Does a college's reputation really matter?
Hey everyone, this is my first post as I'm fairly new to this site (created my account a couple of days ago). I'm going to starting my first college semester in August 2020 (as long as COVID-19 doesn't screw it up haha). I want to pursue a career in asset/wealth management in the future and was wondering whether the reputation of colleges really matter to these big asset management companies right after/after a couple of years of graduating from college. I'm currently deciding between my state school (Rutgers) and a target school (Penn State) as an intended Finance major. I believe penn state's business program is ranked higher than rutgers but I would be dishing out $200k+ while Rutgers has a decent business program with close proximity to NYC/Wall street and I would only be spending around $100k, thus, having a better ROI. If anyone could provide me with some insight on whether college reps. matter, I would really appreciate it. Additionally, would I still be able to work in the asset management field with a degree in economics instead of Finance?
I’d go with Rutgers just based on price. You can succeed both places, and I highly doubt the incremental brand value is worth $100K.
I think college brand matters, but only 1. if you are from an ivy or equivalent, or 2. if the college is a big name locally and you are trying to work locally. This is because clients often like to see that you come from an ivy-type background OR from a similar background to them.
thanks for the help!
To answer your other question re econ vs. finance, you can do either one. Of course, doing finance is the most obvious answer. But, if you do an econ major and self-study finance (which is very possible), it will work as well. This is what I did (for IB not AM), and it worked great, and I’m from a big state school far away from NYC. I also worked at a hedge fund for a couple semesters, and they were happy to have me.
Overall, both econ and finance will get you where you want to go, as long as you have curiosity and a good work ethic. These are more important than your major.
Penn State is not a target school lol both schools are similar, just go to whichever one is cheaper.
got it, thanks.
I'd suggest your go to Rutgers. These two schools are in the same league. Rutgers is better located. Moreover, Penn State just doesn't seem to worth the extra money. Isn't it?
yeah I don't think spending the extra $100k is really worth it either
I honestly don't feel like either school's reputation is significantly better than the other, so it doesn't matter imo. The only thing I would consider now it the price, and the school connections/networking opportunities. You want to go to a school where you can get exposure to firms and recuriters. It's a hard way in if you don't.
yeah I think in this case Rutgers would be better because they have a better outreach to NYC
First, you need to decide if you want to do WM or AM.
AM: Designing/Building/Managing/Selling Mutual Funds/ETFs/SMAs WM: Telling James and Martha how to manage their finances
They are very different animals and require different skillsets.
That being said, I'm another vote for Rutgers. Bloomberg's lead ETF talking head, Balchunas went there. (his TV show is good BTW) and one of his subordinates went to TCNJ.
Penn State isn't a target....at best it's a semi-target and I'm not sure it's even that. Rutgers isn't even on the radar.
For better or for worse, yes pedigree matters a ton. People in finance care quite a lot about it and most of upper management (directors, MDs, PMs, sr. analysts, principals, etc.) went to top 20 schools. Your chances of getting into AM, which already is very hard to break into even if you go to a target, are extremely low. Wealth management is definitely open to you though.
You can MS me for this, just giving you the brutally honest truth. Not saying AM is impossible, but a steep uphill battle (at least on the active research / investing side, sales or passive side is much easier and definitely possible).
LOL don’t listen to this guy. AM is more than possible. Any high finance job is possible from both these schools, you are just going to have to hustle a bit.
got it haha
Hey I love being an intern who's never actually worked FT a day in his life and posting about things I know nothing about in fields I know nothing about too...oh wait
You literally have 0 expertise on this topic or anything AM for that matter, but honestly it's no skin off my back. I'm offering what I actually see, both at my fund and from buddies at other big funds. The guys consistently recruited for 90% of the research positions (again not sales / ops / etc) are from targets. I understand it's a bitter pill to swallow, but who said life was fair?
Agree. Or go to a >20 school (by USNEws overall ranking) that is very well-respected in finance like UVa, UMIch, UC Berkeley, etc.
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