Unofficial Guide to Texas Target Schools

Howdy, I'm a high school senior with the goal of breaking into IB. Over the last few months, I've been doing research over schools, firms/banks, and cities in Texas. I figured that if I had a single place that broke down all the information and stats about schools, making a decision about what School to attend would have been a lot easier. This is not an alternative to you doing your own research, learning about IB has truly been a ton of fun, and I would recommend that everyone does it in their own way. That being said, if your a Texas student hoping to place in IB, I hope that this "guide" can help. Remember to look at this almost as a repository of information condensed into my opinions about the schools, none of this is objective, and if I have any advice to give, it would be tour the campuses and go where you truly see yourself 'fit'.

Every college-bound Texas HS student knows about the 10% rule, where if, as long as you're in the top 10% of your class, you get automatic admission to any public university. This is a really great opportunity for people who qualify if you don't, you're not lost yet, you just have an uphill fight ahead of you from the start. you might not be able to make it to the targets, but there are still opportunities for you to place. When it comes to Texas schools, there are 5 that you should consider before anything else

Targets:

University of Texas: Austin (UT)

This is by far the safest bet when it comes to IB placements. Not only does UT have a huge network of people on Wall Street, but the name is also universally recognized as one of the best public schools in the country. The business school here (McCombs) is extremely difficult to get into, and they almost try to flunk you out your freshman year, but if you can get persevere you shouldn't have any difficulty placing in New York or Texas IBDs. It's also important to know that everyone tries to transfer here their sophomore years. The school used to take ~500 students per year for transfer, but as of 2018, it was almost cut in half to ~250 transfer students admitted.

Pros:

  • Best IB placing school in the state.

  • Recognized name and network.

  • Austin is a really neat city with a ton of culture.

Cons:

  • McCombs is extremely difficult to get into.

  • They try to flunk you out early on, so its difficult to get a good GPA your freshman year.

  • Only School in the state that doesn't adhere to the 10% rule (as of 2018 you must be in the top 6%).

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

SMU is a really solid pick. Easier to get into, but more expensive, SMU is generally regarded as THE Ivy League school in Texas and has an extremely reputable name. SMU is located in the DFW area, so there are plenty of different opportunities for one to get internships, and networking experience. Texas does not have any real target schools, but SMU is the closest thing you're going to get when it comes to the traditional Ivy-Target experience. Because SMU is not a public university, it's important to note that the top 10% rule doesn't apply here.

Pros:

  • Ivy League Business School guaranteed to place you if you apply yourself.

  • Great name, with an even greater network.

  • In the DFW area, with plenty of internship and networking options.

Cons:

  • Extremely Expensive

  • The biggest complaint is the demographic, if diversity is your thing, there might be some conflict.

Semi-Targets

Texas A&M University (A&M)

Located in College Station, Texas, A&M is the most remote on this list, being 3 hours from Dallas on a good day and half that from Houston. That being said, A&M/Mays business school is a solid pick for those who didn't 4.0 HS and ended up not getting accepted to SMU/UT. When it comes to placements, about half of the IB placing students land in New York, the other half in Houston. The placement class from here on the list falls off quite a bit when compared to campus size, but if you apply yourself, A&M is still a strong enough school to guarantee your shot. A&M has Aggies On Wall Street a high-intensity finance program that has a 100% placement rate nearly every year. This paired with A&M's Horizon program (a networking tool, set up by A&M alumni) gives you a solid chance for Huston or New York IBs.

Pros:

  • A&M alumn love to help students place.

  • If you can make it to the higher-level programs almost 100% placement.

  • Best place to make a comeback after weaker HS years, especially if you're still in the top 10%.

Cons:

  • Mays Business School is still extremely competitive.

  • Somewhat remote, making it harder to network.

Baylor

Coming with another private pick, Baylor, in Waco Texas, is not a bad spot to apply by any means. Baylor is still a Semi-Target School, but it has a strong presence in IB every year. I have not done nearly as much research into Baylor as I have other schools during my college search, but if you want another school to apply to that has a solid IB placement chance, Baylor is known to guarantee ~5-10 IB sports annually. Because Baylor is not a public school, it doesn't adhere to the 10% rule, but if you are in the top 10% of your school, you still have a really good chance.

Pros:

  • Baylor's Investment and advisory network always places students annually.

  • Relatively large school and thus a guaranteed network to toy with.

  • Baylor has a strong name and presence nationally (great students, great football, great school).

