chance to break in. As far as I can tell, the advantage to Lehigh is that it has a much stronger alumni base in New York, despite its lower rank; whereas, CMC is generally more reputable, however it is much smaller and has far more graduates in LA and SF than anywhere else. I'm sure people are going to give me a hard time for posting on here, because I'm still a high school junior. However, I just figured I would get better quality advice on here as opposed to college confidential. Any and all help is appreciated.

7 Comments
 

dont know about Claremont except that George Roberts went there. I do know a good deal of Lehigh guys, but I don't think the network means all that much. It's more an initial appeal conversation starter maybe.

I say go to Claremont and look for NYC alumni. I'm sure there are a few, and since you'll probably only one of a few trying to do NYC they'll be more open/able to help you out. Keep in mind that I don't know any Claremont alumni though

 

I went to Lehigh. Would second what Hugh Myron said. That's a very fair assessment. It'll never compete with Stern or Wharton in terms of OCR, but the name won't hold you back.

Honestly, if you have a solid profile and start looking early enough, I'm sure that either school listed will get you where you want to go. I'd focus on which school you think you'd enjoy more rather than some nominal difference in employment prospects.

 

If you have a reasonable shot at getting into both, please choose CMC - it is significantly stronger and more highly regarded school than Lehigh (which is also a good school just on a different level). Even if the alumni base in NY is smaller, those that know CMC (which will be a larger group than you expect) will recognize the merits of it. Foolish to ever sacrifice quality of school for ability to break into IBD or any first job.

 
Best Response

Henry kravis went to cmc and loves cmc kids. I have a friend who was 1 year into his stint and got to get dinner with him (he was also going to work for KKR).

Like black jack said CMC is better. Cmc can definitely get you into banking. It is probably more likely to place you in LA or SF but who gives a shit, once you're in at a respectable shop you can move around to other shops/areas.

 

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