…..
……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. ……………. …………….
Trending Content - Business School and GMAT Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
June 30, 2026
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
High Finance Applications
Guaranteed
Get at least one offer GUARANTEED
- 1:1 support
- 92% success rate
- 2,000+ mentor network
- Unlimited Live bootcamps
- AI for resume + LinkedIn
- Networking automation tools
- HireVue simulation tool
- Full course library
- Private Slack community
- 20hrs of mocks
- + much more...
Hi Prospect in IB-M&A, check out these links:
More suggestions...
Hope that helps.
I see more UVA folks than USC folks on east coast IB, but I’m sure west coast IB has more USC representation. I have met USC people, but there are so many UVA people I swear they are everywhere.
If you put in enough work, you will get a job with either school. You are in a good spot.
Are you in state for UVA and is money a concern? What sort of location / lifestyle do you want? Any west coast or east coast ties? Are you particularly interested in tech, if so, being in California will afford more opportunities. I would think about where you want to be, money, and the type of college experience you want since USC and UVA will be very different.
….
Echo the points the above poster made. UVA has a tonnn of IB/PE representation in New York and I feel like all my friends who went there had good experiences.
Would choose UVA if you want to be on the east coast/are out of state for both schools. If you’re in-state in CA and money is a concern that is the only thing that might change that.
…
.
When I had to pick a college, I was making the same decision and ultimately picked USC. Let me first start by saying that yes, at UVA it is probably going to be easier to start a successful finance career. That being said, USC has a really strong and centralized path with a very high success rate into top investment banking firms. On top of that Poets & Quants recently ranked US #1 for US Business schools. I'm not trying to propagate that Marshall is better than McIntire, because it probably isn't, especially for finance. But doing IB at USC is way more doable than people make it out to be. Ultimately its up to you.
Everything you hear about that Trojan Network is facts, though. No matter your career choice, there are going to be people who will go surprisingly far out of their way to help you out if you go to USC. BTW our NY representation is getting better each year for finance. Good Luck!
wahoowa baby, UVA all the way, coming here was the best decision of my life
…
Yeah Im in McIntire, experience has been awesome, I have no regrets about coming here. Lots of resources, all the clubs are super helpful with recruiting.
Bro you're a dornsife admit. No good club in finance is taking you for your first year. Like if you were a viterbi admit, at least you would have been considered smart, but dornsife is the easy way into USC (highest acceptance rate) and all clubs know that. Are you sure you can transfer in one semester? I thought it would be one year, but not sure. I'd say go for UVA because you aren't really a marshall admit and most clubs pull up people's profiles on student directory before letting them in (only good outcomes from Econ + Math that I've seen have been MMs, unless diversity).
USC all the way. USC will open the entire west coast market for you permanently. Trust me when I say nyc is a shit city and being able to build a career in California is 100% worth it. Essentially both UVA and USC open up the NYC market but USC also opens up west coast recruiting, and is a target for every bank there. There’s like 20 east coast target schools and UVA is one of them, but only 3-4 west coast target schools. Going to school in LA is better than being in Charlottesville, VA for 4 years (although UVA has great college bars), and USC is a more impressive school and harder to get into. But both are amazing and you can’t go wrong, I would just choose USC over a lot of solid east coast schools.
Found the USC grad
Vero soluta accusamus itaque debitis est est inventore quisquam. Cumque voluptatibus iste molestiae incidunt. Nihil ipsum occaecati et voluptatem. Exercitationem cupiditate laudantium itaque quo.
Aut sapiente culpa non eveniet eos. Eos et dolor et. Ut pariatur ab sit omnis. Sapiente suscipit numquam blanditiis voluptates nisi. Voluptatem qui aut in saepe et.
Quas error et dolorum. Velit porro velit corporis magni et. Magni laudantium ut aperiam est et nulla. Sunt quae molestiae similique assumenda tenetur possimus voluptate blanditiis.
Provident et voluptatibus optio officiis molestias aut. Rerum adipisci omnis vero id. Quibusdam quas sunt et repudiandae. Earum occaecati facilis voluptas sed porro.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...