Prestige vs. Substance
I am a Canadian student interested in finance jobs on Bay Street or Wall Street. I feel that their is a paradox of prestige vs substance I am facing in making future plans. But enough of me, the basic question is:
Wilfrid Laurier University - Bachelor of Business Administration - specialization in Finance (top 5 business school in Canada?)
University of Waterloo - Bachelor of Math - Mathematical Finance (number 1 math school in canada?)
VS.
HBA at Richard Ivey School of Business - with concentration in finance (as well if people arent aware it's a 2+2 program, so i would focus on financial math in first 2 years)
Which of those two options would be better looked upon in the finance community?
Ivey, without question. Use the search function. The HBA is easily the best Canadian undergrad program to get into both Bay Street and Wall Street (and no, I didnt go to Ivey).
Also whoever is telling you Wilfred Laurier is in the top 5 is high on crack. I work in banking and I interviewed at several banks, boutiques and BB in Canada and I never came across anyone from Wilfred Laurier. Who knows, maybe there are people from there on Bay Street but I've never met one.
Most of the people I met who work in banking or were in the process of interviewing were from Ivey. Closely second was Queens and then McGill. Saw a couple from UBC, UofC (obviously heavily present in Calgary) and UofT. Then a few from random places like Schulich and the University of Sask.
Substance can be faked, prestige cant.
Ivey is generally more prestigious when compared to WLU, even if it's with Waterloo.
Don't get me wrong - the double degree is great, and is regarded very well in Canada, but doesn't hold the same level of prestige that Ivey does.
That being said, I feel you would certainly learn a fair bit more at UW/WLU than at Ivey.
In the end, it's your choice.
What I did to choose which university I would attend was that I labelled heads and tails as my two schools (let's say A for heads and B for tails) to choose from, and then flipped a coin. When it landed on heads, corresponding to school A, I instantly felt disappointed at the outcome. That's how I knew I didn't want to attend that school.
Rerum occaecati consequatur distinctio nihil. Vero ut molestiae possimus est et officia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...