How is Baruch College's reputation in the general field of Finance in NYC?

I am contemplating of re-directing may career projection into the Finance field after my military tenure with the US Marines and looking to do so by attending a Masters Program in Baruch College?

All of your suggestion/s are very much appreciated. I am looking forward in listening to your valuable opinions.

 

currently go to baruch ug. agree with tekno, great location and great resources. shitty recruiting, but strong alumni in great places that can pull through if you know how to network. PM with questions.

 

Ditto to what tekno and paulson_01 said. Which Masters program are you looking into? The MBA is getting better but still very behing the elite. On the other hand, our Masters in Financial Engineering program has improved drastically and is competing for a top 5 spot. But let us not argue over silly rankings. What are you interested in?

 

I am very much interested in hedge funds. I know that it is very hard to break into, but I am willing to try.

I pre-suppose that an MS in Finance can complement my MBA in my effort in breaking into the HF scene.

What is your skinny on my approach? Do let me know...your opinion is highly apprciated.

ChimpUSMC

 

yeah, CUNY is a joke. but the top 15 students or so always place and always go front office. 15 students out of 15,000 is extremely small, but it is definitely the "big fish in a small pond" type of thing. i know for a fact we have about 20+ with FO SA offers (including myself), most of them being in IBD and ALL of the ones I know of are BB (except a Rothschild FT). Take honors courses, talk to everyone at the career development center a lot, and network, and you'll be fine. Namely because with such a small percentage of people that make it, the alumni is extremely keen to hook up anyone competent enough.

 

jimbo...semper fidelis!

I already went the B-school route. I have an MBA from a not so well-known institution. I was thinking that MS in Finance can complement it.

What is your skinny on my idea?

Do let me know....yout opinion is highly regarded.

ChimpUSMC

 
Best Response

No, I'm an undergrad (lower junior). I feel like we probably know each other

Baruch is the most "diverse" school in America. Being a public school, most students aren't as well off as Ivy kids and have to work very hard. Over 3/4 of my friends work at least part-time while being a full time student. My brother would work from 9-5 and go to school at night while he was a Baruch student, and this is very common here. This level of determination and the work ethic that is developed earlier on is appreciated by recruiters, and Baruch is growing in popularity. No one here said Baruch is the next Harvard, but if you are smart and dedicated enough, you can get in IB from Baruch. Like Paulson said, we have a number of people in BB's (both SA and FT), whether it be Goldman Sachs or Merrill Lynch.

The investment banking club is a great resource as well, as the majority of the officers/founders have secured positions at BB's and can provide you with great contacts. Besides programs like SEO, there is a Wall Street Careers Program that has been very successful as well.

Should Baruch be your first choice? NO. But don't be too quick to cross it off. Especially not the Masters in Financial Engineering program.

 
cambaz:
No, I'm an undergrad (lower junior). I feel like we probably know each other

Baruch is the most "diverse" school in America. Being a public school, most students aren't as well off as Ivy kids and have to work very hard. Over 3/4 of my friends work at least part-time while being a full time student. My brother would work from 9-5 and go to school at night while he was a Baruch student, and this is very common here. This level of determination and the work ethic that is developed earlier on is appreciated by recruiters, and Baruch is growing in popularity. No one here said Baruch is the next Harvard, but if you are smart and dedicated enough, you can get in IB from Baruch. Like Paulson said, we have a number of people in BB's (both SA and FT), whether it be Goldman Sachs or Merrill Lynch.

The investment banking club is a great resource as well, as the majority of the officers/founders have secured positions at BB's and can provide you with great contacts. Besides programs like SEO, there is a Wall Street Careers Program that has been very successful as well.

Should Baruch be your first choice? NO. But don't be too quick to cross it off. Especially not the Masters in Financial Engineering program.

ses - as much as this sucks - these banks just don't care. Is your dad a managing director? NO! Do you work possibly even harder that the ivy leaguers - chances are yes in a LOT of cases (cuz u work + school with good grades + all these clubs and activities, etc.) BUT since they figgure that you went to Baruch because u were stupid rather than because u were EXTRA capable to go to school and get good graes and meanwhile have a full time job to support yourself and possibly your family, they figure OK we'll give top baruch sctudent' a chance at.....ops lets say... so there, better make some contacts fast, otherwise the only option is ops- and that is only if u're in high 3.8 +

 
MarketsBabe:
ses - as much as this sucks - these banks just don't care. Is your dad a managing director? NO! Do you work possibly even harder that the ivy leaguers - chances are yes in a LOT of cases (cuz u work + school with good grades + all these clubs and activities, etc.) BUT since they figgure that you went to Baruch because u were stupid rather than because u were EXTRA capable to go to school and get good graes and meanwhile have a full time job to support yourself and possibly your family, they figure OK we'll give top baruch sctudent' a chance at.....ops lets say... so there, better make some contacts fast, otherwise the only option is ops- and that is only if u're in high 3.8 +

Marketsbabe, I almost gave your post some credibility, until I read some over your other posts. It seems you are not even in banking. Did someone from HR tell you they assume people from Baruch are stupid and they don't care? Or again, like most college students on this board, you are pulling information out of your ass?

