Georgetown vs. NYU vs. Cornell vs. University of Michigan vs. UC Berkeley for Undergrad Finance?
Basically, I have to pick between these schools for undergrad. I'd like to major in finance.
From a purely objective standpoint (i.e. not accounting for my personal preference), which one of these schools would give me the best head start for my career? Prestige means very little to me. I just want the best education and the best opportunities.
If you want to major in finance, my top 3 from that list would be Michigan, NYU, and UC Berk (no particular order). If you're goal is to be in NYC, then I would be partial to NYU.
If you're interested in double majoring in something unrelated, then I would factor that in as well… moreover, think about being a kid and enjoying your time at school (sports/parties/lifestyle).
These are all quality schools and won't materially affect your career 10 years from now.
Pick the one you feel the most comfortable with and do a good job while you're there (i.e., get good grades).
Is there a huge discrepancy in how firms/MBA programs view NYU, Michigan, and Berk? Would these all be considered target schools?
All three of those schools would be considered target schools at most major financial institutions.
I would say all are good bets. If you want to stay in Nyc, NYU is definitely a great option. Ross puts people in IB, but does a great job with F500.
Berkeley
Why?
Unless you're interested in energy, you'll most likely want to end up in NYC or SF (there's obviously lots of other places to do finance, but these are the two biggest hubs). To that end, NYU (and to some extent Cornell) and Cal give you the best opportunities geographically to network and build relationships. I am personally biased towards Cal because I'm on the west coast and see the tremendous respect and success that cal grads have out here. I have had the opportunities to work with alums from all the schools you listed and as @TNA mentioned, cal would (in my experience) be a little more personality driven. They tends to attract the more cerebral/intellectual types.
To sum it up: you can't go wrong with any. If you already think you have a geographical preference, I'd lean towards a school closer to that area.
Ross or NYU.
I personally love Gtown. I think UC Berkeley would be sick, but imagine that school would be really personality driven.
Good work dude, all great schools.
You can't go wrong with any school on the list. Although I remember someone posting that Georgetown grads killed it on the street.
Is cost the same for all schools? They're all pretty comparable.
NYU is the most expensive (and the cost of living in NYC is also much higher) so that's something to consider too. Right now I just want to find the best school overall and then I can factor in cost afterwards.
NYU is the most expensive (and the cost of living in NYC is also much higher) so that's something to consider too. Right now I just want to find the best school overall and then I can factor in cost afterwards.
I would say these are all pretty comparable schools for IB recruiting (all top targets) so it's hard to answer without taking into account your personal preferences. It really comes down to what aspects are most important to you.
Georgetown really does kill it on the street. And it gives you a fantastic college experience. If I had it to do over again, I think it'd be my top choice of all schools.
Berkeley is incredibly well-represented in SF. From what I've seen, it is THE top target for SF banking. If you think you might want to be in SF, I'd do Berkeley hands down. It's pretty difficult to get into that recruiting market if you go to school on the east coast.
Michigan has fantastic recruiting in NYC as well and always sends people to the top places. If you're looking for the true college experience, that's definitely the place to be. Mich kids tend to love their school more than almost any others I've met.
Cornell is an ivy, so obviously they'll have fantastic recruiting. Ithaca is cool but grade deflation is very real there and you might not have the best overall experience.
I know Stern is great for IB recruiting but I've heard it's a cut-throat, miserable experience for a lot of people. No cohesive college experience whatsoever. Really optimal for people who love city life and want to skip over the whole college campus phase. Apparently most kids intern in IB during the year which is cool in a way, but if everyone you're competing against for OCR is doing it, it's no longer an edge. Just an added stress taking away from what should be an incredible 4 years. With those other options, I wouldn't even consider NYU.
I agree with Mr F. I wouldn't go to Stern. I'd personally lean Berkeley - true college experience and California weather are tough to beat but you really can't go wrong with any of your options.
Just to reiterate what people have already said - two of my former colleagues went to stern and they really seemed dissatisfied with their overall social experience.
Out of curiosity, how'd you get into Georgetown and Cornell before RD results, GT is restrictive early action meaning that you weren't supposed to apply to any early decision schools (aka Cornell). No one really cares but make sure they don't find out if you end up choosing one of them.
I'm at Cornell now, if you're in the AEM program for the Dyson School, there is very good recruiting / networking. The school has been moving up rapidly over the past decade and there are tons of alumni in finance. Cornell IS a difficult school but AEM really isn't hard, classes usually curve to a B+ or higher. Ithaca is a pretty fun city even though it's small but like others have said, there isn't much around it. It's only a 4ish hour bus ride to NYC though which is nice but obviously not as good as living there would be if you chose NYU. Cornell is a big enough school too that you can find pretty much anything you want as long as you're willing to go out and look for it. Our sports aren't great but hockey games are fun to go to. Additionally, Cornell has pretty strong programs across the board if you're interested in studying anything else in addition to business/finance.
With that said, provided you got into the preadmit to Ross, UMich would be an incredibly fun school to go to and I don't think you would really miss out on much by choosing it aside from maybe the "Ivy League" brand name, which isn't all that important.
Good luck with your decision! Any way you go you'll be set, all of the schools you've listed are excellent choices. If you have any Cornell specific questions feel free to PM me.
Thanks for this! I just PMed you!
All of the above are target schools. If you're trying to decide amongst them which will give you an incrementally higher chance at getting into investment banking, you're missing the point.
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