Columbia Uni Info
Hey everyone,
Considering applying to Columbia for undergrad because I went and toured and really liked it. Anyone here went to Columbia, is it a popular school in IB, and anything important to know about it? Thanks
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Honestly dude, you should just apply regardless. Admission into ivies is difficult and never guaranteed, so I would not be too selective when filtering out top schools to apply to, especially if it's on the basis of placement into one specific industry like IB.
Based on the fact that you called it “uni”, I think you might be an international. This means that it’s EXTREMELY expensive and Columbia is already very expensive for people living here. Just keep that in mind. There might be other good schools that will open up similar opportunities but won’t cost as much.
Don’t worry lol I’m domestic, just didn’t feel like adding on “versity”
Oh, whoops. Still tho it’s very expensive. And ivys don’t give out merit based aid. And if you’re like most people, you’re in that uncomfortable window where it’s not easy to finance an Ivy League education, but you also don’t get a whole lot of need based aid. Don’t want to assume anything tho, so I’ll just move to other points. Columbia is an Ivy League, so that’s a network you’ll be able to tap into forever. I would argue that after HYP, Columbia and Penn are neck and neck in terms of prestige so you really can’t go wrong. And it’s in New York City, which means you’ll have a blast (this is a bit more personal, some people would prefer a campus feel).
It is a phenomenal institution and if you decide you don’t want to do IB, Columbia will give you the opportunities to pursue almost anything. All of this means that it’s incredibly difficult to get into. They have a 6% undergraduate acceptance rate. They have a 1505 average SAT, so to have a good shot at getting in as a traditional candidate (middle class white or Asian with minimal hardships), you’ll want a 1550+. They also have an incredibly high average GPA, so you’re going to need near perfect grades. All of this isn’t enough. You still here really good extracurriculars.
All I’m saying is, Columbia is a great school. But it’s hard to get into. Look at other schools and don’t bank on getting into an Ivy. No one, no matter how talented, should ever be sure they’re getting into an Ivy. Apply all over the place to manage the risk. If you liked the city feel of Columbia, look at NYU. Not as prestigious, but easier to get into. Nothing wrong with applying. Also look at the lower ivies; Dartmouth, brown, and Cornell. Don’t discount non Ivy schools as well. Good luck!
I'm from the US and sometimes call it uni, and so do many others that I know. I don't think it's a term only used by internationals
Oh, that might just be from the bubble I interact with then. Afaik, uni is a more commonly used term in the UK.
Speaking solely for finance recruiting, I don't think it's as good as school's prestige carries. I've just finished my summer 2021 recruiting and can speak that we're not a target at many places.
Only I can think of are : GS, MS, BoA, Evercore, Lazard
Somewhat SEMIs are : Citi (became non-core this year), DB (heard alumni speaking they're thinking of bringing Columbia as their Core school but not confirmed)
Yes, Columbia is one of the best schools in the country, fun to be in NYC, tons of alumni if you find the right people. But compare to school like Cornell, where there are more people interested in IB, and Dartmouth, strong alumni push, I have always felt we're not as competent as the other schools. Meaning less OCR and almost no Buy-Side opps.
I'm happy to speak more about these if needed.
Would you say that this is also true for Brown (fewer OCR opps since less interest from fewer students)?
Different poster, but brown is probably similar. We get heavy interest from certain banks with tons of OCR whereas others don’t do too much recruiting from Brown. That being said, looking at the past two years I believe we’ve sent someone to every single BB/EB/MM (can’t think of a bank where I don’t know a brown kid who has at least gotten an offer), so I’d say anyone from brown should have no issues recruiting.
https://prnt.sc/1rwc32o People at the traditional American megafunds by target school. At the bottom, its adjusted per capita, so higher is better. Dartmouth has over twice as many people as Columbia at MF's per capita, for example. Sidenote, For Penn, when I made this, I tried to do non-wharton only (but some wharton definitely snuck in) so take that how you want. Would agree that due to self-selection, columbia has less going to MF's and the like. Don't swear by this because its very backwards-looking. Schools that have risen recently in terms of finance placement like Georgetown, Notre Dame, etc, are likely underrepresented, if I added them. Actually thinking about doing so. Also, doesn't factor in Back Office.
I wouldn’t pick college based on IB recruiting. However, I attended Columbia and found that there was strong recruiting for most BBs and EBs. There was also strong recruiting for MBB and consulting in general. Finally, someone above mentioned that there wasn’t much buyside recruiting, but I didn’t find this to be the case whatsoever. All of my friends that were interested were able to secure interviews at PE shops and hedge funds (Blackstone, Point72, Bridgewater and the large ones that recruit from undergraduate). Many of them also received offers. Important to note that most these people all had around a 4.0, which is difficult to do in some of the more quantitative majors. Again, I wouldn’t pick college based on IB recruiting, but if you can attend Columbia and think it’s a fit, you should have no issue securing a position post-graduation.
Went to Columbia - I can attest to the information in this post.
Echoing this point. Attend Columbia, have stopped interviewing for banks because I've been able to receive offers and interviews from top buy-side shops including but not limited to the ones you listed. Maybe the formal OCR isn't as great, none of the firms you listed physically came to campus, but they all definitely recruit top Columbia students.
I echo this too - few OCR doesn't mean it won't recruit Columbia kids. Firms might stop doing OCR as time-and-cost-saving measures, or they might just hold sessions at their offices for Columbia students instead, since being in the city makes things easier. Also do note that a lot of the HF/PE opportunities go out to kids with either very high stats or just mad connections at Columbia (think children of Forbes 400 or certain folks sitting on the GS/MS/JPM management committees). Since they recruit so few people, every case is different from another. Don't assume you'll get something if you see someone else with similar stats or background did. You never know what kind of strings they'll pull behind their backs.
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