NYU Stern vs Cornell Undergrad
Senior in HS here, just finished college application season. Looking at the choice between NYU Stern and Cornell Arts & Sciences. Applied as an econ major (for Cornell), but I know I will eventually go into some kind of finance career. Cost (both of tuition and living in either place) is not an issue for me whatsoever, and if I were to attend Cornell I would likely try to internal transfer to Dyson for Applied Economics & Management after freshman year. Thoughts on career placement differences vs other key factors that might make the difference in my choice?
I would personally take Cornell, but that is because I value a more traditional college student life as opposed to living in NYC (for college at least). Cornell is probably always going to be considered the better school when looking at an application, but tons of kids break in from both.
I don’t think firms would consider a Dyson undergrad better than a Stern one.
Take Cornell.
Cornell
Stern
Cornell.
Cornell 10000000%. Usually Stern would have advantage by being in NYC but banks hate NYU now. They got absolutely cooked in recruiting this year, like really really really cooked
Definitely not true - personally know multiple kids in both Class of 2026 & 2027 going to each bank here: EVR, PJT, Gugg, Moelis, HL RX, GS, MS, & JPM.
Yeah, but think about how many people at Stern are actively trying to recruit. Those kids got offers because they're at the top 1% of Stern. The average Sternie is not doing well in recruiting this year due to immense internal competition and a bad job market. Keep all of this in mind vs. Cornell, which is a school with much less interest in high finance. The average person gunning for finance at Cornell does better than the average person gunning for finance at Stern. Its all a matter of perspective
Here's the reality of Stern IB recruiting: YOU NEED TO BE IN CLUBS, and by being in clubs it means that you need to be on the leadership team. If you are in you are set for EB/BB assume you do your work, and if you are not then good luck on finding an alum that can push you. This is why Stern gets notorious for IB, clubs essentially dominated the recruiting pipelines, and fun fact, different clubs have different recruiting strengths at different banks.
I am not saying you are screwed if you can't get club leaderships, but your chance will be slim for EB/BB and even some top MMs like WF/RBC/HL since some club kids who randomly missed their shots will swarm there.
Stern and don’t think twice
cornell for sure. put in the work/join clubs/network, and you will get into IB, regardless of major. plenty of non-dyson kids get IB every year. alumni actually respond and care, unlike NYU
Stern for sure
Cornell is the more logical choice. It’s the “better” overall school so if you ever decide you don’t want to do finance, you have more optionality at Cornell. I personally know multiple people who went from being bio majors to becoming software engineers. Cornell has so many random majors that the world is basically your oyster.
Your upside is slightly better because Cornell places about the same for IB and slightly better for buyside roles and your downside is significantly better if you’re open to doing anything else at all.
I actually haven’t met very many people who genuinely hated their Cornell experience. It comes more from external people. It’s rural but that promotes a better, more traditional college experience with everyone stuck on campus hanging out and drinking together. Weather sucks but it’s genuinely not that different from NYC. I personally think snow is way better than rain. Plus you’ll have the rest of your life to live in NYC but you won’t be able to have a traditional college experience ever again.
Both great schools though so you can’t really go wrong either way. Made this decision myself way back but know multiple people who have gone both ways.
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