What is the best business school in Houston? I will be graduating undergrad in May and will be working in Houston after my company's training program concludes in New York. I will be doing Energy Corporate Banking and my company contributes to Grad School. I have interests of breaking into Energy PE, staying in Corporate Banking, or energy trading down the road. (trading may be a long shot) I would like to focus on energy. Would a MBA or Masters benefit me more? I love finance classes, so a masters may be better for me. I feel like University of Houston would be a good fit, especially for energy. Does anyone have any insight on the program? How tough are admissions at University of Houston, Rice, and UT?
3.55 Cumulative GPA 3.70 Core GPA Future employer is within the top 20 largest banks in the world Have not taken the GMAT yet
Thank you
Choosing between the two, go with the MBA.
If you want to go to a energy PE firm you may have a harder time recruiting, going through UH. It simply is not on the same level as the other two schools on getting top employers to recruit its students. This is especially the case for firms like EnCap and First Reserve.
Look at the employment reports for each school to give you a better idea on where students end up.
UH is an awful school. Big 4 doesn't even recruit from there... Rice and UT are strong. Energy PE is out of reach unless you've done energy M&A. energy trading at bp or shell can be done at either.
Communist simply not true.
@dstech1" UH has recruiting for energy trading (i.e. BP) but is probably weaker than Rice, UT, TAMU, etc. UH does have a strong Energy focused curriculum and I do know of a particular class at an undergrad level that helps students get into Citi for their commodity trading program (Energy Trading which is an MBA course but you can take it as an undergrad).
I don't know % or numbers who interviewed and were offered.
Thanks for the feedback.
Best Undergrad Colleges for Houston - Where is it best to go? (Originally Posted: 01/25/2010)
I know the Ivy league and Stern, ect. is target for NYC
but where is best to go if you want to work in houston?
Rice?UT McCombs maybe? Do you have a better chance for houston from say Rice or Georgetown? Rice or Stern?
Also, why do I see most people would rather work in NYC than Houston?
I have heard the pay is the same(and money goes further in Houston), so why, they dont want to live in houston?
Thanks
First and foremost: UT Austin.
Then Rice.
Then everyone else.
Probably because unless you are interested in working in energy the majority of finance jobs are in NYC
Okay awesome so Rice is good?
nst: That makes senses, can anyone confirm similar pay?
I have just been interviewing in Houston and everyone is from UT with a few Rice kids thrown in as well.
The pay is the same if you are working for a BB, but do not go to Houston because you want your money to go farther, go because you have a true interest in oil and gas.
southernmonkey,
Is the UT/Rice comparison because of size difference or less opportunities from Rice?
I am out-of-state so I am pretty sure it would be much cheaper for me to go to Rice.
Also, I would not do it if I wasn't interested, I was just curious.
I think another factor to consider besides school choice is, as always, networking. Although I go to a school that energy companies target I have found that people working in energy, even non-alumni, are generally really responsive if you reach out to them. The key is to start building these relationships early ideally in your freshman year. Also energy companies do not just recruit from UT Austin and Rice, they recruit from a whole range of schools in several states. Look at any major energy company and see which campuses they visit, maybe one is in your state and you might be able to save some money. That being said if you do decide to go to UT Austin/Rice you will have to do less networking to land interviews.
Awesome points!
Thanks everyone!
Texas A&M does well. Have to reach out on your own though in big schools!
In less than 1 year TCU has gotten kids into Barcap, BAML, Jefferies, Nomura, Deutsche and Credit Suisse with others from other banks as well. UT is clearly the best school for Houston but weve come a long way very fast
UT Austin Rice SMU
Then come:
Texas A&M
TCU
Is TCU good now because bankers want tickets?
SMU is not differentiated at all in Houston from TCU.
Top: UT Rice
Then you get random kids from: TCU SMU Baylor A&M
For undergrad, I'd say Rice then UT - the Rice brand has an ivy effect in Texas. MBA recruiting, probably McCombs then Jones.
HFFBALLfan123 is right. UT and Rice are top (Rice is technically more prestigious but UT has more networking and is strong too). The difference between TCU/SMU/Baylor is so small that work experience, GPA, interviewing, etc. will matter a lot more. A&M is somewhere in between the two.
Bp recruited for their super day out of UT, U of H, OU, and a few from Rice for their IST program. Majority were undergrad, but most OU were MBA for whatever that's worth
Best Undergrad Colleges for Houston - Perspectives (Originally Posted: 01/25/2010)
Yes, I also asked this in another part of the forum, but I want to know perspectives from IBD vs S&T also.I know the Ivy league and Stern, ect. is target for NYC
but where is best to go if you want to work in houston?
Rice?UT McCombs maybe? Do you have a better chance for houston from say Rice or Georgetown? Rice or Stern?
Also, why do I see most people would rather work in NYC than Houston?
I have heard the pay is the same(and money goes further in Houston), so why, they dont want to live in houston?
Well I agree that your money goes farther in Houston, you have to factor in how much people value the lifestyle and nightlife in NYC. Also its just the mecca of banking. I know guys in IBD and S&T who went to Texas A&M. If you go to a big school like that you have to be a hard worker and really reach out. The target schools get recruited more aggressively and can spend less time getting their name out there.
I think I'd have to rope Houston in with Dallas. If you read liars poker you learn that Equities in Dallas is slums. The truth is that if your from Texas and like it down there than you can live the good life. If your from New England than Texas sucks.
A huge percentage of the Analysts I met at different Houston offices are from UT
That being said, it's quite difficult to get an analyst position if you go there. I heard the business class is about 500 students, of which I'm assuming at least 2-300 apply.
qweretyq-
So would you say Rice is the best bet for Houston?
Not too familiar with Rice, but if I was sure I wanted to go into Energy Banking, and had a 3.8+ GPA, good SAT, and some financial (preferably IB) experience, I'd say you will get about 10 interviews with UT's on campus system.
When you metnion what college is "best bet" its all about getting to the interview, after that its up to you.
rice is not very business focused so you dont have a lot of kids looking to go banking.. they are looking at dell, google, yahoo, nasa as places to work. also i would put UT/A&M in one bucket then Ok St/OU, UH, Tulane, LSU in next then everyone else in another one.
and liars poker is almost 25 years old.. dont think much of that holds true anymore.
"rice is not very business focused so you dont have a lot of kids looking to go banking"
Are you saying that because it is detrimental to gettign a job? Or just saying that there ar eother options? Becaue I have heard Rice places well "for the few that seek banking." And thanks, A&M is worth considering also.
your talking what 5-10 kids that are in the economics program? get into rice first then worry about it.. its pretty tough for undergrad as opposed to texas or a&m
Nothing is easy or even "easier" about breaking into investment banking. Go to school, get awesome grades, network your ass off. UT or Rice is the least of your worries.
Sorry if I came off the wrong way.
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