Undergrad Transfer Advice for IBD - What is the move???
Ok I'll cut to the chase. I'm a current sophomore at a non-target state university in Massachusetts (shouldn't be too hard to figure out the school I attend). The business program is decently respected in Mass and sends a lot of kids to the Big 4 every year. However, OCR for IBD is nonexistent to say the least.
I'm networking my ass off and I'm getting involved in everything possible at the school in order to land interviews but I'm 95% sure that transferring is my best option in order to hedge risk and maximize my interviews.
Here are stats & accomplishments as straight forward as I can get them.
-2020 combined SAT
-Expected 3.8 GPA after this semester
-Will have 2 strong recommendations after this semester from business law + accounting teachers
-Campus involvement chairmen of fraternity (trying to networking on linkedin with frat but not alot of alumni in IBD)
-School champion of KPMG international case competition (going to semi-finals on january 26th in Boston)
-Interned at State Street bank freshman summer
-Interviewing with Liberty Mutual financial analyst program this week for soph summer, will be networking for a local M&A IBD internship also
-Involved in school run clubs (Made analyst report on Pfizer-Allergan merge. Still working on it, will have DCF, precedent transaction comps, comparables comps, etc...)
-Did volunteering event with Frat (7,000 people pledging bone marrow)
Schools I'm applying too this winter for fall 2016
UVA
UMich (Ross)
USC
Villanova
Columbia
Cornell ilr / hotel
Northwestern
Georgetown
All of these schools would cost 25K-30K more than my current school each year, but I believe its worth it long term.
I want to know what the best move is for me at the moment. Do you guys think its worth it to transfer to one of these schools given my current situation? Which one do you think is optimal / highest chances? Or try and keep networking at my current school and pray I can land an interview? I'm also one of the only kids interested in IBD in my class at my school.
tl;dr
OP has exhausted resources at current school and wants to transfer to better school to hedge risks of not getting an interview. Wants to know what to do, so is asking internet.
Thanks everyone, any advice is appreciated. Please be blunt and straight forward.
to me, best move is ... narrow a smaller subset of schools, apply with all energy/scores/network/letters that you got, and get admitted.
Sadly, it's all talk if you don't have a transfer offer, so you can't technically do anything yet, other than get your application submitted.
bump
i'd only apply to schools with undergrad business programs or else you're going to lose some credits (assuming you've taken some business classes).
michigan ross uva mcintire cornell dyson nyu stern berkeley haas notre dame mendoza wash u olin berkeley haas boston college carroll UT austin mccombs indiana kelley emory goizueta UNC KF
pick a bunch from the above list. best of luck.
You can't do Ross without taking another year of school; they require you to spend 3 years in the school. Mendoza has never been open to transfers, but they're opening this year (likely only for freshman transfers though).
I'm interested also though. Would you be fucked for recruiting coming in as a Junior without having the time to network extensively?
@The Real Max, I don't think I would be screwed. I've heard success stories where transfers are able to twist their story into the whole "I gave up everything for this" when starting to network the second they get that acceptance email.
Also, anyone have any tips on networking into a top school instead of just straight applying. ie, meeting up with admissions officers, developing a relationship with them for a couple of months before applying etc...
Thanks for the warm responses everyone!
I think Frank Slaughtery gave you an excellent list and you should be thankful. I say There's no such thing as "networking into a UG b-school". Networking only helps in two ways, when your parents/siblings went there and you write it in the application, or when you can talk a bit more fluidly about that school's culture
The key of networking is to be genuine, long-term, and be a giver. It's probably not gonna help short-term.
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