College List for IB
Hello all, I am a rising senior in high school who is interested in IB/other lucrative finance careers. My current list of colleges is as follows, ranked by my interest in attending.
College List
University of Michigan - Ross (Out of State)
University of Pennsylvania - College of Arts and Sciences - Econ
University of Virginia - College of Arts and Sciences - Econ - and hopefully McIntire (Out of State)
New York University - Stern
Georgetown University - McDonough
University of Notre Dame - Mendoza
Boston College - Carroll
Indiana University - Kelley (Out of State)
University of Illinois - Geis ( Out of State)
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Stats
- 1560 SAT - 790 Math, 770 EBRW
- ~4.0 UW GPA(A+ is a 4.3 at my school)
- ~4.45 W GPA(A+ is a 4.3 at my school)
- ~20 Honors classes by the time I graduate
- Accelerated Precaclulus(AP Level), AP Calculus BC, and AP Microeconomics by the time I graduate
- Varsity Baseball and Hockey
- Strong Volunteering EC's
- White male
- Not applying for financial aid
I was wondering if anybody had any advice on schools that I could add to my list that would make it easy to land a banking job.
Also, does anybody know about UVA banking opportunities if you don't get into McIntire? I was thinking about applying to UVA early decision but I know that McIntire is pretty selective. Thanks for the help
You have solid stats but college admissions are kind of random so you should add more elite schools like all the ivies, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, etc.. Your stats are good enough so it will come down to your essays and chance. I wouldn't focus too much on the whole target non-target thing at the top level any elite school will be solid for IB.
I would replace a few on your list with Cornell and Duke which are major targets for IB
Unless money is a factor I don’t think there is any reason to replace but rather add. I agree with those schools too tho.
Assume you're in state for UMass. If not, don't apply. Don't see any point in applying to UIUC if you're out of state.
In addition to some of the names listed above, I'd look at UChicago, Emory, and UNC. Could look into some LACs (Williams and Amherst in particular as well as Middlebury and Bowdoin to a lesser extent, and maybe even Colgate).
Nobody from my high school has ever gotten into UNC or Uchicago. Many of the applicants have had higher stats than me. Is it still worth applying?
Yes! Apply! I got into Duke and Wharton when I applied for college and no one from my school had gotten in in the last 20 years (though I didn't end up going bc i got no money for fin aid). Never hurts to try!
I'd say it's still worth a shot. I got accepted to three Ivy plus schools (including two that I'm not sure if anyone from my HS has ever gotten into). Little downside. Honestly wish I had applied to a few more top schools. Know someone who applied to all of the Ivies, Stanford, UChicago, and Duke and only got into one...but it was Yale (rejected by all of the other Ivies and UChicago, waitlisted at Stanford / Duke). It's a bit of a numbers game.
The top LACs with more bro-y culture has very good placement on the street due to alumni support. I've seen a lot of Bowdoin, Williams, and Claremont grads in IB and AM.
I agree with some comments above. Add more top Ivy+ schools to your list. It looks like you have the stats, so you want to play the numbers game.
You want to add Stanford Princeton Harvard NYU Baruch Vanderbilt
Second everything already said. You have good qualifications and I'm sure you'll do well regardless of where you end up! Stay on your grind and have some fun along the way.
A few more additional considerations: Have you had any business-related experiences yet? Your stats are good but your essays will be key. Try to communicate what you have learned via volunteering/sports that will be transferrable to your desired career or college experience. Also, you may be a little light in AP courses - I only see 3 listed above. How strong are your LORs? At the end of the day, you need to distinguish your application for other strong students while also showing the AOs that you have a history of success. Lastly, apply early-decision if money is not a determining factor to where you will attend. Best of luck!
I haven’t had any business-related internships but I am involved in two business/finance related clubs at my school. I have also participated in two “virtual experiences” at J.P. Morgan. I would agree that I am light in APs but I’ve had an upward academic trend throughout my high school career, taking more challenging classes as time goes on. Also, my school doesn’t even offer APs for freshmen and only offers 1 for sophomores. My LORs should be solid. One is a teacher that I had for two years who can talk about my move from honors algebra to accelerated precalc to BC calculus.
