Undergrad Choice-advice?

don't know my undergrad rankings too well, but i've never met any brandeis, northeastern or bentley grads in IBD. i met babson and bu kids in back office roles.

honestly, you need to apply to stronger schools for a solid chance at ibd.

I think Babson has decent ops for IBD, BU probably second. I'm a junior in college so what do I really know; I'm working with other things I've heard on this forum.

Just do well wherever you end up, network a LOT (contact alumni working in banking), and yes, although it will be harder to break in from these "non-targets," if you are persistent, hard-working, and do well, you'll get there when the time comes.

I currently go to Brandeis and I can tell you that recruiting here is horrid. I also have several friends at BU, Northeastern and other colleges around the area. I can tell you Northeastern has some pretty good coops for finance and is almost a target for Asset management (mutual funds) and a couple boutiques around Boston. BU is decent but not as good for placement as Northeastern. I have never heard of Babson and Bentley students are retarded.

BW has Babson ranked the highest of the four business programs. They're probably all going to require a good amount of networking, so search LinkedIn and see where there's a big network. BB isn't going to be a given from any of these schools, though.

However, you should also think about where you're going to do well and have a good time...do you want to be at a big school or a small school? Also, Brandeis is over half-Jewish and seemed really straight laced, IIRC, while BU and NEU seemed like a bit more fun.

I'd say Brandeis if you think you'd fit in and aren't 100% sure about studying business, Babson if you want to be at a small school or care most about job prospects, and NEU if you don't care as much about prestige but want a big school and a career center that knows what it's doing (if co-ops are any indication of that). Forget Bentley and BU.

From what I have read in my own research, Brandeis' jewish population has shrunk considerably in the past few years. It is now below 50%. Word is that greek life is catching on in their campus too. It is also opening up a new business major which is to be taught by professors from the IBS there. According to LinkedIn it actually has a lot of people working at BB firms. Considering its size and that roughly 200 students major/minor in Econ and Business each year, it has the most LinkedIn users (as a percent) in investment banking (when compared to any of the other colleges I got into). The other benefit is that Brandeis is excellent at getting students into grad schools. This is not a skill that NEU has. BW has BU as the best for an MBA feeder school and its ranked in the 20s. Babson in the 30s and NEU in the 60s.

Please contradict/correct where you see fit.

Honestly, if you want BB then I strongly suggest you kick GPA ass your freshman year and transfer to a target cause none of those schools are gonna get you into a BB especially in this economy.

This is coming from someone who attends a school similar to the ones mentioned.

I go to Babson and the recruiting here is not amazing, however you can get decent IB from babson.

Rothschild is the best IB that currently targets Babson and takes a few kids a year 2 this year from a class of approx 400 other firms like BB&T and Harris Williams take Babson kids too.

BB's do take Babson kids for IB, but the definitely don't come to campus so you need to work to get in. Last year and this year have been especially tough and should get progressively easier. I know a decent amount of Babson alums at BB's including one or two from this year that are going to good places (no GS/MS though)

I think that recruitingwise you'd be best off at Babson or NEU--note the biggest downside to babson in this area is how small it is, so there aren't tons of alums. that being said alums are very helpful compared to what i've heard from other schools.

Most importantly if you do go to Babson a strong resume is a MUST because there are alot of kids at Babson wanting to do IB and just not that much recruiting...

PM me with more q's if you want

try going to Northwestern

if youre looking at the boston area, harvard, mit or tufts are the only schools at the caliber where there are a lot of alums in banking. BU, since its grad schools kick ass, is also a great bet, plus the campus is in an amazing part of boston.

Brandeis, BU, and Tufts are all good ugrad programs, ranking in 30's per the latest US News report, but they aren't heavily targeted by investment banks.

I kind of agree with the transfer point--I could've done it and careerwise I regret it a bit...(socially, I am very satisified and I personally didn't want to deal with moving and having to meet all new people etc to go to a different school)

if you are planning on transferring don't go to Babson the curriculum is too weird/different from other schools and transferring will be a pain. Also getting a 3.8 or so at BU is going to be easier than it will at Babson. (no im not saying my school is really tough or anything...its really easy to get a 3.3-3.5, but alot of professors give out very few if any A's so obviously getting above 3.7 isn't that easy) To transfer i'd say BU cause it's a good enough name and at the same time should be ok to get a 3.8+ and transfer to a target.

I'm a Northeastern Alum and i agree with most of the advice that you're getting here. Do well at a school and transfer to a target. Northeastern, however is definitely good for internships and coops. All the major banks and boutiques recruit here for internships, granted most are back and middle office but there is a healthy dose of front office positions. I can tell you UBS, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley offer a couple front office coops for top students. A lot of buy side mutual funds and a couple mid market PE firms such as American Capital Strategies also offer good internships. Good luck with your choice and PM me if you have any specific questions.