That being said, while Baruch obviously doesn't place as well as NYU or the Ivies, you will see about 1 or 2 in a FT class (at least at my bank). You have an advantage by being in the city. A lot of people intern during the semester, and then turn that into a summer internsip.

 
MarketsBabe:
BUT since they figgure that you went to Baruch because u were stupid rather than because u were EXTRA capable to go to school and get good graes and meanwhile have a full time job to support yourself and possibly your family, they figure OK we'll give top baruch sctudent' a chance at.....ops lets say... so there, better make some contacts fast, otherwise the only option is ops- and that is only if u're in high 3.8 +

You are right in that they might usually think like that. I never argued that Baruch is a target. It is NOT. I'm just arguing that a very small portion of Baruch students are driven and hungry individuals who work very hard and get FO positions. Yes sometimes it is SEO, and sometimes it is their contacts. And sometimes it may even be because they have great grades and are finance majors that have excelled at their part time job at a hedge fund or PWM. Does it really matter how they got it? It's all about the bottom line.

Wall Street Careers Program

Class of 07: 15 seniors had FT FO offers at companies including GS, JPMorgan, ML, LB, Barclays, Wachovia. Class of 08: 9 juniors in the program have FO summer internship offers at companies such as CS, GS, Citi, JPMorgan, ML, and Bear Sterns.

This is a very new program and there are other students with FO offers at BB's that weren't in it.

I'm a lower junior, so I have one more summer before graduating. There are plenty of smart Baruch students. Not everyone can afford a 45K/year education. I got a 1520/1600 3.7 GPA.. Hopefully that will be enough to get noticed from Baruch.

 

Basically you go to these programs for two things. 1) What you learn and 2) recruiting options.

I think the MSc finance is probably a good route to go. But it's also going to be driven by recruiting opportunities at the school. I'm not really up on what they look like out of Baruch. I know NYU and columbia have good programs. Would you consider/be able to get into one of those? I'd be much less reluctant to recommend them.

 

I had a great high school GPA and high SAT score, however, I choose to go to Baruch Honors College. Mainly because tution would be free and they gave $7500 for study abroad. However, I quickly realzed that if I wanted a front office position at a BB I would have to start building my resume early. Mainly through networking I got a unpaid internship in September at a boutique Ibank. Recently, I leveraged that into a paid internship at a boutique M&A IBank. Slik Vik, the Macaulay Honors College is a good program but if you want secure a front office position you really have to show that you are a star at Baruch, and constantly network.

 

I know this is a really old discussion, but I have to say that I went through LinkedIn and I was super impressed by Baruch's presence-saw many people on Wall St at top co's in top positions.

 

It doesn't matter how you start, it only matters how you finish. Corny? Yes, I know. I graduated from Baruch many many years ago. I landed a mid office job at Bear Stearns and parlayed that over time and through different firms to become a bond trader. Now I am an investment banker at a growing boutique. If you get into and Ivy that is great. However it is not the only key that opens the door. I know a lot of guys and gals that have done extremely well for themselves that didn't go Ivy or work in BB firms.

 

In all honesty, Baruch is targeted for ops.... a small minority that makes it to BB's/MM's front office slots ...are those students that have 3.9+, started their own organization, great work experiences etc...

and in my opinion if you are smart enough to get a 3.9+ at Baruch you probably should have gone to NYU and gotten a 3.5+....

Try to see if your friend can get into NYU...if all else fails then going to Baruch is ok....but tell him to try to transfer to NYU after having a near 4.0 GPA at Baruch which is not that hard imo....worst case scenario if your friend stays at Baruch for 4 years and he maintains a near flawless record at the school....then he has a really good shot to be in the front office of a BB or MM

 

I go to Baruch. It's definitely a back office target. However, there is a small group of people in Baruch who are very smart, dedicated and hard working, and they tend to make it into BBs. They don't need to have 3.9+'s, only 3.65+'s.

Aside from GPA, don't discount the NY connection. I have consistently worked in a financial firm throughout my 2 years at Baruch, and now have an incredibly impressive resume in terms of work experience. I don't mean to say that sounding cocky, but the work experience you get while at Baruch can't be topped (aside from Columbia and NYU, of course).

