How does Carleton do for ibanking recruitment?

What year are you? I have some friends that have had success coming from carleton

Carleton is a great school. Get good grades and you should be able to swing some BB interviews. The only reason they aren't a huge target is merely because of the students lack of interest.

The caliber of Carleton students absolutely destroys Michigan. And if some of the BBs are missing out on that, then it's their loss.

I havent been to the campus in a few years so I dont know if BB actively recruite there, but I doubt it. Not because it isn't a quality school but because the interest would probably be so low it wouldn't be worth the firms time or money. This can also be an advantage, though. Rather than competing with 5,000 wide eyed monkeys you only have to deal with 50 (or less).

I'm originally from Minnesota and have spoken to many MM and boutique MDs who have stated the quality of their hires from Carelton are often more dependable and capable than their Stanford/Yale peers. Surprisingly, many have stated that they like Carleton students because they dont have the same sense of entitlement that many ivy students have. They are gaining a well earned reputation and their acceptance rate has lowered dramatically in the past couple years.

Okay, so getting into a BB wont be a cakewalk, but I sincerely doubt they are going to throw your app out because you went to Carleton. Work hard, network, and get advice from the career center, and it will be ENTIRELY possible.

All of this is a little irrelevent though as I personally know many Carleton grads who went on to Harvard and Stanford B-school which evens the playing field anyway. I'm not sure why I'm plugging Carelton because they dont really need me to speak for them. They are thriving on their own.

I seriously doubt your story, only because hardly any Stanford or Yale grads would go to the Midwest to work at an MM or boutique. The ones that would go would be of a lower quality because they didn't get offers in New York or San Francisco.

Who said anything about the midwest? When I talk to MM and boutique firm MDs across the U.S., being a Minnesotan, I often ask around about students from the more prestigeous Minnesota schools, namely Carleton and Macalester.

If you want some hard facts, Carleton sent AT LEAST three students (that I know of) to BB firms during 05/06. Two went to Goldman at the NY and HK offices, another went to Merrill (NY office). Not bad considering they probably have much less than 100 business majors per class and probably only a small fraction of them are interested in IB.

Many people I know were accepted to Ivys but turned them down to go to Carleton, for various reasons. This may seem stupid to you but all I can say is not every bright college student has the narrow view of "if I want to do ABC as a career I better go to XYZ".

And if you really believe there arent any quality Ivy grads working in the midwest...all I can do is roll my eyes. Again, this may be a new concept to you but SOME people choose job locations based on other factors besides a certain income.

Look, I'm not trying to make logic out of anything, I'm simply stating what I have heard from people in the industry. Whether or not you believe me doesnt really matter.

If you choose to believe Ivy grads working in MM and boutique finance across the midwest are just a bunch of bulge bracket rejects, that's also your prerogative.

You had your reasons to go a top university, an honest good for you btw. But I also know people who had their reasons for choosing "tiny" midwest LAC's as well, such as location, the campus atmosphere, tuition, the students, faculty etc. They knew Carleton was the best "fit" for them. If you think these are stupid reasons, then I dont know what to tell ya.

I'm just answering the guy's question. He asked if Carleton is prestigious enough to land a BB interview on the east coast. Clearly, it is. Now obviously he is going to have a tougher time than the typical H/S/Y/P kid. If a firm is actually going to throw out your resume soley because you went to Carleton, the chip on my shoulder says you dont want to work for that company anyway.

I could give more statistics but I'm consumed by a wave of apathy as I come to the realization that the various Carleton alumni that I know of are in bed, counting their money. Again, they dont need me to defend them.

Thanks for the replies! Seriously

"I could give more statistics but I'm consumed by a wave of apathy as I come to the realization that the various Carleton alumni that I know of are in bed, counting their money. Again, they dont need me to defend them."

BTW schumacher can u gimme more statistics? I really appreciate it.

This is ridiculous. Whenever someone asks about a school on this board, some guy always pops up to defend it/promote it and say how they "know 1-5 guys who made into IB over the last 5 years!!" Then compares the schools to an Ivy/target, lambasts the Ivy kids for being entitled, praises the small school for being awesome and so on. Don't forget to throw in an anecdote about X MD who once said he thought a capable grad from aforementioned small school was better than a Harvard grad!

