Deciding between McCombs BHP, Notre Dame Mendoza, and Georgetown MSB for undergrad... which should I choose for a career in finance?
All are about the same price. I am a little concerned with the competitive club culture at UT and Gtown (all clubs at Notre Dame are inclusive). No real preference on east coast vs west coast vs midwest. How do these schools compare in terms of investment banking? Is the Gtown alumni network comparable to ND's? Does UT BHP set you up exceptionally? Any input helps. Thank you.
Congrats on the acceptance- thousands of high school seniors would love to go to any of those schools. You should be pumped!
Georgetown alum here. Georgetown's alumni network is very strong- I've gotten multiple interviews based on calls with alumni (and this is in consulting, an industry where networking is less prevalent than banking). I don't know about ND's, but I've had no issues with Georgetown's. Also, you don't need to be in the clubs at Georgetown to recruit well. I have friends at EB, BB IB, & MBB whose biggest extracurricular involvement was something like band, Model UN, a club sport, or campus ministry. The DC location also helps make getting internships during the school year very feasible, and because student life is focused on extracurricular involvement, it's easy to pad your resume with a leadership role at some random club. If you want I can PM you about Georgetown (I want to be anonymous here since I'm giving away my alma matter).
In terms of NYC IB placement alone, I'd go Georgetown due to its strong preprofessional culture. But you can definitely get in from any of those schools, so take whichever one you like best.
I appreciate the thoughtful response. I would appreciate it if you could PM me and just give your brief thoughts/experiences on the competitiveness of Gtown for finance? Did you find its small size advantageous for recruitment? And what was the social life was like, especially for business majors?
I'm not OP but I was recently accepted to Georgetown and I'm looking to go in to finance. Could I ask you some questions about your experience in PMs?
I go to a top target, and whilst I’ve got the offers I wanted I’m originally from TX, and looking back UT would’ve been way more fun then my school and the recruiting opportunities are plentiful.
BHP prides itself on 100% job placement; just know that there, unlike Gtown or ND, you’re guaranteed to never be a complete failure. Idk about their IB success rate compared to the others, though
Ignore title, current junior and incoming nyc sa at UT McCombs.
BHP - Don't worry too much about UT BHP, they claim to have great placement but all the students were already exceptional and most likely would have gotten good placement regardless - but if you want the challenge and have already gotten accepted than it definitely won't hurt and will probably open a few doors.
Clubs - A lot of clubs on campus pretend to be better than they are, ex. claim to be prestigious and have unrealistic filters to get in, like it's just a school club smh. Clubs themselves don't get you an internship, it's the effort and your takeaways which will speak volumes in your interview. Anyways, what you want to get into at UT is WSFM (Wall Street for McCombs). They have consistently had phenomenal placement and set up their students for success at the start of freshman year - it's honestly a spectacular program that I wish I had known about. They get access to their own curriculum and MBA level resources. Check out their 100% 2023 IB/PE placement: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/xsztejnberg_wsfm-wallstreetformcccombs-m…
Outside of WSFM: UT probably has the strongest pipeline to Energy IB in Houston if you're interested in oil/gas/renewables. We also have really good placement for NY, Georgetown/ND placement is probably higher, but most people just like to stay in the state.
Social Life: I would argue UT probably has the most relaxed and fun social life. We have great weather most of the year and are more laid back in partying. Your social scene is what you make of it, but there's people from all walks of life here to meet, so you'll find your group.
EDIT: I didn't see this before but if they're all the same cost I would rank Georgetown = ND > UT. Those are better target schools and while recruiting is still challenging, it would arguably be the path of less resistance.
ND FTW (maybe a little biased since I went there lol…). Feeling a little lazy right now, so feel free to ask any specific questions.
Everyone I know who wanted to get into banking did. Placed pretty well, too. I may be the exception since I’m a moron and didn’t realize I wanted to do banking until my junior spring and had to re-recruit senior fall… Won’t bore you with the details but long story short didn’t get offers from the places I wanted to end up at. If you go through proper channels at the proper time with the proper background (or as “proper” as you can have sophomore fall/spring), you’ll land on your feet somewhere solid.
Graduated from ND a couple years ago. If I recall correctly we have a pretty substantial representation in elite boutiques like PJT/Evercore. IB placement very strong at bulge brackets as well. I think for a while we were the most represented school at BAML. Everyone I know that wanted IB got an offer. NYC mainly, then Chicago. Plenty of people straight to PE as well. I wasn’t even in Mendoza and went straight to a HF. Alumni network unmatched.
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