Cornell CAS (Econ) Vs Fordham GBHP vs NYU Stern For Breaking Into IB
Hi wso. I'm a high school senior who is looking to break into IB in NY after college. I would like your input as to which school is the best option for an aspiring FO banker.
I have 3 main options: Cornell college of arts and sciences, Fordham Gabelli GBHP (only 20 kids), or Stern. Cornell and Stern would cost 80k+/yr to attend all costs included vs Fordham which would be close to zero. I like Fordham and Stern better w/ regards to location, lifestyle, academic year internships, but have some obvious reservations about forgoing an ivy education and target school in Cornell. From what I hear Gabelli's GBHP is improving, they have a strong alumni network, and internship opportunities in NYC make it a decent choice, and the low price seals the deal imo. I could afford Cornell, but with Fordham as an option, I'd rather graduate with an extra ~300k. What do you recommend? Thanks.
If you want to go IB and your parents can help significantly with cost, throw Fordham out of consideration. Can promise you that 99% of bankers will not care about what GBHP is and only look at school name. Cornell and Stern will get you on Wall Street with little issue.
On the other hand, if you hit the ground running from the start at Fordham with grades, internships, networking, etc. you can place somewhere, it'll just be harder and less certain than with your other options.
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EY and PWC aren't great placements
Go to Cornell. People on this forum love Stern because it has solid IB placement, but Cornell beats it in literally everything else (and I would say is still better for IB). You're in high school now, there's a good chance you get to college next year and decide you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or literally anything else. An ivy education will stick with you for life and opens up pretty much every door for you- Stern might open IB, but it is a lot worse for 99% of other things. Even within finance, Cornell will place better into non-IB things like corp dev, most buyside, etc. Never underestimate how much an ivy name on your resume means
This is going to be an incredibly pretentious response, but everyone giving me MS clearly does not attend an ivy league school. I attend a different ivy (not Cornell, but another lower ivy) and there is 100% a difference between how people view ivies and how they view other good schools. I transferred to my current school from a top state school, and the way people respond when you when you say you go to an ivy vs a top public school is completely different. If I'm at a networking event or just casually chatting with someone in the finance industry, mentioning my school is a guaranteed way to establish myself as somewhat qualified, and people treat me completely differently vs when I was at a public school even though that's really the only thing that changed about me. I was talking to a PE partner a few weeks back (a networking call I only got because he went to my school, btw) and he mentioned that he likes to work with one bank because there are a few MDs that went to our same school. This guy is in his 50s but is still basing multi-million dollar deal decisions off of college. It sucks that this is the way the world works and I don't think it's fair or right at all, but that doesn't make it not true. If you have the option, go to any ivy. You won't regret it in the long run.
First of all, all of these people commenting have no clue actually how good Fordham GBHP is at placing their kids in BB. I am currently in GBHP, working at JPM/GS/MS this summer, and can talk to you all about the advantages of GBHP and how highly it is regarded in interviews and recruiting. Also, the free international trips are amazing and once in a lifetime expereinces. Yes Cornell and Stern will also set you up in a good position for recruiting, but being in GBHP makes you a big fish in a small pond whereas going to another school, you don't necessarily have that distinction in comparison to your peers. In my GBHP cohort 8 students are placed in BB for this summer with the rest at top tier MM/Boutiques. You can't go wrong with your decision, but just get the facts from all three versus listening to people who are commenting on a school with no information or basis, since they do not go there.