UNC A&S vs IU Kelley - Need advice on transfer for IB/PE recruiting
Hey everyone, I'm in a tough spot and could really use some advice from people who know the finance recruiting landscape.
Current situation: Rising sophomore at IU Kelley, recently got accepted to UNC for transfer
Career goals: Investment banking (targeting NY BB/EB) → Private equity long-term
UNC Option:
- Major in Economics & Physics through A&S
- Apply to Kenan-Flagler in sophomore year
- Cost: $25k/year
- Main concern: Will I get beat out by KF business majors during IB recruiting if I'm coming from A&S?
IU Kelley Option:
- Stay in business school
- Need to get into Investment Banking Workshop next semester to recruit for IB
- Currently involved in several top clubs and a business fraternity at IU
- Cost: $45k/year
Key questions:
- Does UNC's overall prestige + lower cost outweigh the potential disadvantage of not being a direct admit to KF?
- How hard is it really to get into KF from A&S, and do A&S students get overlooked during IB recruiting?
- Is IU Kelley's direct business school access + established IB workshop worth the extra $20k/year?
- From a pure recruiting standpoint for NY BB/EB, which path gives me better odds?
Can answer your questions on Kelley, don't know much about KF/UNC other than that it has a solid reputation.
Lean on mentors in clubs / bus frat through the IBW process. It is very tough, but if you start working now / give it 100%, I've rarely seen failure. That doesn't mean everyone who cares enough gets in; that's not true, but friends in the seminar or even in nothing landed great roles in NY.
Seems like both options are a wildcard, you might get into the IBW, you might get into KF. I would say in terms of expected value, IBW probably has a slight edge over KF on the IB recruiting front, but is that edge worth 20k? IMO, I'd ask yourself if you're happy at IU, business frats are pretty tight knit, so if you've got a good group of friends and a shot at the IBW, that might be worth the 20k, if you cant say that confidently, I would save the money and move on.
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Went through recruiting at IU/workshops successfully and had the same transfer option as you. Not being in KF shouldn't really impact your recruiting - know of history/math/comp sci/econ majors from similar/worse schools who got top banks/buyside this cycle.
Would highly recommend transferring unless you absolutely love IU. It's not impossible to get top offers out of either school but you're dealing with less people at UNC gunning for the same roles compared to the swarm of workshop & non-workshop kids at IU.
No clue what the UNC finance club scene looks like, but I can guarantee that you'll have to jump through less hoops/needless bullshit to get institutional/alumni support compared to IU. That alone is worth transferring imo.
Trust me, KF is not all sunshine and roses when it comes to the meritocracy of their clubs. If you need any further explanation —> UNC is Paradise
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