Dartmouth (~70k per year) vs USC (~40k per year)
I get that normally this is no contest, Dartmouth is a league above USC for IB/PE, but over 4 years USC is almost 130k cheaper because of scholarship. I don't care about being in NY vs a west coast city.
Would argue it would be a lot easier to break in if you're in dartmouth. Naturally, there are a lot more spots in NYC, and it's a lot easier to study at an ivy and say you're interested in tech and want to be in the west coast than saying the opposite. So if you're at USC, you'll have competition from Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA and other ivies / kids that are from the west coast that studied in the east coast. If you go to dartmouth, you're at a top target that often has winternships that lead to summer internships.
It is $130K more expensive, but if you want a quantitative analysis then it's a weighted probability earnings potential, where if the difference in probability of breaking in leads to a $130K earnings difference, then you're better off taking it.
More concrete example: let's assume the difference between landing a banking gig and not is just the 2 years of bonus. If you have a 80% probability of landing one of these gigs out of Dartmouth and a 20% probability of landing the same gig out of USC, then you'd need to earn $200K in bonus to make up for the more expensive school ($120K / 60%). Not entirely unheard of if you land at an EB to earn $200K in bonus over the 2 years, and certainly doable if you go for a third year offer or continue taking into account earnings potential after the second year (PE, HF, other high paying jobs).
USC is a good school, but as you mentioned, Dartmouth is better in terms of recognition, which will ultimately open more doors, so it really is tough to assess is from a quant POV.
If you land a finance gig, then you'll be glad you took Dartmouth and won't look back on the additional $120K 10 years from now. If you go to USC and you don't, you'll live with the 'what if'
Thanks. I agree that it's way easier to get an offer from Dartmouth, but let's say hypothetically that I'm able to get a BB/EB offer out of USC because I work hard enough/am smart enough. Is the Dartmouth name still worth it enough from there on out, for PE recruiting as well as MBA admissions, or is it mainly for getting the first offer?
Choose Dartmouth. It's not just about investment banking. Your undergraduate school will play a huge role in PE recruiting too, given how early the process starts. Dartmouth simply has a much stronger presence than USC in high finance.
Seems like you are giving this the right amount of consideration, thinking not just in the short-term (i.e., getting started in banking) but the long-term as well. Networking opportunities are a huge consideration and have tremendous value, having Dartmouth on your resume will open a considerable number of doors for you both now and in the future, whereas if you have USC on your resume you may need to grab and axe to chop through some of those doors. I went to a well regarded private school for undergrad but at the end of the day it was a non-target and I had to claw my way into banking and it was a gut wrenching grueling experience.
Only a 120k difference, but the difference in terms of prestige and job opportunities is huge. If you do two summer internships, you can probably decrease the 120k quite significantly.
120k - summer internship pay - sign on bonus pay - other income made from working during your 4 years at school = much much lower difference.
Definitely Dartmouth. USC is not even a target for NYC.
Yeah, that's what I've been seeing. If I was deadset on NY, I wouldn't even have asked this, but I don't really care if I end up in LA or SF
You need to figure out if you want to be on the West Coast or in NYC. For NY, choose Dartmouth without a question, but if you’re a top candidate from USC and interview well, you will be able to get any IB gig in LA that you want (source: I just went through recruiting). Best of luck with it all.
Do people typically stay in the same city for PE that they were in IB for? Like if I go to USC, will it be impossible to end up in NY or SF for PE if I get an IB job in LA?
No, you’re not limited, you just have to look at it probabilistically. USC is viewed almost like Ivy in LA (and does pretty well in SF) but is basically seen as a community college in NY. I personally think there are a lot of great reasons to choose LA (top groups are very good, lean deal teams, sponsors groups and Moelis place extremely well into PE funds — there are a lot of PE firms in LA).
Obviously, my opinion is biased as I have lived in CA all my life and intend to stay, so take it with a grain of salt. The NYC guys will conversely give you a great pitch for Dartmouth -> NY; ultimately you can’t go wrong with either choice.
I'm actually going to suggest that if you would rather be in Cali, you might as well go to USC and put in a little extra effort. End of the day, USC's network in the whole of California is more expansive than Dartmouth's, and for obvious reasons. With a little grind/hard work, you could and very likely would end up with the same job you would get out of Dartmouth, yet be 130k richer. In the jump to PE, Dartmouth would obviously hold more weight, but if you're a top bucket analyst from USC, you will have absolutely no trouble placing in West Coast PE offices. Though to be honest, I am not sure how appealing the West Coast PE scene is compared to NYC (can anyone weigh in here?), and USC would not be able to stack up against Dartmouth when it comes to NYC PE/IB.
Also, just something to keep in mind (I went to a school similar to Dartmouth), don't discount the number of prep school kids that come in already very well connected because Mommy and Daddy are MDs at GS/friends with MDs at GS/important clients of big-name firms. Those kids are already reserving themselves spots as soon as they enter. I don't think USC would have this situation to the extent a school like Dartmouth would.
Up to you: I say if you want West Coast and are willing to work, go USC. If you want to take the more risk-averse (albeit expensive) path and want NYC, Dartmouth hands down.
Dartmouth 100%. No brainer.
If you don’t care about NY and the cost difference is material, USC should also get you where you need to go if you perform.
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