Dartmouth or Cornell for IB/ Hedge Funds

I am a rising high school senior debating whether to ED to Cornell or Dartmouth. I want to go into IB ( or Hedge Fund if possible) out of college. Which college has better networks and will give me a better shot to pursue IB/Hedge Fund opportunities out of college?

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Best Response

Dartmouth has a slight edge in terms of prestige and the much smaller class size means you won't be competing against quite as many in your early interviews, but Cornell has a much larger network. Both are strong choices for getting into IBD. Both are also good choices for getting into MBA after a few years of work. Just choose a relevant major such as Economics and FOCUS ON YOUR GPA, and you'll be more than fine in recruiting coming out of either place.

 

Also, whether you choose Dartmouth or Cornell, the Dartmouth Tuck "Business Bridge" thing is a nice compliment you can do over the summer that'll help you get ready for the business world, depending on what you choose to study during the year.

 

You'll be fine at either but I'd give the edge to Dartmouth. I studied engineering at Cornell, interned in IB 3 years with a FT offer but took FT at BB S&T after graduation instead. Not sure if I would have been able to get into a hedge fund, probably not. It's not easy to do that coming out of ugrad and I don't think either school makes it any easier than the other. In terms of networks, I think (and this is just opinion no data to back up) there are more young guys in the MM banks or BB front office from Cornell than Dartmouth but I think there are more older big shots across the board in Finance from Dartmouth than Cornell if that makes sense. Cornell is also a bigger school. Dartmouth may give you the opportunity to stand out against your peers and I think it is a more unique school that would grab my attention over Cornell if I wasn't an alum.

 

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