Yes, a few students from small schools in the middle of nowhere make it into IB. It's very hard for them to do do so and few, if any, banks go to these schools to recruit kids. Yes, you are ALWAYS better off going to a target in terms of recruitment.

What are your stats? GPA etc? Most BBs will have slightly higher standards if you are coming from a semi-target

Seriously it's like the feel-good awards in here sometimes.

Carleton is a top school, I knew a few people in my HS class who chose it over Princeton, HYS and whatnot. Granted its not recruiting central for GS, MS and whatever, but just get good grades and you have a decent shot.

To the person who said they thought it was stupid to turn down a school like Carleton over a top HYPS school (for reasons other than banking/career), I'm just curious on your reasoning (not to start a war, just curious)

HYPS have:

more resources (from undergrad research to student group funding to financial aid and many other things)

large number of world-renowned professors

more opportunity to learn from and be mentored by some of the best PhD students in the world (the future academic superstars)

wider range of classes and majors

better alumni network

more diverse student bodies

I don't think Carleton is a bad school, But I would never, ever encourage anyone that I cared about to choose it over HPYS. Never. I assume your high school is in the Midwest; unfortunately hardly anyone in other parts of the country have heard of it. If your friends are OK with that, congrats for them.

To ratul,

I'm not sure what background/country you're from, but no she is not made up. I know a bunch of people who chose top LACs over Ivies, and their not morons. If you are saying they are morons because they no longer go to a target school, well thats fine. But there are people in this world who have aspirations other than working for Goldman Sachs.

Fp,

Just to clarify, my HS was not in the Midwest, but in NJ. Its a pretty recognized public HS, and sends a pretty high percentage of kids to Ivies for a public school. (not to brag, but to give some frame of reference)

Granted, I wasn't trying to argue or anything, just to understand your reasoning is all.

Although I never considered attending Carleton (way too cold), I am baffled by people essentially saying that someone is an idiot if they turned down HYSP for Carleton. HYSP have the best placement in banking because they also have the most recruiters on campus, which is a result of them also having the only student bodies in the world where an enormous population of the students are interested in banking. It makes no sense for a BB recruiter to travel all the way from NYC to my SEC school, where on a good year ten students will be interested in banking, and about half of those will be qualified. Therefore, if you are a junior in high school and know that the most important thing to you in the world is getting a BB analyst position, then in that case, I guess you could call someone an idiot for passing on those schools.

But outside of that, how can you say that every person should choose the most prestigious school they get into, when there are definitely other factors that are just as, if not more, important than banking recruiting? Also, didn't Time have a big article on how the majority of CEOs in the US all went to state schools? Using that statistic couldn't someone say don't pick an ivy if you plan to become a CEO? I know for a fact that Wal-Mart doesn't like to hire people from Ivies or hire people with 4.0 GPAs (they say it goes against the culture). I wouldn't ever want to work for Wal-Mart, but I'm pretty sure Lee Scott's $50+ mill in the last 5 years is more than what most MDs made, while doing probably half as much work and taking over a month straight off for vacation. He went to Pitt State in Kansas for undergrad and I'm guessing he doesn't wish he went to HYSP, ever.

I'm not saying ivies aren't worth, they are in a lot of ways (and essentially a must for grad school), but don't hate on someone for choosing Carleton over an Ivy and then following up by saying there's no logic in someone picking Carleton over an ivy. It can definitely be justified.

To the OP, yes someone can not only get interviews with a BB going to Carleton, but you can get offers as well. You'll have to work a little harder than your HYSP peers, network a little more, and have an internship of some sort, but you can do it. And you don't need an uncle who is an MD or be someone who has been pumping out financial models since the 8th grade.

Be as suspicious as you want haha, I'm not trying to prove that Ivies are bad. All I was saying was that Carleton was a good school, and that I knew people who chose it over HPYS. You're right in that Harvard has a high yield, but I was never arguing that everyone chooses a top LAC over HPYS.

