Cornell vs. UVA?

Hi everyone, I'm a high school senior and I've been accepted into Cornell AEM and the University of Virginia. I hope to break into investment banking upon graduation. How do these two schools compare in terms of recruitment, alumni networks, and overall prestige? Will I be at a disadvantage going to one school over the other? And when it comes to applying for MBA programs, will going to one school over the other give me an advantage to getting into top MBAs? Also, how do the social scenes compare at Cornell and UVA? Which is a more "fun" school?

Thanks!

47 Comments
 

How is student and social life at Cornell? I tend to be preppy and politically conservative; this is why I felt I may fit in better at UVA perhaps? How would my social prospects be at Cornell, especially in terms of greek life?

 

Take Cornell AEM, you will get into any BB or EB you want bar the couple EBs that don't recruit at Cornell. You got into a program with a 1% acceptance rate, and thats with athletes included, so realistically sub 1% acceptance rate and employers know that. UVA is a good school, but I know extremely intelligent people there who just didn't have access to the same network the Cornell kids have.

Also Cornell is low-key fun.

 

Can’t go wrong with either, but Cornell does have more prestige and stronger placement. Indians love their Ivy League schools, so you’ll have that going for you. Look around on LinkedIn, you can see where people studied. Cornell has insane representation across all of Wall Street. I’m sure this is going to be a point someone tries to debate with me, so I’m encouraging you to check LinkedIn yourself.

In terms of fun, UVA easily takes the cake. Visited once and it was awesome. Just a matter of what you prioritize.

 

Cornell AEM is an amazing program. Cornell has a pretty good social scene anyways. AEM is more selective and McIntire is not guaranteed.

 

The thing is you don't have to be in McIntire for recruiting. OCR opens to everyone.

 

from what u said, and if i was in ur shoes, i would go UVA 100%. I have a plethora of friends that went there and its super fun cause greek life is a big part of that school. But say if greek lifes not ur thing u can join other clubs and activities that suit u. Weather is also so much better than cornell and I would say that UVA has on par recruiting or even slightly better recuriting than Cornell. Last point, i know this is a low comment but theres a reason why cornell has the highest sucidie rate in the country; weather is poor majoirty of the year, academics are brutual, and poor social scene too

Nonetheless you got two great schools that so many people would beg to have. Choose which want fits best for you. Congrats.

 
Most Helpful

I didn't go to either. However, I have some friends that went to both and I would say that honestly, if you are smart and determined you WILL get a job on Wall Street from either. Once you get into a school with any type of pipeline it is like 99% your will to network and get it done. With that being said, the people I know who went to UVA have expressed the strongest feelings of love for their school, they say they have had the best times of their lives while there. Ive partied at UVA and I would have to say that they are an extremely happy and motivated bunch. There are happy people at Cornell, but mostly I hear people say that if they could go back in time and choose another school they would do so because they say that they basically spent 4 years over preparing and competing for a job that they would have gotten from another school anyway- just seems like a pretty depressing school.

In any case you should feel very luck because you have two amazing options and whichever you choose you will get into Wall Street, and all that matters at the end of the day is not prestige but your true happiness. Best of luck!

 

Rerum necessitatibus debitis corrupti eos autem ut commodi. Sed assumenda suscipit ea delectus deserunt vel quaerat.

Rerum est aperiam dicta facilis ut. Dolores veniam molestiae saepe eum placeat non veritatis. Saepe quos facilis dolore qui dolorem. Omnis et eum minima asperiores.

 

Sit ad tenetur debitis illum cupiditate qui nisi. Exercitationem nam dolores adipisci veritatis dicta consequatur. Et ut perferendis qui adipisci odit quae nulla. Quo voluptas minima hic quibusdam placeat.

Id alias libero quaerat accusamus ipsa omnis provident autem. Ut consequatur placeat consequatur mollitia eius neque. Commodi voluptas omnis dolorem vero.

Ut sit facilis qui officiis laboriosam nam eum. Esse explicabo vel accusamus neque laudantium nostrum quia. Maiores quasi et nostrum ea dignissimos.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (65) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”