the joy of being at a non target
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I was in the same position as you just a short semester ago. Spent 2 years at a non-target state uni. Now I'm at a target (albeit in Canada). There's hope for you yet.
How hard is it to transfer into a target US school? Not going to sugarcoat this for you. It's extremely difficult unless you had stellar grades in HS and target-worthy SAT scores. The acceptance rate for transfer students into target programs like Stern, McIntire, the Ivies, etc. will usually fall between 4-8% if they even accept transfers. Even the stronger semi's like BC, Duke, etc. will have a rate of less than 10% realistically.
I'd recommend you look into schools that are "good enough" to break into IB while still having a realistic shot at admission. Public schools would include UNC, UTA, various UCAL's. Don't discount private schools. They are much more lax with transfer admissions, offer generous merit awards, and typically have great alums to network with. SMU, Rice, CMU, Claremont, etc. come to mind. Take a look at Canadian programs. The only three worthwhile are Ivey, McGill, and Queens. Ivey is likely the most competitive to break into.
Basically, cast a wide net and accept the offer from the best school you can make it into. Without knowing your HS GPA and SAT it's hard to give you any estimates. But if you get into the best school you can, perform well, and things still don't work out for you...well then at least you will be much more competitive for a solid Mfin. I would advise against staying at your current school regardless of what degree you pursue if your end goal is finance. A better brand name will open more doors for you regardless of your major.
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I'm currently a sophomore transfer student. I transferred from a non target to a semi target. Best advice I can give you is create a list of about five schools, (1 safety, 3 matches, and 1 reach, i did the same). From there just make sure you kill it during your first semester freshman year, and once December break comes around you can start working on your applications.
Like IB posted, even the semi's like BC, Duke, UVa etc... they are still very competitive to get into as transfers.
I agree with the above that you should transfer. Also, the sooner you do it, the better, so try to transfer your sophomore year.
don't forget UMich! it's not too hard to transfer in here. it is extremely hard to transfer into Ross though, but getting into the engineering school isn't so hard. I transferred from a cc to the non-engineering school here, but I'm majoring in computer science which gives me all of the same resources as somebody in the engineering school... I can't speak for other engineering majors, but don't come here (or anywhere really) and take CS unless you're either a) actually interested in cs or b) smart enough to where your disinterest won't hurt you (i.e. really fucking smart and, even then, it still wouldn't seem worth it)
Interesting you guys are calling stern, mcintyre, ross as targets while Duke is a semi target. Duke is a target for all top firms while the public ivies are at best semi targets.
nobody mentioned ross but me, I never compared it to any of the other schools, nor did I call it a target. though some people here would say that it is
I think being at a non target can turn into a good story for an interview. I think you should really work hard and try to get a 4.0, or as close to it as possible. I tried to transfer out of my current college, but ended up staying even though I had offers at ivies and other top colleges. PM me if you need more help.
Good luck!
State_of_Trance, I was speaking more on a "prestige" / brand name basis in terms of Ivies being targets. Since Wharton is really the only Ivy undergrad b-program (although I think Cornell now has something), I'd say Stern, McIntire, Haas, etc. would be "target" undergrad business programs. Of course Duke is a phenomenal school as well, I just personally would choose the aforementioned schools first had I the opportunity...
Ross is great too but like the above poster said, a transfer admit is near impossible. Come to think of it, I believe UNC's undergrad b-program rarely accepts transfers too. I may be mistaken. Check out college board's website to get info on acceptance rates and the course pre-reqs, grades, and SAT scores you will need to have for each school.
The application process should open for US schools around Jan/Feb. Deadlines vary by school between April and June. Check the common app. Canadian deadlines are much earlier (Jan/Feb), so get started as soon as you can.
If you do choose to stay, just remember that you will still be at a disadvantage for Mfin admission. A ~3.5 GPA from a target is stronger than a 4.0 from a non-target. You really have nothing to lose by transferring...
That is your personal choice but barring Wharton which obviously gets better recruiting than Duke no other school mentioned above enjoys better recruitment than Duke for both I banking and MBB consulting. Duke dominates all of those schools including Cornell by far. Even on the street, Duke is considered on par with Dartmouth and slightly above Columbia in my humble opinion from the people I have meet all over the street and even when I was interviewing with MBB on campus as well.
Although it is no Mcgill, Concordia is a surprisingly good school with top Canadian banks and firms recruiting from John Molson every year, they also have a solid network of alumnus working in finance. Believe me, I know from experience. If you can manage to work hard enough to transfer to a target, then you can manage to become competitive enough for the Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management program. The program is very competitive and constantly places students in coveted finance roles. To be honest, unless you plan to transfer to UWO Ivey School of Business, Mcgill or a top US school, Concordia offers you plenty of resources for you to land a front office role in finance, just get ready for stiff competition at any of the schools mentioned above.
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Duke above Columbia?
Yup MBB gave out 40 offers at Duke while Columbia had far lesser offers from the numbers I have. The numbers may be different for banking but for consulting Duke is dominant over Columbia and Cornell by far. Do not know about Brown placement in consulting.
Bain and Deloitte don't even recruit at Columbia which is strange. Maybe its overshadowed by HYP in the Northeast?
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