Harvard vs Princeton vs Stanford for Investment Banking
Hi all,
As username implies I'm new to this forum so ask you first and foremost to understand any ignorance that I may have on the workings of this forum and field. If questions like this have been posted before or you personally think that some of the answers I request come from common sense, I can't say much but "sorry" beforehand. Also, apologies for the long note: if it's too lengthy, feel free to ignore it (though you probably would have done that anyway).
I'm a high school senior that was recently accepted to Harvard via the SCEA program. That being said, I am still considering applying to Stanford and Princeton. (I thought MIT wouldn't be necessary despite my interest in STEM as I saw that Harvard is close to MIT and there's quite a few cross-registration opportunities... plus I still enjoy the humanities and don't want my college experience to strictly be for the sake of a career). Also, MIT doesn't give much financial aid from what I heard from my counselor. Feel free to correct and/or give insight into my understanding in any of the above.
That being said, is it still worth it to apply to Princeton and/or Stanford for investment banking on the East coast, particularly NYC? (I know I'm not giving any details on divisions or particular banks or regions so I'm sorry for the generality... also Stanford vs East coast may be laughable to some but I'm still asking) By "worth it" I mean: 1.) in terms of the alumni network, recruiting opportunities, and the like that I'll have to go out and get. 2.) For a more quantitative finance field. For reference, I'm interested in pursuing a quantitative concentration like Applied math or Physics. I hope to have a secondary field in Economics.
The reason I'm not applying to Wharton is that someone from my school already got into the Huntsman program (which includes Wharton). I also don't want to just pursue a business degree and know that I'm not good enough for the Huntsman program which would have allowed me to also have a liberal arts degree in physical science, maybe. Also, for my stupidest reason, I don't like the campus since it's too urban for me. (I mean, I've never been to Harvard yet so I plan to beg my parents to let me drive this winter break to it, but from google map stalking it seems less urban than UPenn).
I'm not that tech-savvy (which I know might be a really bad thing with the modern tech-rage) but am willing to learn, as I've always loved CS but never had the chance to really dedicate myself to it.
Thanks for reading through my essay. Again feel free to correct me anywhere.
Harvard sends a lot more than the other two. But all three are great, so you can’t go wrong
As someone who goes to Yale/MIT and got into 2/3 you mentioned, & recently finished up recruiting, here's my take —
Harvard > Princeton > Stanford SOLELY for East Coast IB.
Stanford > Harvard > Princeton for West Coast IB.
Buuut, if you're into tech IB specifically (even the NYC offices), Stanford is best.
Princeton is probably best for hedge funds/more quanty stuff in finance. Stanford obviously if you want to do tech tech stuff. Harvard is great for PE placement & a number of kids get FT roles right out of school (the highest #, but also occurs at Yale Princeton Stanford & Wharton)
Thank you! I looked up PE and FT to better understand your thoughts. I'll keep that in mind going forward.
Echoing the statement above, I went to MIT and have pretty good idea what recruiting is like at Harvard. You are right. You don't have to go to MIT to take MIT classes. However, if you want to apply, why not. Applied math is bit of a joke at Harvard (due to pretty low requirements), but it makes you look strong nonetheless. I'd say Harvard over UPenn. Honestly, the preprofessional culture there isn't that fun, and Boston is a much better college town than Philly. For Stanford, the benefits it gives for CS is minimal (in terms of recruiting). All the big tech companies hire from everywhere and you shouldn't have trouble getting a FANG company if you actually pursue it (so I wouldn't bother). Moreover, you can take CS classes at harvard/mit so it's not a big deal (moreover, unless you want to become a PhD, you only really need 2-3 CS classes for recruiting so where you go doesnt really matter). Princeton is better for Quant Finance than Harvard, but you still get the same recruiting albeit less preparation. Obviously there are niche companies and boutiques that prefer their own individual alums, but ignore that idiosyncratic risk.
If I were you, I would probably just coast, but it wouldn't be bad idea to see what other schools are like hopefully when visit days are back with the vaccine.
Colleges you could apply to include: Princeton, Stanford, MIT, and Yale.
Given your interests, I would consider Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford in that order.
Thank you for your comprehensive, wide-spread advice! I'll keep all of that in mind and will indeed check out Yale. I was under the impression that they were more known for humanities than STEM but I'll have to redo my research since I really know nothing about Yale beyond just general rumors around the school.
I put Yale because it’s similar to Harvard and you might like it more. Don’t put too much into STEM department rankings. All these schools have superb faculty. For undergrads, it’s negligible.
Oh, ok: thanks!
Not them, but I go to Yale and am headed to a bulge bracket full time this next fall. I would say that between Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford, if you are lucky enough to have choices, absolutely just go to the place you feel the most in tune with. There is next to no material difference in opportunities from any of the four (obviously the networking/connections will pan out different but that's the chance of life, and not intrinsic to the school). I've got friends getting paid $400k+ at quant hedge funds who are one year out of college, I've got friends doing Teach for America or Rhodes Scholarships, I've got friends doing startups or going into private equity or going into Big Tech or law school at YHS or are going straight into the new Biden admin. This is completely normal at all of these schools, and at this point it becomes more of a question as to where you individually think is the best fit for yourself for the next 4ish years of your life. On the topic of the guy below, Harvard/Yale are lowkey academic jokes and are really easy to game the system to get a really high GPA if that's what you want -- Princeton/Stanford is much harder. STEM-wise, every single big tech (and startup, and mid-size tech) firm recruits at every school in the top 20. 4 of my roommates are going to FAANG lol, and I know plenty of people at really all of the Ivy+ type schools going there. The STEM caliber of a school is kind of irrelevant (unless you're looking to go into an ultra quant hedge fund type place or grad school for math academia, but you would know if that was your path) as long as it's a top 10-15 school.
Harvard student here. Harvard has stronger and broader placements than basically any school out there. Princeton, Stanford, Wharton, MIT etc. may be better at specific subcategories, but Harvard will still compete and will offer you a wider range of possibilities than any of the others. Harvard is a stronger school for STEM than you would think because we can essentially take all classes at MIT and our GPAs are higher because a lot of Harvard professors are more supportive and don't try to weed you out and/or flex on you.
I hope the general point you’re getting from the above posts is that it really doesn’t fucking matter.
Literally if you go to any one of the three and have all your other ducks in a row (GPA/Leadership and Relevant ECs/Not a social dumbass) you WILL be able to land offers at any bank you want. Basing your decision on “your chances of getting into IB” is stupid, if you have all three in your back pocket - take a deep breath, pat yourself on the back, and choose the place you’d have the most FUN over the next four years. That’ll actually matter in the long run - more than you probably understand now, but just my 2 cents
Full disclosure, I went to Stanford and have friends at both Harvard/MIT - all of us that wanted a job at an EB/BB got one.
I do agree with that sentiment: if they are all similar I'd like to go to the place that just generally broadens my view (the pretty way of saying having fun in academics among other fun-causing things, I suppose). Thanks for the insight
Social scene rankings:
Stanford >> Wharton > Yale > Princeton > Harvard > MIT
errrr I go to one, and while if you have your ducks in a row you WILL get an EB/BB offer, it's not as simple as picking and choosing which one you want. I have plenty of qualified friends who end up at a "lower BB" even though they're supremely qualified -- the HYPSM+Wharton types are guaranteed a spot, but where that is can be pretty variable even if you are prepared.
Got it! Thanks
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