Accepted, but where should I go?

Alright guys.

I'm a junior level transfer who's trying to break into banking. So far, I have been accepted to the following schools:

Georgetown University (College, not MSB)
Middlebury College
UNC-CH (College, but could/would transfer to Kenan-Flagler after one semester)
UVA (College, not McIntire)
Vanderbilt University

Pending:

Northwestern University
Notre Dame (College, not Mendoza)

I am an economics major.

As of right now, I'm leaning towards going to Middlebury. It seems like the best fit for me socially and academically. I have read that it places fairly well for its size, but I am still a bit concerned because it is a small liberal arts college. Can anyone chime in on this?

Also, if I get accepted to Northwestern, would it be stupid to go to Middlebury if I know I want a career in banking? I don't think so, but I'd like to hear some outside opinions.

Final question - if you had to choose one of these schools, which one would it be and why would you choose it?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to receiving some feedback.

 

I would go for Georgetown, UVA, or Vandy...I feel they have more alumni rep than Middlebury (just my opinion)....but Middlebury isnt bad at all. If I had to choose go with Georgetown, my former boss who ran a boutique hedge fund did his undergrad there he had good things to say about the school. Pretty solid recruiting as a semi target to target school. UVA would be my second choice....It has great alumni rep as well. I wouldn't consider Northwestern as you have a good set of school to choose from why worry about the hassle?

Success is my only option and failure is not
 

Thanks for your input.

Georgetown is my second choice, but I just can't shake Middlebury. I know I want to go into banking, so is this a stupid decision?

Does anyone have any experience with the recruiting at Middlebury?

 

I wouldn't say it is a stupid decision to go to Middlebury...just be prepared to network hard. I just feel larger schools will give you an easier time with recruiting. While I do not know about Middlebury in terms of recruitment...I would surmise that you have to network just as hard if not harder than larger schools. The way I see it is that larger schools more connections ( better for you when searching names to network in Linkedin), which means more opportunities. However, I am a firm believer anything is possible. Whatever your decision is get yourself shown. A school's name can only carry so much weight you must do the heavy lifting.

Success is my only option and failure is not
 

NESCACs get a very good amount of recruiting especially considering how small they are but, of course, you still have to go to class. Objectively, you really can't go wrong with Midd as it will provide an excellent academic experience as well as a loyal alumni network. Though I'm curious why you added one LAC to your list of large universities. Do you have a connection? It's a little different from a big state school (UVA/NC). Lots of prep school kids (and notably prep school wannabes) and outdoorsy types. No big sports or a city to explore. Some people thrive at NESCACs and some people hate it because of the culture and location. Give it a lot of thought because it's really not for everyone.

And congrats on all your offers.

 

^That's really good to hear.

And no, no connection. I actually applied to two lac's, but I was rejected at Claremont McKenna. I applied to a breadth of different schools because my application was a wildcard. I had a high sat, but a low gpa. I figured some of the smaller schools might be more forgiving about my gpa.

I'm no prep school kid, but I think I would really like Midd. Private ski slope, good food, one of the nicest campuses I've ever seen, etc.. It's almost like a country club lol.

Thanks for the input everyone. It really does help.

 

Cannot go wrong with midd....will have no problem getting into IB if you do the same work there you do at any of the other schools you listed. It all just comes down to what you want to experience socially....UVA, Midd, UVA are all pretty different in that aspect.

 

^ That's what I'm worried about. I'm certainly going to network regardless of which school I go to, but it would definitely be nice to have some on campus recruitment. I've looked through some BB SA lists, and Middlebury always seems to be represented at least once. Given its small class size, it seems like it wouldn't be too hard to land a position.

But then again, Georgetown and Northwestern are usually represented in greater numbers.

Elmo, why do you say Middlebury hands down? Can you elaborate?

 
Best Response

Midd gets solid recruiting for a LAC, probably 3rd behind Williams and Amherst. When you say you prefer it, have you visited in the winter? It isn't as isolated as Williams, but it is still pretty far out of the way.

