SMU VS...

UT does really well.

Stephens hires extensively out of Arkansas

UT crushes it for a public school. All the BBs recruit heavily there for the Houston office and you could probably get to NYC if you wanted. The analysts that come out of there are equally as good as those from an Ivy or Ivy-equivalent. SMU does place into IB, but not nearly as strong as UT. A 3.7+ in Finance at UT will get you plenty of first-rounds.....

I'm not sure that I would get into the McCombs in the first place. Apparently it's a lot more competitive than just getting accepted to the University, but I'll definitely apply. I didn't realize it was that highly recognized. Any other suggestions? I don't care where the school is located, and as long as I could pull off two years for 60-90k, I'd be fine.

You can't beat UT and in-state tuition. I vote for that.

How about alternatives if I don't make it into McCombs? I know it doesn't have a reputation as having an Ivy League level of competition, but with the 10% rule in texas, it's pretty competitive to get in.

If you want to do IB or move to a fund in Texas, any Texan college seems to work e.g. Baylor/A&M. It's like they are their own separate country.

McCombs in itself is not enough to get placed into BB. I just graduated high school and met with the a high up within McCombs Finance Dep't about 6 months ago when I was going through the college process. He said UT does have a pipeline to places like Houston, but it requires more than a degree. You should apply to the Financial Analyst Program (pretty competitive entry) or try to transfer to BHP (extremely competitive). The kids out of UT landing BB are doing those two things. If you can't land entry into one of those programs, be able to network like crazy or have gone to Highland Park and use your parent's network.

If I go to UT, I'll certainly apply for both of those programs. Are there any schools that you think my grades could get me into, in my price range, that have a better chance of landing me a job on Wall Street?

I think McCombs is ranked better than SMU - please correct me if I'm wrong. If you get into Kellogg that would give you a better shot at IB. Most Texas IB groups are located in Houston, and given McCombs' ties to the energy industry (and probably more connections in Houston given that it's not Dallas centric), it would be more bang for your buck.

I just found out kellog doesn't give undergrad degrees, only certificates. I'm going to apply to McCombs and if I get it that's where I'll go. Having worked in Dallas, I did witness how many successful finance grads went to smu, but nationally I agree that McCombs probably places better (and it's a lot cheaper).

Thanks for all the suggestions