Northeastern University or Colby College
Hi everyone,
I hope you have had a nice start to your week so far. I am a senior in high school and I have to make my final decision soon on which college to attend. I made a post about this before, but it was more open-ended so I didn't get a definitive answer.
My top 2 choices are Northeastern University and Colby College. I narrowed down to these because out of all my acceptances, they provide comparatively higher chances of breaking into high finance. I have a couple waitlists (Cornell, UVA) but these schools rarely take anyone off their waitlist and it isn't something to rely on. I also want to say I am not happy nor proud of myself for my situation. Feels like I've let a lot of people down.
Most of you probably are familiar with Northeastern University in Boston. It is famous for its Co-op program, where students can take semesters off school to work full-time for a firm. This is seen as very valuable and makes Northeastern punch really high for job placements (not necessarily high finance though).
I assume the vast majority of you have never heard of Colby College. It is a small liberal arts college in Maine, it is very selective (6% acceptance rate), and honestly that's all that stands out. It is part of NESCAC so it holds a strong network, but it definitely isn't as prominent in finance as some other liberal arts colleges (Williams, Amherst, Claremont McKenna, Pomona). I've checked on LinkedIn, and Colby has decent placement considering its size. It has 5-10 IB analysts each at most large firms, fewer in PE but still present. These numbers may seem low, but Colby (and other NESCACs) are very academic schools and aren't as career focused. There is no business major, or high finance classes. People like to get PHDs and go into academia.
Honestly, as of right now, I am leaning towards Colby. I am not saying I am content with Colby, though. If I attended, I plan to grind for a transfer ASAP. Colby places really well for transfers, talked to some students who know multiple Ivy transfers personally. Since it is a more academic school, it is looked upon better in the transfer process. If I attended NEU, I honestly wouldn't be able to pull off the transfer as well. For some dumb reason I opted-in for the NEU London program when I applied, so I have to spend my first year at the NEU London campus. It is an established campus with its own school, it just wouldn't have all the club opportunities and extracurriculars required to successfully transfer first-year. In addition, NEU is seen as a "scam" school for some reason so I'm worried that'd also negatively effect my results.
My plan is this: grind community college courses this summer and during the fall to build a larger transcript. This would allow me to skip a year of college as well (which I wouldn't do) but this makes transferring a lot easier. Attend Colby in the fall, join clubs get involved, work with what I have there, and then apply for transfers. The HYPSM transfer acceptance rates are super super low but honestly every other top school has considerably higher transfer rates as compared to their freshman acceptance rates. For example, Vanderbilt has a 18.9%, Cornell 13%, UChicago 8%, Northwestern 13%, Georgetown 13%, USC 25%, Notre Dame 28%, etc.
Please let me know what you think. Thank you so much for your time.
Your plan makes sense, I’d also pick Colby over Northeastern. I’ve seen a good amount of Colby kids transfer to better schools and get solid IB/buyside jobs. Colby is definitely not a target but the Nescac network is very strong and I’d say maybe 10-20 kids every year get into IB/buyside. I’d guess NE has similar numbers but much bigger student population relative to Colby.
Thank you so much for the insight. Yeah Colby definitely seems to do decent considering its size. NEU also does well but it is a HUGE school, has 10x the student population of Colby.
10-20 is a big underestimate… Just in my ”mid-tier” nescac alone we sent 11 to IB for 2026. Every kid and their mom got a first round for Evercore here. NESCAC is a huge evercore target (excluding ConColl and Trinity), and BofA + UBS has some connects too for NESCAC.
People really underestimate how strong the NESCAC network is, I leveraged connections at other NESCACs to get first rounds at EVR, BofA, MS IBD, MS GCM, UBS, and JEF
Woah, that's really amazing you guys got those Evercore interviews and all the others. It's great to here how strong the NESCAC connection is. Would you mind PMing me so I can learn more?
NESCAC alum here. I don't agree with your decision making process generally. College isn't a trade school and your interests in four years may be vastly different than where they are now. If you just work backwards from the career you think you want it's a recipe for ongoing anxiety, especially if you're walking onto campus in August with the intent to transfer.
