Can't decide between UW-Madison and University of Minnesota Carlson for IB recruiting
Hey guys, a little conflicted on my college situation and wanted some outside perspective.
Quick background: I did shit in high school and honestly didn't care about my grades. Ended up at the University of Minnesota studying economics because I didn't get into their business school when all I wanted was to study finance. Worked hard my first year, applied to transfer into Carlson, got denied again. At that point I figured studying plain economics at Minnesota wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I transferred to UW Madison to study Economics and Data Science.
Before Madison I did an internship at a fintech startup that used AI to automate M&A diligence, which is what got me locked in on IB. First semester at Madison I was also at a lower middle market PE firm doing deal sourcing on the side.
Tried to get into Wisconsin's IB club my first semester, didn't get in. Pretty quickly realized the club controls all alumni access and if you're not in it nobody will take a call with you, which means no referrals. So I started building my own network outside of it. Recruiting came around in January and I somehow pulled interviews at William Blair, Jefferies, and a LMM boutique without networking with a single person at any of those firms. Didn't convert any of them though. Didn't prep technically at all. Fully my fault.
Here's where I'm at now. I just got into Carlson as a transfer, so I'm deciding whether to go back or stay at Madison. From a pure recruiting standpoint the two schools are pretty different. Minnesota sends maybe 3 kids to IB a year and you're largely limited to Minneapolis firms like HL, Lazard, and Piper. Madison has more reach into Chicago and New York, but if you're not in the Investment Banking Club it's a serious grind. The club has basically a 4.0 GPA filter and alumni tend to ignore you if you're not in it. That said, Madison cold got me Jefferies and William Blair interviews with zero networking, which makes me think a second cycle there with actual prep could go differently. The other concern is how it looks to tell interviewers I transferred twice.
Either way I'm planning to reclass and go through recruiting again next cycle. I know every mistake I made and exactly how to fix them.
The last thing is all my best friends are at Minnesota. At Madison I have literally no one. It matters to me but I'm fine being lonely if it means a better shot at the career I want.
Would genuinely love some thoughts.
Interesting. Wisconsin has decent placement, but it's nothing crazy, definitely better than UMN though.
Staying at UW Pros: Better school, More placements, Better orgs.
Cons: Assuming you're a MN native UW is probably more expensive, like you said all your friends are at UMN, and you're not in the B-School or Target Club at Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a good school, but not good enough where you can be out of the B-School and not in a target club and still place easy.
Your experience is pretty good for someone who has as many hurdles as you have had. So I think if you prep properly this time you should land something. So the question is essentially is it better to be the biggest fish in a pond, or a medium sized fish in a lake. Either probably yield the same result atp. Now here's what I'll say, honestly speaking I doubt you get into the IB club at Madison again, & recruiting without networking is a huge gamble. As for the story abt you transferring 2 times, it will definitely raise some eyebrows, but you can just make something up. If you're good most people won't even ask. Also have you looked into Real Estate finance, I worked in REGAL IB and REPE, and Wisconsin kids are top of the bunch in that sector, and Madison's RE program is highly ranked.
I appreciate you taking the time to break this down. It's genuinely hard to evaluate on my own since my parents and friends have no real sense of how IB recruiting works or how competitive it gets.
A few things worth clarifying: I'm a Wisconsin native with reciprocity for UMN, so tuition isn't a factor either way. At Madison I'm in an IB workshop program, but it's nothing like IBC. It's basically just a resume line item to say I was interested in IB aside from courses.
The real issue this past cycle was alumni responsiveness. Most Madison people never picked up the phone. The conversations I actually had were with UMN grads or random people from Texas/Satelite offices who wrote me off immediately for not having a local connection. Part of me thinks I just needed to reach out earlier and push harder. Going forward I'm planning to network directly with IBC members to try to land a first round (for IBC club), even though my GPA is not in their ideal range.
That said, IBC is basically a near-guaranteed pipeline if you get in and put in the work. It's not like you do nothing and a job falls in your lap, but it genuinely opens doors in a way that nothing else at Madison does through an alumni list, structured networking, credibility with recruiters/alumni in IB. Without it, you're grinding cold outreach and hoping people respond.
On real estate finance, I looked into it and unfortunately it's locked behind the business school, so it's not an option as an Econ and Data Science major. I know the program has a strong reputation, but it's just not accessible to me.
Yea I'd say stay at Wisconsin and just network hard and early, as well as try to land something this summer/fall in terms of internships to add to your resume. Transfer students taking another cycle to recruit isn’t really that uncommon. But also, stuff for this cycle isn’t over yet. Look out for things in the summer and early fall.
I feel like transferring back looks weird unless you can graduate on time and not ever put Madison on your resume.
Voluptas quod quis atque nam eum magnam. Et ducimus architecto labore assumenda rerum architecto itaque aut. Quidem et eum aut occaecati quibusdam.
Aliquid officia aliquam est similique reiciendis non rerum. Architecto alias maxime totam eius. Culpa modi at quis et et pariatur occaecati quae. Sit dolorum nobis perspiciatis et voluptates et nisi ullam. Est nam accusantium voluptate perspiciatis quis ab ullam. Cumque quam autem beatae blanditiis.
Soluta aut labore sed voluptas et. Labore voluptatem sed aliquam ipsum optio accusamus. Atque aliquid ut ea dolores.
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...