Undergrad Business: IU (possibly) Kelley or University of Rochester

Hi,

I am currently very unsure what to do and would really appreciate any help from you guys.

First of all, what I would like to do after graduation is to work in IB in NYC. However, the way to get there and the best choices for that is what I'm struggling with finding and figuring out right now.

My dilemma is this: I am currently a rising sophomore undergraduate student (studying economics) at the University of Rochester in New York, but I am very unsure whether if this is a school that can and will get me to wall street. We don't have an undergraduate business school, so you get no help in getting internships and getting your name out there. However, at a business school, I imagine you would.
Therefore, I applied for a transfer to a few schools at the start of this year. I got into Indiana University, but when you're applying as a transfer to IU you do not automatically get into the business school (Kelley). You would need to go there for at least one semester and get a 3.5 GPA to get in (I currently have a 3.7 GPA from Rochester, which I would assume is just as hard if not harder academically). In other words, not getting into Kelley is a risk I would have to take if I were to transfer. If I don't get in, I would have transferred from a school that is ranked 34 on USNews to IU which is approximately 90 (how much does this even count?). I would imagine the chances of going IB in NYC would then be slimmer, but I honestly have no clue. What do you guys think?

In short, do you think it would be a good choice to take the risk and transfer over to IU in hopes of getting into Kelley and thereafter have an easier time going IB NYC? Or do you think it's too much of a risk with not enough upsides? Would the University of Rochester even be worse than IU without Kelley? How much better would Kelley be than Rochester if I were to get in? It shall also be noted that I would have a lot less debt going out of college if I were to transfer ($30k).

I would really appreciate any kind of answers to this. I understand that most of this process is using the alumni network your school has and getting your name out there by yourself, but I would assume the process would be a lot easier with the right school by your side.

Thank you.

 

From what I know, neither school is a target or even semi-target for NYC IB firms. With that said, It's not necessarily true that not being in a business school means you won't get a job. Lots of Economic, Stats, Math, etc. majors get jobs as well. With whichever school you end up choosing, networking is going to be the only way to land a gig. Try to keep the GPA above a 3.8 and email a ton of alumni.

 

I feel like going to Kelley gives you a better chance of getting into IB NYC than University of Rochester. When I went through IB recruiting many analysts at places like BAML, GS, and JPM came from Kelley. I go to another non-target in the big ten and I literally would filter my networking on LinkedIn for kids from Kelley because they placed well and would be willing to talk.

 

A 3.5 should be very manageable, just take some easy classes alongside your pre-business classes for Kelley. Hitting that GPA should be your #1 priority sophomore fall, with some networking on the side if you'd like. If you stay, you'd need to put some time into learning finance and accounting on your own.

The lesser loans is a good thing, the US News ranking doesn't really matter - being in a business school would help more. I think your IB goals are equally achievable in either place. Look on LinkedIn and see how many alumni there are, but I don't think URochester is the end of the world. Which school do you like better? I wouldn't leave a solid friend group and a school that you like just to slightly better your chances at IB, but if you don't like your school then it's not going to hurt you.

Array
 

I'm not sure what you mean by Kelley transfer classes. Kelley students and students hoping to transfer into Kelley take pretty much the same classes.

 

Here's the thing is that the only reason IU is nice for banking is because of their workshops and if you transfer the timeline for you might be screwed up. The thing with banking is that you can break in from anywhere with hard work. Yes, it will be easier to break in from Wharton but those kids put in the work during high school and already proved that they are capable of doing the job by being there. I come from a non-target school and alumni are more willing to help out and I was more prepared for the interviews than a lot of my peers at the HYP's you just have to grind a lot harder to get your foot in the door. Id stick it out and live on LinkedIn for the next year.

 

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