Oh, and the OP was asking about getting interviews at Carleton, not whether he should choose Carleton over HYPS.

You're fine where you are, just get good grades/work experience and you'll be fine.

For what its worth, I've spent my last two summers interning in corporate finance and then research in NYC, and I've never heard of Carleton before (and most of my time away from work is spent talking about college life) with other SA's.

Also, I don't see any Carletons on here: http://www.ibankingoasis.com/node/5768

That being said, if you are interested in corporate finance there are more ways than 6 (BB's) to explore that interest. If Carleton is really a top regional LAC, you should have absolutely no problem getting a position at a MM investment bank and proving yourself there.

Consultant, in regards to your suggestion that the statistics on how many people turn down an Ivy for a top LAC or state school seem to differ from the stories on this board... I would say that in reality (as the statistics show) "loads" of students don't get admitted to an ivy and turn it down, but there are probably a few people at every school who did. However, I think a better study would be the number of people who had the stats to get into an Ivy, but never cared to apply because that's not where they wanted to go. I know a few kids at my SEC school who turned down 1 or 2 ivies for my SEC school. But I do know "loads" or students, myself included, that had the stats to get admitted to an Ivy or comparable school, but didn't apply to any for various reasons.

As for my statement about the banks recruiting at schools where students are interested in banking... Yes, those schools are full of quality students, but I think you are underestimating how big of a factor the interest of the students play. Just look at top east coast schools compared to top west coast schools. The student quality is comparable, but it's harder to convince someone from the west coast, who is use to warm weather and a more leisure environment, to give all of that up for NYC. Therefore, it makes sense to focus recruiting on, say Columbia for example, because recruiting a Columbia student already lets you know that by default, they like NYC (so yes, admissions does take care of part of the recruiting). Therefore, the banks put more emphasis on the top east coast schools than the top west coast schools. I believe Bloomberg magazine even had a big article on Goldman vs. Google and how it was hard for Goldman to convince people with Google offers to give up warm weather and a more leisure lifestyle for NYC. I know this is hard for some to fathom, but there are a ton of people in this world that do not want to live at NYC. At my SEC school, the class ahead of me has 6 students who want to do banking, 6. Only two of them are willing/want to live in NYC and those two already have several BB interviews lined up for August (after they finish their SA positions). The other 4 want to stay in the south or mid-atlantic. I know all of them quite well and would have no problem saying that the guys who want a BB job are not a cut above the other 4. It's just preference. The same for why different people apply and enroll to different schools: preference. The top students at every school are comparable (the old SAT topped out at 1600, the ACT tops out at 36).

Look, do I have to repeat myself?

I know for a fact 3 people from Carleton got sent to BB firms during the 05/06 year.

2 went with Goldman (NY and HK offices) 1 went with Merrill (NY office)

Now granted I dont know what division they were in, but they were both full time internships.

With a student body less than 2,000 and probably a handful of people who actually applied, the stats are VERY good for Carleton kids.

Those 3 kids would have gotten in had they gone to Harvard, that's my point. It's not the school, it's the individuals. Carleton didn't make them get the internships, don't be ridiculous.

What the heck, if you want good weather and good life style that much go to Stanford or Duke. If you got into an Ivy you could get into one of those schools, and get the same weather or whatever.

I'm pretty sure EVERYONE at NYU turned down Cornell and Columbia to go there (or didn't bother applying), according to them. The Sternies I work with don't shut up about it (waaah Columbia is too serious, Cornell is so lame, NYU kids party so hard). Total BS.

Thats exactly right fp175. It now just appears that your trying to sling mud in all directions here. This whole thread is getting a little out of hand.

The kid asked if Carleton is a good enough school to get into a BB. People were on this forum implying that it wasnt, and they are simply wrong.

