Columbia Undergrad in Financial Econ. VS. Michigan Ross BBA
I'm having a hard time deciding which one is the best option (Columbia Undergrad vs. Umich Ross BBA) to land summer internships and full-time offers in IB, PE, and Hedge Funds. Which would be the best option in terms of placement rate, prestige, recruitment opportunities, salary, networking, etc? Overall, I just want to know which would be more effective in helping me land these jobs.
Ross is specifically tailored to place students in finance positions either in sell-side or buy-side, but I also saw that many banks and funds recruit from Columbia as well because its an ivy league. If anyone has any experiences with the networking or recruitment process at either of these schools it would be helpful if y'all could share some info.
Also, I understand UMich has a more cohesive environment in general because it is a huge sports school and it has a large alumni base; however, does the social scene at a school like UMich trump the benefits of going to a elite institution like Columbia? Furthermore, is it worth giving up a typical 4-year college experience at UMich for a city school like Columbia?
I think everyone can agree that school spirit and overall college experience at Columbia blows, but I do think it’s the right choice here.
UMich is a great school, but Columbia comes out on top across the board pretty easily (except for school spirit and college experience of course). Columbia severely outnumbers UMich at every top firm while being a much smaller school. Ross has a student population of 4,000. Columbia is at 6,000, but this includes premeds, prelaws/aspiring politicians, engineers, and etc.
Both great, I would take Columbia!
OP, do yourself a favor and ignore this ^
*Wharton, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Stern, AND Columbia.
Fixed it for you.
Most of these aren't finance powerhouses but in terms of IB/PE opportunities, Stanford, UChicago, MIT, Brown, Duke, Haas, Williams, and Amherst are all better as well
Don't turn down Columbia. I've said this before on this site, college is more than a means to get your first job out of college. The brand will stick with you for the rest of your life. It's the connections/reputation that might come into play years down the line well past the summer after your junior year in ways that you (and even I) just don't know yet. Michigan is a phenomenal school, but Columbia is a cut above.
I go to Michigan and I absolutely LOVE it. I'm in Ross, recruited IB and landed two EB offers. School spirit, college experience, all of that is great and I'm very happy with my decision.
That being said, I also applied to Columbia in high school and didn't get in lol, and if I had the option I probably would've picked it over Ross as a high school senior.
Columbia is fun too man. You're in the fking city. Go to Columbia, it's a no brainer, especially if you are out of state for Mich
Columbia
Columbia
I understand that some people know what they want to do career wise fresh out of high school but I also know a lot of people that switched majors and careers during college. Going to Columbia would open more doors for you just in case you want to study a different subject and take classes in other fields. Columbia’s core curriculum, as you know, is pretty great.
If you are super set on a career in finance I’d say both schools are pretty great. I have so many friends who went to Columbia and ended up with awesome jobs in PE and IB. The location is a plus too. My high school best friend also went Ross and now is in IB at an EB in nyc.
I went to a liberal college myself so I am biased...I think having the ability to learn anything on your own (something you learn from a LAC education and yes Columbia’s undergrad is technically LAC) is pretty great.
Best of luck!
Michigan is a blast and Ross places top students into Centerview, Moelis, PJT and Evercore with a bunch also going to GS, MS and Citi. Jeffries and Guggenheim recruit heavily. Exceptional individuals make it to the buyside like Ares, Audax, Vista and Bridgewater for HF.
We have a bidding system that makes it easy to get at least a few great interviews. Everyone I know that prepared early did very well. For that reason you could say fuck Columbia and move to Ann Arbor! If a traditional college experience is what you want (greek life, sports and a college town) then go for it. Prestige whores will stay miserable.
I want to second this. I chose Michigan Ross over a "more prestigious school" and chose an EB considered "less prestigious" over another by this forum, and do not regret those decisions one bit. Go to the place that actually fits you better, and the place where you will be happiest/most successful
firms recruit at Columbia not only because it’s an Ivy but it’s also in the city. that means BBs will bring students to their HQs for dinner and networking events and some top buy-side firms almost exclusively recruit at Columbia because it’s in such a prime location. that said, Michigan is a great school and you will be able to go to any of the typical analyst programs if you excel there, but Columbia has opened doors to me that I didn’t know existed before I got here.
as far as campus culture, yeah Columbia has no school pride, but every interest group has its own niche. if you want a more traditional college experience just join a frat and do club sports, if you prefer something else it’s there.
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