Lastly, students have the same yearning to be bankers as do NYU Stern kids. It's a product of living/working in NYC. As I'm sure analysts who have come to NY can agree with, everyone in NYC is/was a banker. It's hard not to be driven into the industry. So when you have a school the size of Baruch, full of students who are probably working and struggling financially, a byproduct is going to be a decent chunk of students who make it into banking.

And I can second the earlier comment claiming 20ish MM/BB interns. That's for banking only though, Baruch also places well into S&T and Research. Being neighbors with Credit Suisse doesn't hurt either.

That being said, your chances of making it into a BB from another respectable, well known school is significantly better. If you can make it into banking from Baruch, you can make it into banking from just about anywhere. So if there is no other reason for you to go to Baruch, and you've been accepted to another school, go there.

 

Go to Baruch. I can echo a lot of what wannabebanker says. I would emphasize the importance of alumni though. The best 2-5% make front-office every year... which means that we have built a decent presence throughout the years. I've been able to find people in nearly every position at nearly every BB, and they've jumped on the opportunity to help me (including eventually pushing my resume).

I agree with everyone though when they say to choose NYU over Baruch if possible. Obviously.

 
paulson_01:
Go to Baruch. I can echo a lot of what wannabebanker says. I would emphasize the importance of alumni though. The best 2-5% make front-office every year... which means that we have built a decent presence throughout the years. I've been able to find people in nearly every position at nearly every BB, and they've jumped on the opportunity to help me (including eventually pushing my resume).

I agree with everyone though when they say to choose NYU over Baruch if possible. Obviously.

Paulson01, do you have a high GPA? I often think that the alums will only help you if you have a very high GPA. otherwise, they won't help you as much.

 

I go to Baruch (but I will be at Northwestern in the fall...) and agree with what has been said. All BB's come for on-campus recruiting for operations. They specifically say Baruch is a target for operations in their information sessions.

I know Baruch students in IB summer/full-time analysts positions from almost all BB's. SEO is big here.

 

Also a Baruch student here and yes, BBs often come on campus for ops, but certainly not exclusively. I have a friend in my class who's at GS for tax as an intern and I myself was given an opportunity with JPM IBD so...it's definitely an emerging target. Baruch alums also seem to reach alot more to other Baruchians in hope of pushing them in the door - its a win-win situation. As another commenter said, there's a big difference between going to Baruch and leaving debt free and having the freedom to go to a Big4 (another major recruiting group at Baruch) or a BB vs going to NYU or Columbia and being hindered by student loans that make getting into IBD and end all be all, primarily because of the pressure to earn a salary that'll help you pay off student loans. Many Baruch students are also 1st or 2nd generation which oftentimes is reflected into their work ethic and ambition. In any case, in terms of economics and exit ops, Baruch is starting to look pretty darn good. Don't underestimate us : p

 

Applying to NYU is one thing and getting in is another so Baruch is a safe bet. It's a decent school but the chances of getting into IB from there are small because you have to go over the top networking and get lucky, but it's not impossible. You do get hired into Middle office and back office a lot.

Do what you want not what you can!
 

Auvee.....you need to network with your classmates. Baruch had a large Summer analyst group this past summer. Ask them, since you're in the same shoes and they got theirs in the door already

 

I wouldn't exactly call Baruch a target per se, but they do have some alums on the street. As commuter already pointed out the best way to get in from a non-target is to network with your alumn who have broken the ranks.

 

As a former student at the school, I truly feel sorry for those who think they can come out of Baruch and land a job at a BB. Most people at the school are really delusional and set unrealistic goals for them selves. It wasn't completely impossible back in the early 2000's to come out of that school with an offer at a BB but those days are long gone.

80% OF GAPS FILL.
 

Get real. Baruch is a joke. All you need to do to get in is spell you name.

"If Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." -Steve Jobs
 

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan both recruit on campus for Investment Banking, S&T, and IB Risk divisions. I know students who have landed a summer internship sophomore year, junior year, and obtained the full time offer in various bulge brackets (name any one and you will find a few students).

If you are a top student and have a good story, you will get the offer (just like anyone else from a target school)

Also take a look at the FLP program: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/careers/flp/flp_success.html.

 

Baruch as a school is not a target school at all. It doesn't mean that banks don't interview Baruch students for IBD/AM positions.... JPM recruiters a good number of students from Baruch every year.

Most companies recruiter for MO and BO jobs at Baruch.

 

definitely not a target, but networking opportunities are insane based on location. With enough drive and good networking, you can land solid IBD - but don't think you're on the same level as H/P/Y/W

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 

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