Choosing Colleges-Rutgers, Penn State, UTD, UT CAP, SMU
Hey y'all,
I am currently a high school senior deciding which colleges to choose from to break into IB. So far I have heard back from Rutgers, Penn State, UTD, UT CAP, and SMU. I applied for finance, but I have only been accepted into a couple colleges for that major. My main issue is the price for each college because while I don't want to take out too much for student loans, I also don't want that to put me at a huge disadvantage with recruiting.
For Penn State, I have been waitlisted from the main campus, University Park. With UT, I was basically denied, but I have the opportunity to place into the CAP program, which allows me to go into their liberal arts programs, which includes Economics.
My main consideration now is UTD because I have a scholarship, and although it is a non-target it does have an investing-club type program which is offered Sophmore year. And with that, I have the option to transfer out after my second year for a target school like UT or one up north. Any thoughts on which college to choose?
SMU if money doesnt exist but since it does probably rutgers.
Why specifically Rutgers instead of PSU for example?
Would say Texas (if you would do 4/5/5 yrs) or PSU if you get on the main campus-want to have the best advantage building your network and getting involved from day 1. SMU will help a lot, but up to you if you want to pay the money.
What do you mean by 4/5/5 years? Are you talking about me taking an extra year because of transferring?
Yea, I would just use the classes to pad the GPA and then try to position myself as a freshman on campus so you can make IB-hopeful friends in the class and not deal with the accelerated recruiting. If you get a great internship as a soph, reconsider, but those are tough. Otherwise SMU looks great here because you can build your network immediately
Trying to break into IB in what geography? Agree with above mentioned comment that Rutgers would be a great choice.
Great program albeit "non-target+ it is heavily represented on the street. They have a program entitled "Road to Wall Street" that is awesome, plus place well in most BB's.
I've already mentioned my comments on PSU in many posts. Great feeder to BAML, Nittany Lion Fund is respected, etc..
Preferably NYC, but I am also fine with the South. Would you say that PSU places better than Rutgers due to its alumni or is Rutgers superior due to that "Road to Wallstreet" program?
I wouldn't say either out places each other.
With that being said, PSU is a main feeder into BAML. I also have friends that made it into Citi, GS, MS, and others from attending PSU, getting great grades and getting in the NLF ASAP. If you end up getting into the NLF class, you'll be pretty much coached on how to get a Wall Street internship/job.
Rutgers places into quite a few BB's and a lot of MM's. Their Road to Wall Street program is hands down one of their best experiences besides their Investment Club and Road to Wall Street pairs you up with alumni from the school so that allows you to tap into a network that you wouldn't have otherwise.
Just heard back from PSU and was accepted into University Park. Would that influence my decision into which college to choose from?
Yes - only go to PSU if you were admitted to UP. Congrats
Congrats, PSU is now the easy choice. Have fun!
How come? Is it more of a target than UT/ SMU?
It's either UT or SMU. UT is better if you have business honor, otherwise the Alternative Asset Program at SMU can top any other program that you mentioned above.
Unfortunately, I wasn't accepted into UT, but I was offered to go into the CAP Program which guarantees a spot into the Liberal Arts Progam including economics. I've heard Mccombs is pretty hard to transfer into, but it is possible. Let's assume the worst though and I don't make it. Is UT enough of a target so that Economics still lands me a FO internship or job? On the SMU bit, do you think it's worth paying 60-70k a year for the Alternative Asset Program compared to other schools that are 40-50k? Also, SMU has a transfer initiative that reduces the tuition by half if I transfer in with a 3.8 GPA, is that also an option?
I'm not sure if you can do this out of the CAP program (definitely can by applying normally out of UTSA), but you could go to one of the UT schools, get a 4.0 your freshman year, and transfer directly into McCombs (at least you could 10 years ago, not sure if the external transfer standards have changed). Looks like most Houston shops have pushed recruiting to the fall semester of your junior year, so it would give you a full school year to get your bearings straight.
Alternatively, go with SMU. I get that it's expensive, but if you're goal is to go IB>>PE, I wouldn't worry about the money (easier said than done, I know it is stressful). Had the same dilemma going to business school. Just understand there are few (if any, besides finance) opportunities in life that pay you a quarter million dollars a year by age 24/25. Many of my friends that went this route have been very happy and done extremely well for themselves (many MM/MF PE VPs, one was just named CFO of a private company, all before any of these guys hit 30). Much moreso than my other friends who pursued different routes to success (petroleum engineering>>Big Oil; T14 law school >> Big Law; unfocused early career>>MBA>>IB/MC)
I guess my point is to remember that you're playing the long game here.
The transfer program to Mccombs has definitely increased in difficulty. But it sounds like it would be viable to go to UTD for a year and transfer to Mccombs or SMU. Would you agree?
I would pick a better than average program like PSU or Rutgers, save money and get extremely involved. It's very difficult to transfer into a top program and then get into clubs and their IB programs. PSU and Rutgers have massive networks, utilize them and save money as opposed to blowing 200k on an smu undergrad degree and you might not even end up with a banking job.
I echo the above sentiments, however, one thing to consider is the OOS tuition at an institution such as Penn State.
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