I would really recommend Vandy of the choices you listed. I think it is a great college experience, good weather, good recruiting...I will just say that nobody will ever ask you, "Why did you go to Vanderbilt?"

UNC is a contender. Are you guaranteed admission to Kenan-Flagler after a semester? If so, I would decide between UNC and Vandy based on cost. UVA could fit in as well, but I think UNC-KF and Vanderbilt would have better OCR, just because you would not be competing with McIntire.

Georgetown is good, but you have competition for OCR from the business school and the School of Foreign Service. And, despite what the "target school thread" said, I haven't personally seen many Georgetown people around at all...

 

Okay, thanks guys. I am planning on visiting my top three schools back to back just to make sure I end up where I want to be. Top three currently are:

1) Middlebury 2) Georgetown 2) UVA (will be replaced by Northwestern if I get in)

The college experience is very important to me, and I feel like I'd be happiest at Middlebury. However, if the difference in recruitment is large, I would certainly be willing to forgo the offer and attend Georgetown/UVA/Northwestern. Can anyone provide any objective or anecdotal data on Middlebury's OCR?

Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks West Coast. Yes, I've visited in the winter and actually really liked it. The snow could get old, but I think I'd be just fine with it. Good to hear it gets solid recruiting.

No, I would not be guaranteed to Kenan-Flagler. If I went to UNC, I would just make sure to 4.0 my first semester so I could transfer in. I do not think I'd have any trouble getting in.

Vanderbilt is definitely a contender. I haven't really thought about it much honestly. I should probably visit.

I would SB ya, but I'm out. Thanks for the advice.

 
calisurf:
West coast rainmaker... I'm gonna take a leap of faith and say its because you are on the west coast. Georgetown is highly represented in NYC. For pure wall street recruiting purposes OP, Georgetown is hands down the best with BB placement compared to the other schools. It's seems to be skipped over on this forum, but my good friend who just graduated from Gtown and is sitting next to me is going to a BB from gtown. There are something like 10 kids at CS, 6-7 at BAML, 3 at DB, 3 at GS, 4 or so at MS, 4 or so at barclays... 3 at citi etc. etc not including the PWP has a few, lazard probably 1 or 2, miller buckfire and a bunch of other boutiques recruit there according to him.

Unfortunately not on the West Coast. Grew up there, tried to find work there, but no luck...Good to know about GTown though. I had no idea they sent such a huge number to CS and BAML.

But still, how many are from the college? E.G. Berkeley sends a good number of kids into IB, but 9/10 are either from the college of engineering or Haas. I have met a few georgetown alums, and I think the breakdown was 1 Econ, 2 Business, and 1 SFS (of the people I remember). My sample size is too low to draw any meaningful conclusions.

I can comment on NU though. It is a great school and has good recruiting. They also have that finance certificate program so you can stand out within the Econ major. You are king (along with UChicago) for Chicago recruiting. But, there is a decent chance you will be working in a Chicago office (which isn't a bad thing, imo). I guess it depends upon how you feel about that region.

And yes, visit Vandy. I have only been to their campus twice, but it is awesome.

Finally, consider cost. If it is 50k/year for GTown versus 15k at UNC, I would lean towards the cheaper school.

 

I'm trying to keep the "go where you wanna go" attitude, but I'm also trying to determine whether the additional OCR at Georgetown/Northwestern would be worth forgoing my offer from Middlebury.

Honestly, I'd be very happy at any of these schools; that's why I applied to them. I'm just trying to figure out how much I'd be giving up in terms of OCR if I chose Middlebury.

 

UNC would give you the best ROI, but if you actually want to go to Middlebury over a school like UNC or UVA then you probably wouldn't enjoy the social aspect enough to make it worth it. You can have way more fun at UNC while still getting a banking job than at any other school, that's the factor I personally would care most about, but if you like the liberal arts / slightly nerdy vibe then Middlebury would be a good option. It's just really freaking expensive to go to Middlebury or G-town. Where are you from? Even with out of state tuition, UNC is half as expensive as Middlebury or G-town.

 

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