UT McCombs vs Middlebury College
I've gotten in these places so far and I'm waiting on more schools next week, but it's unlikely I'll get in anywhere better. Which is better for a future career in finance, especially in S&T, Hedge funds, and commodity/power trading? I have 0 interest in IB/PE. I'd also prefer to work in NYC or Chicago.
Personally I feel like I'll likely get the same job from either place, but I'm torn between what type of college experience I'll enjoy more. UT is a big fun school, and I have lots of friends going there, but Middlebury's surrounding area is gorgeous and I've always wanted to live in New England. They also seem to have a more intellectual environment where I'll actually enjoy learning (I'll be double majoring in math at both places). I’ll also be able to take more classes I’m interested in at Middlebury instead of useless business school classes
Please give me some advice on how to decide. I've also heard that finance recruiting can be more nepo/athletics driven at LACs. Is this true?
Middlebury
Any particular reason?
Middlebury finance club is strong and loyal, with great placements. definitely mostly IB but developing a strong S&T pipeline. Current junior class has something like 10 working in S&T across all of the BBs, including GS, MS, Barc, BofA, etc. A lot of athletics at Middlebury but the senior people in the club are typically not athletics, and people are always willing to help. With that said, doing commods/oil from Texas will be so much easier.
Middlebury if you want to go to NYC, Texas if you want to do commodities or work in Houston. Realistically you will be able to get a job in either if you are qualified and work hard regardless of the school you pick.
Would encourage you to focus much more on the actual college experience you are looking for as it will vary greatly between these two.
If you actually value education in the age of AI I’d try to go Midd and take as many discussion/tutorial based classes as possible. You can absolutely go to an LAC and have a subpar education if you are not careful and will end up with a smaller network than the state school. That being said Midd overall is just more elite.
We’re don’t really do tutorials like Williams, but discussions are amazing!
Current student at Midd: In recent years LACs have been doing worse in recruitment but money equal Midd is a lot better as a school and is still better for placements
Thanks for the advice! I’m definitely leaning towards Middlebury right now. Do you have any ideas why placement is declining at LACs, and will it continue to decline in the future?
More focus on technical applicants who’ve been doing DCFs since middle school. AI might reverse trend.
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Go UT bruh
No question UT.
have very good friends at both. McCombs finance is very sweaty to get into WSFM. Middlebury is not sweaty to recruit for finance. Very different lifestyles.
Look at McCombs WSFM, its crazy placement across Evercore, GS, Bain Cap, Blackstone ect. all in NYC. However, very tough and a gamble to get into that program
Middlebury has deep ties to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays, and less competitive process just due to how small the school is. Better placement to HF/PE/LO and other elite options right out of the gate.
Lifestyles could not be more different in rural vermont with a tiny class in a beautiful area, vs. absolute Austin madness.
Congrats on both, id go Middlebury. People in the northeast are still elitist aganst SEC schools, and NESCAC guys stick together
One thing is that Midd's Barclays placements are mostly through diversity programs. Not sure why, just something I've noticed anecdotally. Only non-DEI I know at Barclay's is in S&T. (Which I realize is what this forum is for, but still important to note as a highschooler).
don't listen to these idiots. mccombs now outdoes all the lacs and ivies as do most states schools with ridiculously goated pipelines. i'm still losing my mind at iu kelley. its why you see ivies whining on here. its like they lost the pipeline to state schools and they cant cope.
no matter how loyal the middlebury alums are. the sheer institutional power of mccombs now outdoes everything. its like the god of business schools.
but like you said middlebury is a lac and if you want your college expeirence to be an lac and not a big state school. go to middlebury. youll still get a decent job
you seem to like intellectual things so go to an lac. just dont expect trading. honestly you might change your mind in college too
If you want S&T, I'd definetly go for UT Austin. They are a target school at several banks on the block due to their large and loyal alumni network. While Middlebury is a respected name, you're hindered by the fact that it isn't a target school anywhere and you'll have significantly less touch points when networking for your junior summer. That being said, don't choose your college purely for breaking into finance. Once you're done with the cycle in spring of your sophomore year you'll still have 2 full years of college.
Thanks for the response. Would that still be the case if I’m solely targeting NYC roles? I don’t want to live in Texas or anywhere in the south
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