Lehigh or Pepperdine for IB? Tips for a freshman?
Hey guys, I am considering going into IB in the future and would like to start preparing in advance. I am currently a high school senior going to college this fall, but I am debating between two schools--Lehigh (economics) and Pepperdine University (business administration + 25k scholarship). I live only 2 hours away from Pepperdine and also offered with 25k scholarship a year, so I am a lot leaning toward Pepperdine, but I heard that it's a non-target and not really recognizable, and I heard that it's a school with mostly rich kids (not sure if that's a good thing or not). Since Pepperdine is in LA, I am most likely staying in California (nice weather!) but I would also like to explore New York (ideally and hopefully landing an IB job on wall street! ). On the other hand, Lehigh gives me a "work hard and play hard" kind of vibe, which is what I'm looking for in a school. I know Lehigh is not a target either, but I heard that it's got a good reputation in the business world. However, i think i am pretty much decided on going to Pepperdine, although I am interested in Lehigh more. Can someone convince me that Lehigh is not that good (like does it even worth the cost of 76k//year)? Any advices/tips for landing a high-paying IB job without going to Lehigh will be greatly appreciated!! (one last question, a bit off-topic, is graduating earlier gonna help with my career? maybe I can spend a year gaining work experience and doing other meaningful things, etc..)
Thank you!!
I go to Lehigh. If you come here you need to work very hard to break in. Sure there are lots of alumni across wall street but they also worked pretty hard in undergrad. I meet a lot of other students here with that "work hard play hard" attitude. They become sore senior year when they realize they should have studied a little more.
Lehigh has been bending over backwards the past couple of years to get more kids from CA. If you're not getting any scholarship being from CA you're getting an ass deal imo.
Bottom line is Lehigh can place really well and has a tight-knit network. You just need to put in the work. Your frat buddy can't automatically get you a job.
Thanks for sharing these things about Lehigh! I'm a lot more convinced now.
thanks a lot!!!
Only read the title cause you you wrote a lot, but Lehigh all day. I don't go to either, but I've never encountered a single Pepperdine alum in any of my networking (I'm sure they're out there), but I've talked with a few Lehigh people off chance and they were all chill. I think being in PA is prolly easier to get to NYC too.
Thanks for the reply! I see how lehigh has a geographic advantage, but I might also consider just staying in Cali and getting an IB job here (if those big companies in NYC are too hard to break in)
either way its an uphill battle, but personally I would prefer undertaking that battle in Malibu
I totally agree, thanks!
The only bank that gets a few Lehigh grads a year is Citi. It's a fine school, but not worth 76k. Will be honest I've never met an analyst from Pepperdine but met a few from Lehigh.
Thanks for the reply! that's true pepperdine doesn't really place so well (kinda bad tbh) but their scholarship is really appealing to me.
Not entirely true. Sure Citi gets the most, but BOA also gets a couple for ECM and DCM. Students will also place into other BB banks but maybe just 1 or 2 per bank. Definetly seeing more students go MM for IB too.
What I said also doesn't take into account those who go into research, or sales and trading.
Also something to note is Big 4 presence is huge at Lehigh and a lot of people will go into those valuation teams. These students often lateral over a couple years later in their career. Not counting those from other backgrounds that go back for MBA out of accounting or consulting and enter IB later.
I feel Lehigh is the epitome of the non traditional path in banking. It's great to talk with alumni and really see how people have made the most of their education even if it's not as standard as the kid who recruits from Wharton.
Can confirm - Lehigh has a huge % of people go into the Big 4 and from there, switch out into better consulting/ banking rolls.
No real insight to add but it's good to see Lehigh is slowly climbing into the conversation - IB was a non-starter back some years when I went there. Took me an MBA to make it to wall street, but I would definitely make time for a phone call if pinged by a hustling kid in Bethlehem.
Thanks for sharing! Yes Lehigh has great connections and places well, at least better than Pepperdine's, so I'm kinda debating between the two.
If you’re willing to spend that much go to a community college, kill it and transfer to USC. Worked for me.
I was actually thinking about it today, but I'm worried what if I didn't end up in schools lie USC or UCB. I might consider transferring to USC as a junior from Pepperdine.
you are going to have to work your ass off from either school, i'd say go to Pepp as if you are already from socal, you'll have a great experience in college
Thank you! I agree!
I'd be cautious choosing your school specifically based on getting the "high-paying" banking career. There are many high-paying careers, even just within finance, so I'd go into school with an open mind. I say this from somewhat of a hypocritical place, as I went into school wanting to do finance / wall street track.
Go to the school that you think will be right for you financially, will give you best experience / education, and consider the OVERALL network of the school not just the WS network.
To answer the question more specifically, much like other answers, I have never met an analyst from Pepperdine on the street on the east coast, but perhaps there is a West Coast network / presence.
Agree mostly with what people above say, but I will add that
Yes, Pepperdine does have a ton of rich kids
Yes, that can definitely help you down the road with jobs
Graduating early implies taking more credits than normal, which will impede on your networking / interview prep
Pepperdine directly to NYC banks will be tough but easier to sell a story to West Coast banks and then potentially try to move from there I would say is the cheaper and better option
I've never met a single Pepperdine kid in banking on the west coast, so it might seen similarly to a Cal State School - not a single student from there goes into IB...
Don't let the extra cost distract you from the fact that in 2012, Lehigh (15) defeated Duke (2) 75-70 in the first round of March Madness.
Probs Lehigh.
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