Consultant, my family is within a few hour drive, the weather is much warmer, hot southern girls top anything the ivy league has, watching SEC football games is one of the greatest college experiences there is, Greek life at an SEC school is the best in the country (although Clemson in the ACC is good), the fact that I have so much scholarship money I get paid to go to school, and last but not least, knowing that I can have all of the above and still get the job I want when I graduate. Yes I'll have to network a little more, make sure I have above 3.8 GPA, and probably two summers of internships opposed to one (and I have no problem saying my classes are filled with a lot of dumb people), but that's worth the trade off in my book. And that's why I picked my SEC school and never applied to an Ivy. The same reasons almost every top student in finance or engineering at my school did the same. Having a true college experience in a place I loved was more important than a prestigious name on my resume, I plan on filling that void with my MBA. I don't know how old you are consultant, but maybe it's something people realize down the road (quality over life and experience versus prestige) because my family has multiple Ivy grads (both undergrad and grad school) and they all told me to pick a school for reasons other than pure ranking and to just make sure my grad work is at a top notch institution. So I did.

No one said it's not good enough. I'm challenging your claim that Carleton kids always outperform kids from HPYS, that MDs would prefer to hire them, and that any significant percentage of students at that college turned down the top Ivies for Carleton unless they had financial reasons.

Obviously I need to clear some things up.

I NEVER said Carleton kids always perform better than HPYS. Thats a stupid notion. I also never said MDs would prefer to hire them over HPYS, nor did I ever say there were a significant percentage of students turning Harvard down for Carleton.

What I did say is that MDs have told me on two occasions that Carleton has some really quality graduates often outperforming their Ivy peers and often have the lack of entitlement complex that runs rampant with Ivy league grads going into finance.

I also said I knew some people who had turned down Ivys for Carleton (note: i dont know anyone who turned down Harvard). And in my opinion their reasons for doing so were entirely justifiable.

Lol not to start a flame war here, but for being a student/grad from a "top university" you have terrible reading comprehension.

And why exclude financial reasons? There are many brilliant lower middle class students out there who dont even consider Ivy because of financial reasons.

LACs give great scholarships to attract these students.

I got a free ride at my LAC. But to be honest, I was so poor that I would have probably gotten a free ride anywhere if I were smart enough.

As far as I know, the daughter of Pomona's president turned down his father's alma mater, Havard, to attend Carleton, and she is of the class 2008.

And i am personally attending Carleton while turning down Cambridge University, Imperial College, and University of Singapore. I know Cambridge may not be as good as HYPS if i were to work in the USA, but it is definitely still ivy caliber and i dont think i am a moron.

Well for the guy who has never heard of Carleton, check out USnews ranking-- it is ranked 6th among all the LACs for the year of 2007, 5th for 2006.

Oh btw, i am going to be a freshman this fall. and some replies in this thread are really encouraging. I hope i can make it to the BBs.

Be honest: does your decision have anything to do with cost?

Also, I hope you're not Singaporean because it's way easier to get a work visa in the UK than in the US, you would have walked into a BB job with Cambridge or Imperial.

ilreceiver,

I realize its probably a prestigious school, but out of the 90 summer analysts I've been around (half of which I've spent some time with) none are from Carleton. Most are from Ivies or Stanford Duke Michigan and Williams (not joking about the last two, both have at least a few kids that stick together in these parts).

I've never met a Carleton alum on the street (when I was an SA) or in consulting.

fp175, how many people seriously never have to factor in cost when picking a school? It was a factor for me in the sense that I didn't have a trust fund to pay $200k for college; therefore, I did not consider anywhere that didn't offer me a full-ride. But even some of my friends who did have the huge college fund opted to go to a lesser school, in terms of ranking, and instead chose a place where they were offered a full-ride so they could bank the fund. To me cost seems like a huge factor, even if your parents are planning to pay for it. IMO asking someone to exclude cost would be like asking someone to exclude academics. Do you exclude salary when choosing a career? It's an important factor for the majority of people considering only 1% of Americans have an income that could afford them to drop $200k on school without taking on loans.

But you wouldn't say that people turn down Ivies because Carleton is a better school. You'd say Carleton was the best school they could afford. Some people will put themselves in complete debt and even emancipate from their families in order to fund Ivy education (I have friends who did it) because of the perceived payoffs. Cost matters, but that doesn't make Carleton 1) a better school or 2) a decent place for BB recruiting.