Oxford-Emory or UC Berkeley
I just got into both Oxford- Emory and UC Berkeley and was wondering which would be better for a future career in IB or finance in genreal. I ideally want to end up in NY/east coast for context.
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UC Berkley.You won't like spending 2 years in Oxford. Brutal campus with nothing to do nearby, and some kids have chip on shoulder they aren't at "big" Emory.
You have 2 amazing optiopns. For east coast both are high semi-target to low target IMO. Berkeley is probably more of a target but its a lot bigger and more cutthroat. I think Berkleey offers some great options in West Coast and tech, startup etc. However getting into Haas is challenging and its more dog eat dog. Berkeley does well with some elite groups. Emory is more straight forward not too much competition and pretty good recruitment especially from Elite boutiques. Most people who put in any kind of effort land amazing gigs. If you don't do super well then you can still land southern banks without much effort like Truist. However, Oxford is really hit or miss. Visit Oxford and see how you like it. A lot of people hate oxford but a lot love it too. Bottom line is you do a couple of internships, network a little bit, keep it 3.7+ you'll land some great banks from either.
TLDR- Berkeley offers an advantage for giving you a lot of avenues opportunity when it comes to tech to entrepreneurship and kills it with GS and a lot of other banks. This is at the expense of being fairly cutthroat. Not to mention its a west coast target and most of the big banks have a west coast office/branch
Emory offers an intimate environment with not too many roadblocks and obstacles and without too much competition along with having some very solid recruiting and pipeline. Oxford is something you have to figure out for yourself but Emory main campus is definitely a better option than oxford. Target in the south but the south doesn't have as much banking presence. Does well with Elite boutiques(Lazard, Centerview, PWP, HL)
Lol this is pretty incorrect in regards to Berkeley...
First off, you don't have to be in Haas you just need to get into one of the finance clubs (BFC, BIG, CIB, UFA) or one of the business frats (BAP, CBA, UBG) and you're going to be fine for recruiting. It's really not that hard unless you're a dumbass and socially inept. Also, New York placement has been really good the last couple of cycles – off the top of my head I think just last cycle there were 5x MS, 2x Barclays, 1x PJT RSSG, 1x Lazard, 1x GS, 2x Raine, 2x Gugg (I'm sure I'm missing a couple and I also know people who got offers from top NY shops who turned them down to do buyside). Also, this isn't even including stuff like S&T, RE, and MM HF which Berkeley has a very, very good track record of placing into (all NY too btw). All in all, if you want NY from Berkeley it is very feasible.
Unless you’re interested in tech or want to work on the west coast, Emory
I go to Emory (not Oxford) and I know of a handful of kids who've done well this recruiting cycle. The Oxford Emory SA24 placements I'm aware of via LinkedIn and connections: Blackstone Private Credit, restructuring in NY, and PE advisory in CHI. Last year there were a handful of great placements too (JPM NYC, GS). I'd estimate around 5-8 people place in IB every year (but there's like 500 per grade and there's probably only like 10ppl even interested in IB there lol). It's definitely possible, but will likely be a grind.
Social Life: have heard brutal anecdotes - Oxford is ~45-60min away from ATL and you have to sit on a shuttle for essentially 2hrs total every time you want to go out (which is what all Oxford kids do on weekends). There's Nothing to do at Oxford, but I've also heard it makes you really connected to your peers. I'd say 80%+ of people I've talked to have unironically really enjoyed it, but it's just not your typical college experience by any means. Additionally, you can graduate a semester early from the 2 year program and be on the Atlanta campus in the spring of sophomore year (which is when recruiting starts).
LMK and I can PM you if you have more questions, or drop them below. Not going to make a definitive statement on which you should go with, but happy to add more insight into the Emory (and sort of Oxford) experience.
Bro you put an anonymous comment without DMs... how can we PM you?
I go to Oxford Emory and will be going to an EB. Obv I'm biased but would say take Emory for sure. PM for any questions
What would you say about spring admits? Do you need to graduate early from oxford to land IB?
It helps
Hi I went to Oxford Emory and got an offer for BB IBD 24SA. I'd say spring admits for Goizueta was not difficult at all - almost every friend I know who wants to do business applied in spring and entered the business school a semester earlier. Definitely do that if you want to, and I'm pretty sure you will get in as long as you don't have a terrible GPA
I will say that Emory smokes it with EBs almost to a ridiculous degree
berkeley places incredibly well into banking, but probably more for sf and california locations. I know many of them this year (at least 15) have gotten into top boutiques and bulge brackets. not too sure about emory but berkeley has a ton of different clubs and business frats that have many alumni, and really take the steps to help you get referrals / first rounds / super days. for the person who said there's a lot of competition at berkeley and that it is cutthroat, im not so sure about that. everyone seems to be pretty connected and supportive of each other when recruiting ib.
Went to Emory and am in IB now. I loved Emory and had a great experience, but Oxford is different. You’ll be an hour from main campus so will be more difficult to recruit. There are plenty of stories of folks who were able to recruit and land jobs coming from Oxford but keep in mind it might be harder given recruiting timelines in Sophomore year.
You’ll graduate with an Emory degree, but your path to the bschool and recruiting might be “non traditional” relative to the people who start at main campus.
I can’t comment on your personal choice (east coast vs west coast) because that’s entirely up to you. Both are great schools you’ll be able to land IB from if you put in the work.
FWIW, I had a non traditional route and wasn’t in the bschool and still made it out just fine.
If you choose Oxford, definitely graduate a semester earlier and go to Goizueta in sophomore spring(which is when recruiting happens) so that you can have access to various information sessions/networking events. But one thing to consider is that during your one and half year at Oxford you won't have so many access to main campus clubs and events. Personally, I'd say it is fine for me given finance clubs at Emory don't have strong placement power(not like those at Stern). I'm not in any but still get a decent offer. But if you want to know more people or if you are a social animal that might be a concern. I think the best thing about Emory is the collaborative environment and less schoolwide competition. Class size at Goizueta is lean, and only a handful of people pursue banking so most of the time people help each other instead of competing.
That's just my personal experience and I wish my two cents would be helpful to you.
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