UC Berkeley Vs UMich Vs Tufts
I'm trying to choose one of these three schools for undergraduate education, I hope to get into venture capital or Investment Banking in the future. I know tufts does not have an undergrad business program, so I'd probably double major in IR and Economics and get a minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership.
I got a 10k Scholarship to Michigan, Tufts and Berkeley are both 55k.
My admission to Ross at Mich and Haas at Berkeley are both not guaranteed and I'd need to apply into them after my freshman and sophmore years respectively.
Michigan
if you got a scholarship to michigan then it definitely makes sense to go there. either berkeley or michigan would give you the chance to get into banking but i have not seen many people go straight into VC from berkeley.
Michigan Ross. By far.
Ross.
I am a current student at Michigan. I would say if you like a big school then you should focus on Michigan and Berkeley and pick whichever one you feel most comfortable with. Berkeley definitely has some positives (great weather), but I would never give up my experiences thus far at Michigan for anything. I am headed to watch the Final Four this weekend in Atlanta. Probably not something that you would experience at Berkeley and definitely not at Tufts.
With regards to banking, you should consider where you would be most interested in working full-time. If you are dead set on being in California after college and doing banking in SF or LA, you should probably go to Berkeley. Most of the banking jobs that you recruit for at Michigan would be for in Chicago and New York with a very small number in LA and SF. It would not be impossible from Michigan, just probably not as easy as from Berkeley.
Don't worry too much about getting into Ross. Even if you do not get in after freshman year, you can still break into banking. That's what happened to me. It takes a little extra work, but it is definitely possible. But you definitely would want to try to get into Ross.
I'd say to a large degree it depends on where you want to work in the future. If it's on the east coast, then Michigan makes sense. But if you want to be on the west coast or you're interested in the tech scene, Berkeley has a very strong advantage here.
And to what ibizzle said, there's very few people who go straight into VC from any school. But I definitely know several people who have done it from Berkeley, one of the advantages of working so close to Silicon Valley.
Thanks for the feedback! From what it It seems like tufts is basically out of the question... does it matter at all that Jamie Dimon is a tufts alum?
bump 10char
no it doesn't matter at all that jamie dimon went to tufts. it depends where you want to end up after college, but if you are indifferent then go to berkeley for vc/ib. both umich and cal send the same amount of kids to ib, but cal sends more kids to top ib groups, buyside (pe/vc), consulting and tech corp fin.
Yeah, but I bet going to Michigan is a lot more fun. Berkeley is full of grinds.
I probably want to do IB if possible, but eventually get into VC. So tufts should be out of the equation? How hard is it to get into ross as a sophomore? Does haas get recruited from east coast banks?
I also got into UCLA, Villanova, and Rutgers too. I'm not sure if any of those are worth considering.
If VC is on the post-banking agenda, then you should go to Berkeley (even non-Haas can get you there). This site has a really strong east-coast tilt, so they immediately say Michigan because it has such a larger presence than Berkeley in New York. HOWEVER, if you want to do VC (or Growth Equity), you need Tech banking experience and in this space, I've never even met a Michigan alum. Easily ~30-40% of all junior bankers in SF, where the Tech groups are, went to Berkeley (Yes, Boston has a smaller Tech banking scene too, but Michigan doesn't really have a presence there either). Michigan is an excellent school, but for your stated objectives it isn't the right choice.
Hmm, the problem I see with berkeley is that haas is exponentially harder than ross to get into. So by going to berkeley I'm risking more to get the same reward (A b school education ranked #3 in the country). Other than VC, does Berkeley have any benefits that michigan does not?
Also, how much does it matter that berkeley seems to have more prestige/name recognition outside of banking than mich does?
bump 10char
I was choosing between Berkeley and Michigan and I chose Berkeley. Honestly doesn't make much of a difference. They are both great schools. Personally I think Berkeley is just better for me. If you get rejected from Haas, then you just go for Econ, which is also ranked within top 10.
Hmm thats a good point, but I've heard that there is a stigma around econ majors at berkeley that they are "Haas rejects"?
Any new opinions?
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