The biggest thing to be mindful of for career stuff, placement, etc. is that aggregate statistics don't have any bearing on the individual. Plenty of kids from mid-tier schools will go onto great careers, while plenty of kids from Ivies will underachieve. As long as you are somewhere where you CAN achieve what you want (which is possible at either school), I wouldn't overthink the rest too much.
By the way, these are EXTREMELY different schools as far as type of experience you can expect to have. Pick the one you think you'd be happier at, and professional success is more likely to follow than if you force-fit / grind out at the place you think you're "supposed to" attend
Thank you so much for the insight, I definitely see what you are saying. And in most other cases I'd 100% use your methodology, choosing to go to school where I see myself best fit and enjoy. However, in this situation, it's more of a lesser-of-two-evils type of decision.
When applying to colleges, I never saw myself actually attending Northeastern. I applied for the sake of it. On top of that, the London campus situation just makes it really undesirable for me. I don't want to go there.
I see myself better-fit at Colby (by an extremely slight margin). Honestly, due to my waitlists and rejections, I'm sort've forcing myself to just work backwards from my career goals and grind it out for a year or two to get back on track. Everyone I knew (incuding myself) saw me ending up at somewhere like Stern or Dyson so I'd like to do whatever it takes to get back to those goals.
What’s the big picture here? Does money factor into any of this? Did you get into any other schools, big state schools with a large and proud alumni network?
Anyways, based on what you’ve said, I definitely wouldn’t pick Colby just based on their acceptance rates, because everyone recognizes that 6% is a joke.
Colby is a great school nonetheless, but considering its weaknesses that you’ve pointed out (no B-School, not career focused, low alumni #) you will definitely have to hustle for IB.
Multiple opportunities to get into IB/PE out of Northeastern via co-op and summer analyst. Join the right clubs (SVF, PEVC, etc.) and you'll be set to get an IB internship and potential return offer. Significantly higher percentage on the street than 10 years ago. The NU London factor is important to consider see if you can push for Boston campus. No one sees it as a scam school and most see employers see the value of the co-op process.
Having the same situation as you right now, I am leaning towards neu, co op program is unbeatable and really sets you up for the future. If you join the right clubs you will 100% break into IB at northeastern - talked w many experts about this. Everyone seems to enjoy London and it’s only for one year. I say go to neu…
Yeah that makes sense, I’m not fully counting out NEU yet. Are you choosing between a Liberal Arts College and NEU?
Ya between colby and neu
Honestly, both are solid options, but if Colby gives you a better shot at transferring and you feel more comfortable with that plan, go for it. Don’t be too hard on yourself either - getting into college is already a huge deal
Colby student here. It sounds like you've already made up your mind. If you're looking to transfer, I think Colby is the right choice. I've seen tons of kids transfer out to schools like Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke. That being said, it is not impossible to place into IB/PE at Colby. I've seen it done, and with the new Colby IB club, things would be easier going forward.
Thank you for the insight, it’s nice to hear from an actual Colby student. Yeah as of right now I think I’m 100% for Colby. I mean regardless of transferring, Colby legitimately is a good place for getting into IB or PE. I’ve spoken to some NESCAC students and learnt more about how strong the alumni network is, honestly Colby is looking to be a better option than other schools I had thought would be better. My only concern is the social aspect, I’ve heard it really sucks. How has your experience been with it?
The social scene does suck after a while, you're in a small town with nothing much to do. The parties that do happen are usually hosted by sports teams, and they aren't that fun. Being in a big city like Boston would be much better if you want to have fun at clubs and bars, though if you're more of an outdoors person, Maine is unbeatable, and there are a lot of social clubs at Colby that focus on outdoor activities.
I asked someone this question who is very familiar with IB recruiting and this is what they said -"You can set up a meeting, but Colby is really not up to the level of Northeastern in 2025. Granted a decade ago, Colby would've been better, but Northeastern would absolutely have better career options—Colby's location alone will hurt your career and networking options, and NE has climbed rankings/reputation tremendously and their Co-op is extremely valuable. However since your aiming to transfer after 1st year, I agree, Colby is the move. Staying all 4 years at Northeastern is not a bad idea though!
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