Ranking LACs by placements.
There's not much information about LACs on WSO.
Ranking top LACs in the country based on pure placement to help those trying to decide on college choices.
Feel free to drop your own thoughts and please let me know if I've messed anything up!
Targets:
-Amherst
-Williams
-Middlebury(just slightly lesser so than A/W but still has an extremely strong reputation)
Semi-Targets:
-Bowdoin
-Pomona (Only west coast, weak representation in NY)
-CMC (Very good placement, but limited to the West Coast)
- Swarthmore
-Wesleyan
Big gap
Non-Targets but still recognizable:
-Hamilton
-Colgate
-Colby
-Bates
-Wellesley
Let me know if I should add any others or move anything down!
Pomona and CMC having limited representation is a function of self-selection not placement. 25% of each school comes from CA and another 25% from the PNW, hence why many people stay west. East Coast SA23 placement for CMC alone came out to: PJT RSSG, MOE NY, Citadel L/S, Audax, Ducera, and a couple more I'm forgetting. Not on level of top east coast LACs in pure quantity but it's highly possible to place well now (if you're good) and only increasingly so given the current trajectory
Don't forget Washington & Lee, sends 25+ kids into IB each year
Hi there, looking at LACs now and appreciate the insight. Do you have a source/data for this?
Linkedin + I go there ....
Bowdoin’s placement is ridiculous, mostly due to the more “fratty” and econ bro population and the tight knit polar bear alumni network.
Bump
How is Davidson?
I’m good friends with a group of Davidson alums. Feel like for the size of the school there is definitely good representation in banking, just not your typical NYC banking scene.
From being around them I got the sense Consulting was the path most went down - maybe because Davidson is more of a “holistic” student body than other schools, which is great for many people.
Could be completely wrong but this is my outsider perspective.
roll ephs
Hamilton has guaranteed seats at Goldman every year per David Solomon going there. They also have seats at DB as head of IB went there. Both conduct OCR there. Source: friend went there and got job at DB from it.
Damn I chose Bowdoin over Hamilton...
Sorry to hijack the thread, but can anyone shed light on just exactly how much better W/A place as compared to the other T10 LACs? I've been reading threads on LAC placement and everyone seems to say their school does well. So just curious how much the prestige factor actually matters for LAC kids
I think it's related to the topic so I'll take a stab - currently at one of the LACs (I'm sure you can guess which by my other comments). I'll touch on W/A at the end, but in my general experience LAC recruiting falls into one of three camps 1) recruiting with alumni 2) recruiting as a LAC student 3) recruiting normally:
1) At most of the BBs and many of the boutiques there will be at least one person from your school - your best bet from any of the LACs is to usually reach out to that person specifically as they tend to be very receptive to school alumni due to the small alumni base. Processes will then either be just for your school (say, interview 10 kids and take 4) or you get lumped in with everyone else but move past the general resume screens. Coming from W/A you historically have more alumni at these places-> leads to more people getting interviews-> leads to more placements-> the cycle repeats
2) Some of the firms have spots for NESCAC/LAC kids specifically - all of them get interviewed together and it's up to you to stand out. Again, W/A tend to have more of an established finance network so they can likely prep better for these, which is why I assume they "place better" all else equal. There are also just more kids from them interested in IB/PE/HF
3) At places where there are no alumni, LAC kids, usually with economics or STEM backgrounds, have at least in my experience been treated similarly to other top-qualified students. Again, at that point, it is up to you once you are past the resume screen
Williams and Amherst historically aligned themselves with many of the ivy league schools when it came to the student body and academics, and thus job opportunities. This isn't to say the other LACs haven't done something similar, but just that on the whole, W/A tended to do it more (for better or worse). I think that has led to some of the differences we see today. Schools like Middlebury and Bowdoin place great into IB/PE/HF, and probably have better per capita placements at some firms, but there are fewer students overall so you may not see as many in as many places. The West Coast schools, as previously mentioned, also do really well and have a very different student-life feel. Overall, if you are interested in a liberal arts education, go to whichever school has the people you like the most. You will enjoy yourself and you will place well.
Thanks so much for the insight! This was really comprehensive. You mentioned that some firms reserve seats for LAC kids - would you mind sharing which those are?. And also, I'm actually an international. How do you think that would factor into recruiting? Would that mean I fall into another camp altogether?
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