Go to the easiest school, get the highest GPA and get your ass to a target.

I'm jewish you retarded fuck and had a sister transfer outta that shit hole of a school. Brandeis sucks ass especially for finance and everything else. Why would I not be surprised if you were nblaine 88?

Whoa, i don't understand why this site always wants to degrade schools. Who cares? Brandeis is a pretty good school but for finance i would not recommend it.

I'm a 3rd year NU student and I'll try to offer some unbiased insight. I don't know any more about Brandeis than anyone else on here, but I do have friends at Babson, Bentley and BU. They always tell me how lucky we are because of the exposure to recruiting we receive and the quality of the firms that do recruit here. Now I'm no idiot-- we're not a target, but compared to the other three schools mentioned (again I have no knowledge of Brandeis), I'm convinced that we're considerably better in this field.

I've been cooping at a BB that has hired several NU grads in the past, although to be fair a lot of the positions are BO. With that said, there are a few good FO position available and (this is nothing knew or profound) you're ability to network will determine your success anywhere you go. Both my biased and unbiased opinion would be to try out NU because at least here you give your self the opportunity to wiggle in the back door of a BB firm, make a good impression, and network around. You will find many more NU alums than this site suggests. I remember having my doubts, but have been presently surprised. For instance, I know an NU grad that currently works in S&T for a BB who was actually able to snag a summer analyst interview after he cooped in PB because he was able to network with a partner who was also an NU grad. If you work hard, play your cards right and get a little lucky, you might end up in a stuffy summer FA training session in midtown sitting next to a Stern or McIntire kid who will be scratching his head wondering why there's an NU schlep sitting next to him. Although he'll mis-initial it NEU.

I will agree with the others though-- if you are dead set on IBD, you're best odds of getting that opportunity are transferring to a target after a year. Certainly it can and does happen at these non-targets, its just harder. If you do decide to take that route, NU CBA runs rampant with grade inflation and getting a 3.8 Freshman year shouldn't be an issue. Bentley and BU are also fairly easy schools from what friends say, Babson slightly less so.

Best of luck.

I definitely echo the transfer sentiment. However, I wouldn't expect an easy time at BU. They're sort of notorious for grade deflation however SMG is getting better. My advice: study a real subject (aka not business) and transfer

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/education/07education.html

Since transferring seems to be the general consensus. Between Brandeis and Northeastern, which is best to transfer from?

First off, research more about investment banking and if you're sure you want to do it, here is what I would advise:

1) Go to BU. Do very well. 2) Transfer to BC for sophomore year; aim for the Management school. 3) Do well at BC, and you should have a shot at IBD.

Transferring to BC isn't as hard as say transferring into an Ivy and you seem to want to stay in the Boston area, so I think that should be your progression.

By the way, before all you naysayers start bashing BC, realize that the school is very much an IBD / S&T target school for BarCap, Citi, UBS, GS (mostly S&T), and has unofficial IBD recruiting from MS. Then you have all your off-campus recruiting and students get opportunities at places like CS, DB, JPM and high boutiques. A lot of top MM / boutique firms recruit on campus as well (think Jef, HW).

Dipset:

do a little research before you start throwing down. BU is probably about as well known internationally as any of the "target" schools because its grad schools, being med school, a&s, etc are high quality programs.

With that, im assuming youre actually some random high school kid, probably from the southern new jersey area, who stumbled upon this site and decided to devote your time towards trying to bring other people down with ignorant baseless arguments.

and if you are from a target, i would expect much more substance from a student of that supposed caliber. admissions mistake much.

I would also opt with Northeastern. I transferred from BU to NEU and I can tell you BU gets horrendous recruiting.

Of those schools, the most impressive kids I met went to Babson. I know a few people who went to Bentley, one of them still teaches swimming at the Y. Mostly everyone I know from NU is excruciatingly stupid, but then again the few exceptions to that rule were in CBA or the engineering school. I'm from the DC area, no one's even heard of NU down there. However, it was tied with Howard in U.S. News not too long ago, that was funny. BU is...well, it's big. It's got a lot more money and prestige (maybe? well, less chest-poundingly blue-collar and more jewish, definitely better dorms & dining hall) than NU and is in a far, far better neighborhood. The girls do take a bit better care of themselves there, but in a lot of ways, BU vs. NU is like lipstick on a pig. Try for BC?

Have you heard of Villanova in Philadelphia? They offer top-tier undergraduate courses (#11 in the US - BusinessWeek). They also have a great business school which you can look into if you're serious about i-banking! You can have a look here (http://www.businessbecause.com/villanova-school-of-business.htm) for more information. Its also the 5th most populated city in the States, with outstanding museums, hip night-clubs and gourmet restaurants apparently!!

LOL @ jng!! If that's Villanova's idea of marketing then I certainly wouldn't consider it. You are about as transparent of a schill as they come.