Yale Vs Michigan?
Hello,
I was admitted into Ross BBA and am planning on pursuing a dual-degree in CS. I was also admitted to Yale Econ and will also pursue a dual-degree in CS.
Ross #2 for Business (3-way tie)
Yale #1 Econ
Michigan #6/7 CS/CE
Yale is much lower for CS
I want to work in Wallstreet out of undergrad and am mainly focused on either investment banking (GS, JP, MS hopefully) or private equity (idk but I heard Blackstone was amazing). I know that in a recent Wallstreet report, Michigan Ross was ranked #3 after Stern and Wharton for interviews secured. Yale was ranked in the 30s.
I would also like to pursue an MBA (hopefully at Stanford) 2-4 years after undergrad if possible.
Finances are thankfully not an issue for me and I am an international student so both schools would cost the same basically.
Which school should I choose?
Yale
You'll be fine either way. For IB / PE, you're splitting hairs to decide between them because both will be able to get you a job on Wall Street (solid prestige from each and plenty of alumni).
Pick which school you like better, because they are going to be drastically different social and educational experiences.
Yale, congrats
Yale by a million. Michigan places well because it has 30,000 students so obviously there's going to be some that land interviews and jobs. Yale is a ton smaller and has way less kids interested in finance, so they might not be at the top of lists of schools with the most alumni on Wall Street, but it is one of the most respected schools in the country and no one can claim that they are equally prestigious.
Yale, and thats coming from someone at Ross
Yale, and this isn't even close. Sure, Michigan may have a higher ranked CS program, but that's indicative of its PhD program and the quality of research being put out there. That isn't relevant to you at all. Yale's undergrad CS program is more than good enough, especially since it sounds like you don't want to be a software engineer.
Yale will open up way more doors in terms of Wall Street recruiting, too. There are plenty of places that recruit there that won't recruit at Michigan (e.g. Crestview).
With all that said, I think you're missing the biggest point here. Yale's prestige is not for no reason. You will be constantly surrounded by some of the smartest 18-22 years olds on earth and get broad exposure to the liberal arts. College is about way more than just getting a job.
Go to Yale and don't look back.
You hit the nail on the head. Your experience is going to be DRASTICALLY different at these schools. Yes, the Yale name is better on a global scale. But if you want a great name (Ross) AND the quintessential "Big Ten/Sports/Parties experience, it is hard to beat Michigan. It just is. Michigan is the number 1 or 2 public university in the country, and unless you're the intellectual type who doesn't care really about sports, Michigan is most likely going to be a ton more fun than Yale. Plus, it's arguable that you have a better shot at getting into a top BB or EB from Ross because there's going to be more alums at those places who can potentially help you out. As someone said, there's not a great deal of Yale grads in finance, and that's not a good thing; the more alumni there are at a bank for you, the better.
I'm not saying pick Michigan over Yale, hands down. But again, if you're into sports and socializing, you want that rah-rah communal experience, you're gonna get that at Michigan AND you're going to be able to recruit at the top places in both of your chosen fields. I can't speak to CS (though you said Mich is top 10), but you're going to get a great crack at ALL the finance big boys at Ross -- GS/MS/JPM... all the EBs... one of the posters said you might not get directly into some of the top MFs coming from Ross, but quite frankly, it's very rare that anyone gets into a top MF straight out of undergrad (or if that's even desirable). Plus, if you really want a top MF eventually, you can get there by working at a top BB/EB, which you'll have a great shot at getting into coming from Ross.
End of the day, go with your gut. If you're not successful in life, it's not gonna be because you shunned Yale and, instead, "made the mistake" of going to the number 2 undergrad business school in the country.
Michigan has Yale beat ranking and overall experience wise, but people in finance are still obsessed with the Ivy League moniker. Strange in my opinion, but Yale.
In what universe does Michigan have Yale beat rankings wise?
OP literally just cited that Michigan's CS program is ranked higher. Yale being #1 in Econ is essentially a wash with Ross at #2. It's no question that the students at Yale will be more "intelligent" although some would argue that they aren't more intelligent so much as their parents are more connected. Michigan will provide a better overall student experience with athletics, social scene, and the general quality of life in Ann Arbor. Nevertheless, I still recommend Yale given it's prestige on Wall Street.
Relax, Brutus Buckeye.
Yale. No one in the real world cares about the CS rankings that you're citing. Michigan is a great school, but it isn't Yale.
Oh god. Don't be stupid and make your life harder. You'll be one in a million interested in finance at Ross. Take Yale 10/10 times.
I'm a Wharton grad. Your undergrad will stick with you for the rest of your life. You might not be in finance for the rest of your life, but I'd rather have Yale's network of politicians, consultants, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, etc than nearly any other school, including mine.
