Stern vs Other Targets

Hey y'all, rising senior in an international school outside of the US. Likely want to work in buy-side finance: (PE/Sovereign Wealth Funds/Impact Investing/HF), and am hoping to get an IB job out of undergrad that positions me best for this. It would be absolutely amazing if I could get one at a BB/Elite Boutique, but I know that they're quite difficult to snag, so I'm trying to find colleges that would best help me for this. 

School college counsellor says that I have a shot at every college I'm considering (bunch of targets and semi-targets, also have couple of safeties). I think I'm going to apply early decision to Penn-Wharton because I've heard good stuff about Penn as a whole (seems like a good fit for me in terms of culture), and Wharton pretty much speaks for itself. 

I'm considering applying ED 2 - either to Stern or U Chicago, because I feel like I have a pretty solid chance at both. Honestly neither of them seem to be the '"ideal fit" for me in terms of culture (Stern doesn't have the proper campus experience that I want, and U Chicago is infamous for being nerdy/unidimensional/). But I'm willing to compromise a bit on culture if it means I get access to better opportunities. I'm assuming all top colleges would have a decent standard of teaching that challenges me and allows me to learn useful stuff. 

Are other colleges like Cornell Dyson, Duke, Dartmouth, U Chicago, etc as good as Stern for recruiting? I know the numbers place Stern super high above the others but is that because Stern as a business school has a self-selecting pool of hardos, while other colleges' students aren't as unanimously keen?

It's kind of difficult for me to quantify the chances I have at different colleges, but am probably a lot more likely to get accepted ED 2 into stern, rather than through regular decision at other top b-schools like Dyson, Ross, etc, or at non b-school targets.  

If stern really does have a better name than T20 schools, I'm most likely going to ED 2 Stern. If it's only as good, or less of a target than the others, I'm a lot more ambivalent because I have to then weight up higher chances at Stern with better fit/culture at other colleges. 

TL;DR How do places like Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Michigan, Berkeley compare to Stern in prestige/recognition in the industry? 

 

If you are set for banking, then there is no other better place than to be in NYC, as networking is paramount in getting an internship, etc. 

However, if you are not totally set on banking, then other Ivy league schools definitely open more options than Stern, as Stern is very focused on finance.

Either way Ivy or Stern, can't go wrong with both options in terms of IB if you work hard enough.

 

If you are set for banking, then there is no other better place than to be in NYC

Columbia students reading this will have a stroke.

 

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