Cons:

  • Expensive.

  • Less than 40% acceptance rate will still give you a run for your money.

The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)

The last school on the list is UTD, barely pushing it as a Semi-Target, it's not the best bet for breaking into one of the hardest industries in the world, but you still have a solid chance. Jindal's School of Management is an extremely nice school for its reputation, and that carries over for UTD as a whole. Because UTD is so new (only breaking 50 years in 2018) your not looking at that big of an alum network to work with. Again, the quality of education you're going to get here is high, but the network you will be getting is weak. Because you're just north of Dallas, you are by no means in the worst spot when it comes to your networkability, it's more the small alum base. UTD always has a couple of kids who place, this year they have one with a return offer from GS New York, but BB offers a few and far between, with most offers and SA roles coming from Boutique/EB/MM in Houston. UTD is not hard to get into, with the business school taking in applicants that have an 1130 SAT or higher, and the quality of education you're going to get there is comparable to UT's. Best bet if you attend UTD is to go into the Professional Program of Finance (PPF), a higher level finance program aimed at giving kids the best opportunities possible.

Pros:

  • Jindal is a really nice school with a great atmosphere and quality.

  • Easy to get into, making it a solid spot for sub 3.25 GPA HS students.

  • In the heart of North Dallas making networking opportunities easily available.

Cons:

  • Few BB offers, and so not the best bet for placing in IB.

  • New school means less recognition nationally.

Conclusion and Honorable Mentions

The University of North Texas (UNT), Texas Tech Unversity, The University of Texas Arlington (UTA), Trinity University are all schools that do have alumni in high finance roles, the problem is that it's not that many. To have the best chance of placement, your going to want to attend one of the 5 I put into detail, as they have to most developed programs.

I haven't yet Posted on WSO so I'm not sure if it's ok that I drop this. I only hope that someone can look at this and maybe get some ideas and where to attend and why. I'm in the spot described earlier, where I'm not in the top 10% or even top 25 due to an embarrassing HS performance. If I got offered at a target I would have loved to attend, but now I'm personally set on attending A&M; I hope that hasn't made its detail come off bias in any way. Thanks.

 

I kept Rice in mind while making this, Its important to know that all of these schools rank above Rice in finance almost everywhere. While, yes, Rice is an 'Ivy league' school its business school kinda lacks compared to others in Texas.

 

Rice doesn’t have an undergraduate business school, same as 3/4 of target schools. Rice is one of the most difficult schools to get into an some people choose it over the Ivy League, so it is a school that you can really call the “Ivy League” of Texas. I have no idea where you came up with the analysis of SMU as THE Ivy League of Texas. It it a solid school for finance in its selectivity range (50%) and I don’t doubt that they have many connections to finance companies as well as a focused business school. But there is no way that SMU students are going to have an advantage to Rice students who want to go into finance. Rice students, simply because they got into rice and succeeded in it, are extremely hardworking and “smart” in the sense that they can do the work. I’d suspect that only a small proportion of rice students want to go into finance, but they undoubtably have an extreme advantage over any Texas school, even UT Austin in many cases.

 

You forgot to mention that the alternative asset program at SMU places lights out but how is SMU known as an ivy league school in Texas ? I get that UT is a public but Rice has a lower acceptance rate and is far more competitive to get into than SMU whilst offering the same if not better opportunities to the math econ students.

 

I would be shocked if Baylor actually placed 5-10 kids a year. That's inflated unless things have changed in the last few years.

A&M skews heavier to Houston than NY (i.e. 80/20 not 50/50) - again, unless things have changed quite a bit recently. Which they actually might have since A&M completely changed the Aggies on Wall Street set up a few years ago. Still, doubt it's 50/50.

Best to worst: Texas, Rice (fewer kids trying from here it seemed like, but those that do have a great shot), SMU/A&M, everyone else.

 
SMU is generally regarded as THE Ivy League school in Texas and has an extremely reputable name.

I cringed so hard at this. There's only one Ivy League. No school in Texas compares to an Ivy League school. Rice is top tier and provides an amazing education and is probably the closest thing you could get to an Ivy League-esque experience.

Ivy League Business School guaranteed to place you if you apply yourself.

Wtf does this mean?

It is so corny to say "Ivy League of X" when regarding schools.

