Columbia 3+2 SEAS or Semi-target LAC
I attend a semi-target university (think Boston College, Tufts, UNC) and have an interesting opportunity. Columbia has a 3+2 engineering program where a student could complete their degree from their home university in three years then attend Columbia SEAS for two years. A BA would be awarded from the home university and a BS awarded from Columbia. To receive guaranteed admission into the program one must keep a 3.5 GPA and a 3.3 GPA in Columbia’s prerequisite classes with no grade lower than a B. My goal is to break into IB out of university. I am majoring in Physics, but I have no intent on becoming an engineer. Would it be better to graduate in 4 years with a 3.6 GPA from a semi-target with no debt or graduate in 5 years from Columbia SEAS majoring in something like Operations Research with $30K in debt? Ik there was a similar thread but people didn’t talk about the year’s salary lost by staying an extra year...
Depends if the semi-target is BC (upper end) or Tufts (lower end).
Not terribly familiar with SEAS, but Columbia name and access to network would be well worth the transfer over BC, Tufts, UNC , IMO
I should have just said what college I attend in hindsight. I go to BC. I'm kind of confused on your wording. You are saying that if I went to BC you would take the Columbia program?
If you want to go into IB, BC will get you there if you can just not fuck up - Places very well for those who can parrot the guides / do some shallow networking. Look into IBST on campus. If you are worried about your ability to self teach technicals and are a physics major, that is surprising considering what I know about BC's physics program. I broke in without using any of the on campus resources from a STEM major, and it frankly wasn't that different from the CSOM kids process.
On the note of BC's physics program, I would keep that your in it close to the chest on here for the sake of anonymity. That is one of the smallest majors at BC and most kids are looking to go into academia of some sort from there, so you effectively narrow yourself to a group of 2-3 kids.
From the data I've seen at least, UNC (Chapel Hill) seems to be a target. If you're there I'd say it doesn't make sense to do the Columbia thing.
whats the reasoning behind asking for advice, and providing numerous universities so we can play multiple choice? its not like you're debating on an offer from a small group at a select bank and have to protect your privacy.
those universities should yield you good opportunities granted you've completed an IB internship. spend the extra time prepping for technical questions rather than taking on more useless coursework
I did that in case I'm in a position like you described in the future. I go to BC. The issue is getting the IB internship that you're talking about. I did a corporate finance internship this summer and want a PWM internship or similar next summer, but is that along with prepping for technicals enough from BC? I feel like that's not a sure thing. The kids getting these BB IBD summer analyst positions tend to have 3.8+ GPAs. You could say, "study harder to get a 3.8+ instead of wasting time on useless coursework". I'm just guessing my future stats based on past performance. Most likely I'll be a 3.6 and answer technical questions well from BC. If you could talk about odds of landing a BB IBD summer analyst postion with those stats versus maybe a 3.3-3.4 from Columbia SEAS it would be much appreciated :)
It's really all contingent on what you would intend on majoring in while at SEAS. I knew one student that did the 3+2 program, got to CU, decided to major in Applied Physics, and their GPA got shredded to the point where IB recruiting was out of the picture. I will say however, OR at Columbia is a very difficult major. It's super rigid and leaves no room for electives, given its course load and the Columbia's core requirements.
What would you major in? I feel like most of the majors within SEAS are interesting so open to suggestions. Let's go based off of picking the best major possible for IBD odds. Would you take the 3+2 opportunity?
I would personally go for Applied Math/CS/IEOR. OR and Applied Math are highly sought out from financial institutions when it comes to Columbia Recruiting. I would take it if you're certain you can balance recruiting + the intense work load as a junior year transfer. The network you'll get is extensive and will pay that 30k for you over and over again
So effectively you'd be transferring and starting as a "junior" at Columbia, given that you have two years left. Honestly 30k debt to have the Columbia name on your resume and, more importantly, access to the Columbia network, is a pretty good deal.
The only problem, and it's a big one, that I see with this, is the timing. You want to do IB. Banks, assuming they are continuing this schedule, are recruiting during the summer between your sophomore year and your junior year. So the summer before you start at Columbia - when you don't have access to their network, their recruiting, and haven't attended any networking sessions on campus. You'd be left with the handful of decent banks that recruit in the Fall. The only two I can think of are Jefferies and Centerview. And you don't want to risk everything for a shot at two firms.
You'd be in a better position for FT recruiting. But most banks only take people for FT that did banking internships their junior summer, and most of them are filled informally through people networking during their summer.
If you were pursuing engineering, I'd say go for it no questions asked. Even a similarly competitive field like consulting, I would do this because they recruit at a normal pace. But banking recruits too early for this to make sense in my opinion.
That's a really good point. I would be accepted into the program by that point, so I think I would have access to their network and recruiting but as you said I wouldn't have attended any networking sessions on campus. I was hoping that I would still have a shot at some BB internships, but I guess I may not. Something else I've thought of is taking an off-cycle internship during my first year at Columbia since it's located in NYC... As for FT recruiting, what happens to all of the people that had Junior Summer analyst gigs but didn't get return offers? Do most of them get jobs informally like you were saying?
Usually if you're recruiting informally you're trying to move up. I know someone who did that and went from Jefferies to Evercore after networking with EVR people all summer. I'm not sure about people who didn't get return offers but that's usually a red flag (my friends EVR offer was contingent on a return offer), but I'd imagine they'd look down and do the opposite, or just take whatever they can get after shooting for everything.
An off cycle would help a lot, but I'm not sure if any big names do that. I'm not saying they don't, I just genuinely don't know whether or not they do.
Again, I think it comes down to whether or not you'd have access to Columbia's recruiting platform during that summer. Because you can network with Columbia grads on your own after getting accepting but prior to enrollment, but you really want to go through the private application portal instead of the general one.
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