Early-decision is definitely on the table, I am just still thinking about where I should use it. I could use it at UPenn but I think that I still wouldn’t have a good chance. Also, early decision would force me to apply to Notre Dame and Georgetown regular decision(they have restrictive early action programs). That could lower my chances at those schools.
Do you have any recommendations for early-decision?
Thanks for the help
Apply to Cornell ED
You don’t have to do AEM
Any major you are fit will do for IB from Cornell
First, Google “UPenn Common Data Set.” Insert/enter the name of each school you are considering before the Common Data Set phrase. This will provide you with the stats of the incoming class at each school you considering and help you make a decision on which school you will be most competitive at before applying. No guarantees of course especially since last year was not representative given the impact of COVID on the admissions process. I would also use the WSO IB resource guide for a list of feeders. Use the university tab.
Schools in close proximity to recruiting locations are also often overlooked. For example, CMC and USC in the west, Northwestern in the central, and Fordham and Villanova in the east. Applying Early Action may also provide additional flexibility as well. A few other sleeper schools are Brown and Washington & Lee!
Why not apply to Wharton if you’re applying to Penn and interested in finance?
I know that Wharton is a lot harder to get into so I was planning on applying to the College of Arts and Sciences for economics. It would give me a better chance of getting in and I know Penn non-Wharton is still a target. I would also still have the opportunity to transfer into Wharton if I had a high GPA.
IMO you should just apply to Wharton. Higher risk, higher reward. Just max out your common app to hedge.
Do what you feel is right, but if you apply to Arts and Sciences please apply as an unpopular major like Anthropology or something, wayyy better chance of getting in than econ and you can switch no problem.
Current student at UVA/McIntire so I can hopefully provide some insight on your last question. Recruiting for banking from Econ at UVA is a bit more difficult, but I've seen several Econ students land top BB roles and do relatively well elsewhere. IB recruiting events are often open university-wide so generally you'd have similar opportunities to McIntire students.
Throw in some other ivies + Duke/UChicago if you're willing to bite the bullet cost wise (which it looks like you are, considering you have UPenn & NYU etc).
Ivies including Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown & especially Cornell. Also I would say fuck it and apply HYP/MIT considering your stats are strong but if you want to prioritize your applications then i'd say the ones I just mentioned, but I would shoot if you can. If you want a west coast option that places well in SF and NYC then Haas @ UCB is a good option too.
Lastly, I'd add UT Austin & Northwestern before IU Kelly and U of Illinois, and would throw in Williams if you can.
Oh and btw if you were a national merit scholar for PSAT and put USC as your first choice in the national merit portal (which isn't binding btw) you automatically get half off of tuition upon acceptance. Pretty good deal at a very solid semi-target for NYC and target for LA/SF if money is an issue.
You don't even need to be in McIntire for IB recruiting at UVA
Also OP, McIntire accepts >50% of uva applicants so as long as you get involved in clubs and have a good gpa you should be fine.
As a Minuteman I can vouch for the the finance clubs at UMass. I know many students in ISOM who have internships at BB and EB banks. Isenberg does not have the same network as Ross or UVA, but breaking into banking from ‘The Zoo’ is definitely not out of the ordinary.
"white male" -auto reject, jokes aside you've done way more than me in hs you'll be fine don't worry.
Washington and Lee University, not a traditional target but places incredibly well 40+ kids IB per class of 400 students. Join WIS and your set. Killer social scene.
Good list so far, can definitely be aiming higher with your stats! Would definitely recommend some UCs (Berkeley, LA) as well as UT Austin, which are all have high placements into banking. Looking into IB target schools and go from there
Current UT student here : your stats seem competitive for the honors program , if you can get into that you can have an easier trip to the wall st for McCombs workshop, takes about 25-30 kids with almost lights out NYC placement + some recent buyside.I'd note that if you're an out of state student they only accept about 5-10% - make sure to have a good story and relevant business circulars you can write about.I'd add UT, UCB, USC over UCLA , Northwestern, and definitely Cornell, Duke(edit : definitely Dartmouth and Uchicago as well) and maybe one of HYP. IU > UIUC since they have some good workshops too.Good luck, you'll be pretty well off with any of these on the list but I think with your stats you should try to aim as high as possible and you'll likely end up with a good amount on this list to choose from and maybe hopefully one of your higher choices like Cornell/Duke or HYP.
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