UT Austin vs Villanova vs UMich vs NYU vs Univ of Richmond vs UGeorgia vs Fordham

I am a high school junior with a good GPA (4.0) and SAT (1440) right now but I look to take it again in the summer, I am captain of the football team and involved in many extracurriculars including the stocks and finance club. The above are a few schools I have been looking into. Assuming I got accepted to these (UMich being my reach school), which will give me the best career opportunities in Investment Banking and later on possibly Private Equity. I am not dead set on working on Wall Street as I know there are banks with other locations (ex. Charlotte, Houston, Dallas etc.), so I was just curious in general what the reputation is of these schools in this particular field and which will give me the best opportunities?
Thanks.

 
Best Response

My opinion of your list: UM stands out as best. I'd rank UT ahead of NYU mostly b/c I don't think NYU is worth the extra $$ and Austin > NYC for college imo; your job prospects are probably the same at each. This forum will sometimes lump Villanova in with other "semi-targets" thanks to its banking/finance workshop/club/fund/whatever, which puts it ahead of the last three. With Richmond and Georgia, you're probably more likely to end up in Charlotte or Atlanta than in NY.

Given your stats (is the 4.0 weighted or unweighted?), I'm surprised you don't have more reaches on your list. Sure, most Ivys/equivalents will be a long shot, but they're a long shot for a ton of people who get in. If you apply to enough of them, who knows what happens? Other than application fees and time spent on essays, what do you have to lose?

 

Where would you like to go? Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford are probably unrealistic (but don't let me stop you). Any of the other Ivies appeal to you? Northwestern, Duke, Notre Dame, Vandy, WashU, Georgetown, UVA? If you want to up your odds for one reach school in particular, consider applying early decision. Otherwise there are dozens of posts every week on WSO about "target" and "semi-target" universities. Do your homework, figure out which schools might be right for you, apply and hope for the best.

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