I noticed that there are a number of incredibly selective institutions that never really get mentioned (on this forum, other college forums, or the mainstream). What's the deal with these schools? I feel as though it's an interesting phenomenon that some less selective institutions are looked upon more favorably as some of these.
Alice Lloyd College - 7% acceptance rate
Bowdoin - 9%
Ponoma - 9%
Colby College - 10%
Bates College - 14%
Wiley College - 15%
Texas Wesleyan - 19% (same as Notre Dame)
There are others as well. What's the deal with these guys?
Why is it that these college are so selective, yet so unheard of by many? Do they each specialize in something esoteric with regards to post-grad opportunities? (e.g. Curtis Institute of Music - 4%. Also worth noting that despite being more selective than Julliard, Julliard is the one that gets all the notoriety)
It seems that despite the selectivity and rigor it would take to get into one of these schools, many go unrecognized by hiring managers.
I find this fascinating.
source: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/low…
I might also guess that the resources required to get into selective schools that don't put a focus on developing careers that maximize personal profit could be indicative of the socio-economic makeup of these student bodies as one heavily skewed towards the already wealthy.
In most cases I’d guess it has a lot to do with the fact that few students from some selective schools are interested in finance, so they don’t have many resources to develop their candidacy. I come from a school with a ~10% acceptance rate and there just aren’t many finance resources on campus and the network is non-existent
Very interesting, what do these students seek to pursue? Does the University tend to foster those other paths? Do they typically feed into academia?
Yes in my case, definitely feeds into academia and lots of other fields, namely premed, engineering, compsci, etc. There just isn’t much of a finance presence or interest since that’s just not what liberal arts kids are usually interested in
You basically answered your own question: these schools skew towards the wealthy. Don't get me wrong, there are many brilliant students from wealthy backgrounds, but a lot of the times these schools aren't focused on finance as much, only students who are very wealthy have connections to be able to get a reputable job on the street, and it isn't very meritocratic based.
As a graduate of one of these schools, I disagree. While it is true that these schools skew wealthy, my parents are immigrants with 0 useful connections in this country and I was able to land a buyside gig. Some of these small schools come with great networks that can help even non-wealthy students advance their careers. In a way, it can help bridge the gap that family connections afford wealthy students.
Lower acceptance rate doesn’t mean more selective. There are countless schools that game the system for lower acceptance rates. This includes keeping class sizes small, encouraging everyone and their mom to apply, and/or engaging in yield protection (rejecting people because they’re too good and won’t attend your school).
Selectivity also doesn’t determine quality (or prestige). If NYU cut its class size in half, it wouldn’t magically become as good of a school as Harvard, even though their acceptance rates would be similar.
All fair points. But I'd argue that there do exist many selective schools with a strong student body that don't have much representation in finance and aren't recruited from at all given that there just isn't much interest. Look at a place like John's Hopkins for example. Reputable school, high quality student body, but pretty much a total non-target for finance
Also because Johns Hopkins doesn't have a undergraduate business school... Closest they get to Business/finance is having it as a minor. Carey Business School only has grad programs.
*Just responding in regards to Johns Hopkins and not the rest of your argument.
*Johns Hopkins, isn’t a complete non-target it’s a low to mid semi-target. Their prestige in academics isn’t comparable to the schools OP listed (Hopkins is way higher), and I knew many who wanted to do economics who chose Hopkins over any LAC.
Pomona grad here. School is not very well represented in finance because finance is kind of a taboo to students here (liberal arts college on the West Coast — you get the idea). Very strong placement into consulting (MBB) and academia. Also as you mention, VERY wealthy student body making it less desirable to “get a job”. Of my 2 closest friends in college, one is doing a PhD at Stanford (smartest guy I’ve ever known, turned down offers from FAANG and Citadel), and the other just kinda decided to become an art curator in Hong Kong.
Thanks for the input. Hilarious to me that they seem to demonize finance yet so readily hop into consulting
If he's a fine arts curator in HK, he's probably making more than you.
Curtis Institute/Julliard appear to be arts/music focused, so they will place well in that field specifically.
Allice Lloyd appears to be a Christian school in the rural south, so almost nobody there would even consider working on Wall Street, even if they had the chance.
The rest of the ones below that appear to be private LACs which typically do not have that many students interested in finance has others have pointed out.
Bowdoin grad here... we are considered a fairly "prestigious" school along with the rest of the NESCAC (a group that includes Colby & Bates on your list; Pomona is not a member but is considered a peer) but it shouldn't be too surprising most laypeople haven't heard of tiny liberal arts colleges with less than 2000 students total lol
Within academia and prestige-focused industries like high finance, I would say the elite LACs have a strong reputation (enough that during interviews I get positive comments) but yes there is not a lot of focus on career development at these schools, and much of the student body does indeed come from wealth. There is no real specialization in curriculum, but as their name indicates, LACs aim to deliver a "purer" undergraduate liberal arts education. A friend who went to a larger university once joked it is basically "small-batch fair trade higher ed" which does seem kinda accurate tbh...
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