 

I just transferred out of one of these schools so I can shed some light. If you don't go to UT Austin, it's a lot harder to get into IB. If you want to go for Houston IB then yea you can include Rice and SMU in there. I know there's a great club at SMU but outside of that club, it's pretty hard to place into IB outside of Texas. It's not impossible, but definitely a lot harder to break into the industry

 

Saying that SMU is regarded as the ivy league school in texas is cringe and that A&M gives you a solid chance for New York IB is just wrong. But honestly for a high school senior, this could have been a lot worse.

 

Not sure how you conducted research but it's beyond inaccurate. Yes UT SMU may give you good chances, but you are NOT going to "have no difficulty" getting into IB, Houston or NYC. You will work your ass off getting grades, networking, studying and interviewing just to have a chance for either location, with NYC being much harder than Houston. You will watch 90% of freshman who said they want IB quit or fail, and most who say GS or bust settle with something like a Keybanc. Even then, they are still very impressive students that succeeded, easily top 10% overall in his year.

Also, some of your "semi-targets" like UTD, UT-Arlington or UNT has 0% chance of getting into IB. Literally no one has heard of UTD's "nice" business school in the IB world, and A&M, SMU, Baylor are semi-targets for Houston at best, maybe they put 1-5 ppl in NYC each year.

Then you shit on Rice...really? Rice is absolutely a better target than most on your list. Just about every kid who isn't a joke candidate from the school gets an IB job, it's just that the school is tiny and very few wants IB.

With this site mostly being kids who are actually committed and care about their future, you may have a distorted idea of how easy it is to get a 3.8+ in college and go through the process. Don't waste your time doing this BS research, go to the school you signed up for and talk to juniors there.

 

Out of all my friends that tried for IB only 5% actually ended up getting offers, most of which ended up being in Htx. UT is def a great school, but it isn't some magical pipeline to IB.

Also, onto UTD, I know of one person in the last three years that made it into IB, in Houston, at a very mid-tier middle market bank. Check LinkedIn if you don't believe me

 

lmao at calling SMU anything close to being an Ivy League

and yes even at UT you will struggle to place in NYC IB. Lol at 'no difficulty'

the funniest thing is this kid is in high school and hasnt spent a day in college let alone go through recruiting processes and have notes

His ranking (in numbers) is correct to large extent apart from the obvious missing of Rice which after UT is probably your best bet. Additionally, TCU does way better than UTD

 

If you want Houston IB, Rice is better than UT.

Gonna point something out that rarely gets pointed out on this forum because of all the UT boner kids but for IB you need to be in the UT business honors program. The UT BHP has around 500 students and its not uncommon for about 50-100 of those kids to go for IB internships at some point during UG. Not to mention all the non BHP UT students that show up to informationals in the HUNDREDS. Literally hundreds of UT students will try and get interviews for IB positions.

At Rice, primarily out of interest, there are 50ish people total legit gunning and going for IB, sometimes less. Every bank with a Houston office shows up to campus to recruit and you are 5 min from downtown if you want to network. The chances you get a BB/EB bank in Houston are higher for Rice Students than UT students just ask people in the industry.

NYC is a different story but UT BHP does send some but it's not a cakewalk.

Also the SMU alternative asset program does well but calling it an "Ivy-League" experience is a huge stretch. Rice is the closest you will get to an Ivy League experience, small private school, less than 5,000 UG students, incredibly academic, and expensive as fuck.

 

Congrats on SMU, my man. Hope you get over your insecurities soon.

 

I’m at TAMU, I personally know around 20 people my year doing IBD, at least 8/9 of those are in NYC. don’t know if we just had a good cohort or what but there are definitely some grinders at A&M.

 

Let's be honest. Rice and UT are the only "targets" for texas high finance. UT has better volume in feeding into these places, but Rice has better efficiency. All the other schools have more or less decent shots but you definitely need to work more. There's no point in differentiating like this. Go to the best school you get into (if possible), network, learn technicals, and stop wasting your time in this pointless opinion piece.

 

Got to Corporate Banking from a super non-target TX school that’s not even listed here. It was extremely hard so I can’t even imagine how tough it would be to get to IB.

Once I got a BB on my resume and got my foot in the door on the Corp Banking side I had a couple of opportunities to go from Corp Banking to DCM internally. Also got offers from a few lower MM IB shops. 

It is going to be very, very hard to jump straight to IB from a TX non-target. I personally haven’t seen it happen.

If IB is your goal I would only bother with Rice and UT. Only see A&M/TCU kids in Houston. SMU seems OK for IB in NY but chances are if you’re going there you’re probably rich and your parents can make a few calls for you.

 

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