Rank these schools

I am deciding between four schools, although I don't know which I will be able to get into. Can you guys give me your opinion, and rank these school?

  1. NYU
  2. Columbia
  3. UNC-Chapel Hill
  4. Duke

Also, give me the pros and cons of each. How much lower of prestige is UNC and Duke from Columbia and NYU?

24 Comments
 

From what ive read on this site and other is that NYU and Columbia are the two best for IBD. Duke and UNC fall far behind, with UNC being the least prestigious of all of them with a 50% acceptance rate.

 

These are really different schools. If you are interested in RE, UNC is the spot - probably the best RE program in the country. However, it falls behind the others for banking for sure.

 
Best Response

Columbia is far and away the best of your four choices for any finance position, sell-side or buy-side. Then NYU. Then a big gap to Duke. Then a ginormous chasm to UNC. NYU is looked upon well on Wall Street, but to be perfectly honest (and I'm not trying to insult anyone here) but NYU is generally considered a backup school to CBS, so you have a larger hill to climb as an NYU student then a CBS student.

 
skins1 Columbia is far and away the best of your four choices for any finance position, sell-side or buy-side. Then NYU. Then a big gap to Duke. Then a ginormous chasm to UNC. NYU is looked upon well on Wall Street, but to be perfectly honest (and I'm not trying to insult anyone here) but NYU is generally considered a backup school to CBS, so you have a larger hill to climb as an NYU student then a CBS student.

This is somewhat accurate although I was shocked to meet so many Stern people who turned down CBS. I think 5 years ago Stern was definitely a backup to CBS, but not so much these days. Either way, both schools (and chicago) are backups to wharton.

 

This is somewhat accurate although I was shocked to meet so many Stern people who turned down CBS. I think 5 years ago Stern was definitely a backup to CBS, but not so much these days. Either way, both schools (and chicago) are backups to wharton. [/quote]

Chicago is NOT a back up to Wharton. I don't care what the Ivy purists say, Chicago MBA is a better finance school than Wharton MBA, hands down. Chicago has better profs, a more flexible system and the option to take more advanced coursework. The only advantage Wharton is proximity to the Street. When it comes to finance, it goes Chicago > Wharton > CBS > Everything else (unless you want to be one of those PE faggots, in which case you better go to HBS).

Oh, and if you're wondering, I didn't go to Chicago.

 

chicago is definitely a back up to wharton in the sense that it's much easier to get into chicago. as between the two schools, wharton probably wins the common admit battle by quite a bit and CBS probably even beats chicago in that regard.

 

Harvard/Wharton/Stanford > Columbia/Chicago

H/W/S still open more doors than Columbia, Chicago, and other top tier b-schools.

 

Modi quo sed omnis atque commodi quia. Optio debitis rem ea vero nisi provident sequi. Magnam occaecati omnis dolorem repudiandae sit accusamus ducimus. Qui provident exercitationem qui quo libero.

Odio quia eius rerum. Dignissimos officia ut quis consequatur et. Veniam perferendis sit et. Molestiae exercitationem est ea amet quod dolores deserunt velit.

Voluptatem dicta quae aperiam. Excepturi nihil reprehenderit dignissimos quia. Ex libero optio et possimus earum. Rerum doloribus molestiae commodi tenetur autem sed impedit.

 

Blanditiis et reiciendis aut corrupti id. Animi sunt nemo sint eaque deleniti maiores magni. Excepturi laboriosam incidunt sed enim. Quia eos rerum ut sed.

Odio numquam earum ut qui consequuntur placeat. Vel facere aut sed qui nemo necessitatibus. Rerum dolor corrupti similique aut aut voluptatem. Recusandae eligendi laborum in quo. Quia est quae aperiam sint ut. Perferendis dolor commodi totam repudiandae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”