USC Marshall vs Fordham Gabelli vs UIUC Gies with James honors

Hey everyone. I've recently been admitted to USC Marshall, Fordham Gabelli and UIUC Gies as a James scholar for undergrad. As of now I've got no funding from Marshall ( total cost is roughly 70k). UIUC is coming up to 50K. I've received a 31k per year scholarship at Fordham which brings the total cost to around 50k.

I'm stuck and unable to decide between these three. USC Marshall has the best name and reputation out of these three and I've read about how helpful the Trojan family is. However, the high cost of 70k is drawing me away from it. My family can pay for the tuition without taking loans. But, I'd rather not have them pay an additional 20k unless there is a real big difference between USC and the other schools.

The location of Fordham is really appealing and their website says students do 2-3 internships which is another plus. However, comparatively Fordham does not seem to carry the same prestige and ranks a lot lower (I understand ranking isnt everything). Also, is Fordham overshadowed by Columbia and NYU? Overall is it a viable option for IB?

UIUC is not in a big city and has a weaker business school but it's been rapidly becoming stronger. Also, the honors program would give me a few additional perks. It also is quite a bit cheaper than USC. How strong is Gies for placements and internship opportunities? Would it be worth going over Fordham and USC

USC is by far the most prestigious. I've heard a lot about how good the internship opportunities and resources in SoCal are. Marshall also is consistently ranked high. Would the opportunities at USC exceed UIUC and Fordham to be worth the additional 20k? Especially if I'm aiming for IB and the BB.

Overall, is the higher cost of USC worth it in terms of OCR and intership opportunities /placements or am would I get similar opportunities at these other schools at a lower price.

Thanks for your time!

1 Comments
 

Nulla rem non accusamus. Repellat laborum ea eos qui velit. Fuga praesentium nobis aut alias similique ut consequuntur.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”