Yale student recruiting for SA2021
1) You aren't "admitted" into a major at Yale, you can change literally whenever to just about anything (besides the few majors that require a specific application. Based on how much of a hardo you already are, you're probably gonna try and double major in Econ+CS and Global Affairs or EP&E, I can already tell)
2) Yale has a joint major between Econ & CS that is one major instead of two. Same number of credits as any other major to get a degree in "Econ & CS"
3) Ross will have 10x the amount of kids as Yale pursuing IB easily -- you'll have to be the best from Ross to get a gig, whereas even meddling Yale students get IB gigs. At most 20% of a Yale class will apply to IB, with only ~10% actually taking it seriously and doing prep, whereas the other 10% throw in an application and say fuck it (some still get jobs this way, too). That just doesn't happen at places besides HYPSMW
4) Yale has a much better international student scene. Shit's lit out here, so many internationals - 11% of campus is "international" but in reality it's more like 20% because of the way international students are counted (citizenship, where they have homes, etc.)
5) there might be fewer alums at banks from Yale but they will always go to bat for us. Also, off the top of my head, Yale alums run M&A at two of the BBs, and they are the single most represented school at another one. There aren't buckets of Yalies across banks but there is an extreme overrepresentation at the MD & senior levels of Yale alum.
6) There are opportunities you will only get from going to one of HYPSMW. Certain niche boutiques only recruit at these.
7) If you ever at any point decide to do something besides banking, Yale is the more valuable degree
8) (underrated) if you go to Ross, you will have to be near perfect on your technicals/pure finance knowledge. From an LA background like Yale, we get leniency during interviews.
9) Yale is sending 4 kids to BX fulltime this year, three of whom I know personally. They come to campus and take the best kids to the most expensive restaurant in town every year to recruit them. Jon Gray's two kids both go here, Schwarzman went here, they recruit often. None of this year's four had connections -- one Phi Beta Kappa mech engineering, one a stats whiz, the other a national champion athlete/captain who did some pretty great stuff on the side, and one more I don't know well but wasn't a connection. I have an associate who turned down a BX summer offer for an elite EB this summer. At least 2-4 get summer offers every year.
10) You're drastically overvaluing the importance of "department" ranking. Nobody gives a damn that Stern or whatever is the #2 business program when you compare it to Harvard, for example. CS... Yale is making massive investments & hiring hella new profs, not my field but I know the head of the department pretty well and they're very serious about it. I have friends at Google, FB, Snap, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, etc all ranging from SWE to Product Management to strategy and so on. Also, department rankings are heavily skewed towards graduate research output... why would you care about what some PhD CS candidate was doing?
11) do you really think the top 30-40% of Ross is comparable to Yale? This isn't me trying to be elitist but... for 99% of Americans who haven't bled big blue since birth, they'd go to Yale. I know countless kids from Michigan/who got into UMich here. Yes there are definitely plenty of non-Ivy kids that are just as smart/talented as those at Ivies, but the ones at Ivies usually got in for a reason -- they're as smart/talented and generally have a few other qualities about them that make them stand out. They're rich as balls (billions), world champions at something obscure like bridge or polo, world class musicians, elite athletes (Ivies actually win a lot of national championships at the highest college level in the USA... Yale's lacrosse, crew, sailing teams are as good if not better than any other in the country, for example), SOMETHING that differentiates them
12) Michigan will obviously provide a more "fun" experience, but Yale honestly is a good and fun time (in non-Corona circumstances), as long as you're not some weird finance hardo like most of the people on this website are
13) Agree that GPA essentially doesn't matter at Yale... I know an international CS major with a 2.4 GPA who is working at one of Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft as a SWE intern this summer lmao
14) Yale students will actually get PE or HF gigs straight out of undegrad as well as the traditional IB kids. Yes, already mentioned BX, but there's LOTS of quant+non-quant hedge funds and prop trading shops that take students, from D.E. Shaw to Jump Trading to Citadel to RenTech to Bridgewater to P72 etc etc etc -- know CS, Econ, History, Math, English, African American Studies majors at those. Also kids will go straight to PE like Advent
you've gotta be fucking retarded to take michigan over yale, and I'm a fake dave portnoy account
I’ve read through literally every comment on here, and OP, don’t take this the wrong way, but it seems that you are very set on Michigan and are pushing back against almost everyone saying to pick Yale - this is a mistake on your end. The stats you quote about CS programs and whatnot are all irrelevant - no one except for high school seniors look at those statistics, and ironically, people will just assume that whatever you studied at Yale was already a tough program, especially in comparison to Michigan (even if it’s easier / worse).
Especially with how you said money isn’t a factor in this decision, it is just such an easy decision to choose Yale. for better or for worse (likely the latter), people will almost always assume you’re smarter than your peers going to tier 2 and tier 3 schools. do not fuck up this crazy lucky opportunity (that is, getting off the waitlist this late in the game for one of the best schools globally)
No one is saying that Michigan is bad. Michigan is great. What everyone is actually saying - and you will never seen a more unanimously agreed upon opinion in another WSO thread- is that Yale is incredible. If you’re still hellbent on Michigan, please just give up your waitlist spot to someone else who actually possesses critical thinking skills.
LMAO it's so painfully obvious that you got rejected from Yale and that your only goal in creating this thread was to make yourself feel better about going to Michigan. I have never seen a Yale acceptee--or any HYP student, for that matter--be so insufferably clueless and obtuse on an issue that even the nontargets in this thread have zero trouble understanding.