UT vs USC vs Vanderbilt vs Emory for Undergrad

Vanderbilt I would say is the most recruited from for IB if not UT Austin. If you want to be on the east coast, e.g. NYC banking then go to the school most on the east coast. Sure you can move, I knew a girl at USC who did an IB internship at GS in Utah then FT in NYC. However, you want to increase chances, and make things easier on yourself. If it was me, I'd choose Vanderbilt.

I’d vote for USC, but then again I go there... Semitarget for NYC, target for west coast. It’s also adult Disneyland. Vanderbilt is probably a good balance between NYC and Dallas. UT obviously is great for Texas- probably the best. Emory isn’t my cup of tea and I don’t know much about it.

For NYC it probably all of them just above Emory. For Texas it would probably be UT>USC> candy/Emory For west coast USC>UT>Vandy>Emory

vandy or emory for nyc, don't bother with usc or UT(unless BHP)

Is finance a problem? If yes I'd probably go to UT.

Otherwise are you white? If yes, go to Vanderbilt.

If not, I'd probably choose USC.

Out of those options, UT isn’t the best choice if you’re gunning for NY. There are roughly 10-12 non-diversity spots in NY for UT kids. Like someone else mentioned, the WSFM program places relatively well but it’s extremely hard to get in. Being BHP doesn’t matter for banking recruiting. However, UT places lights out in Houston. Every bank recruits and there are plenty of spots.

Given the state of things, and unless you are ultra passionate about O&G and Houston, I would not factor in that location in your decision.

I've lived on both coasts--Vandy has the best reputation and "prestige" nationwide. I understand UT's perception in the south and in Texas but nationwide is different. If money isn't a factor and you don't have a preference for the west coast, Vanderbilt seems like a no brainer.

Honestly it's either Emory or Vandy for NYC. For IB Vandy for Management Consulting Emory. Going to USC and aiming for NYC is silly and UT really isn't prestigious what so ever.

won’t speak to other schools cause I don’t know but for Emory we place about 30-40 kids annually to nyc IB (EB/BB/top MM). That probably isn’t as much in absolute value but in relative terms I’d say thats pretty good.

Enory’s undergraduate business class size is 500 with probably only 100-150 kids really gunning for IB the odds aren’t too bad.

Past year believe we placed 2-3 Lazard, 2-3 PWP, 1-2 Moelis, 1 CVP, 1 Evercore, 1 Greenhill, 2-3 Guggenheim. Emory is weaker for the BB but does place 1-2 for most/all the BBs.

All this is nyc btw. Once again not sure how it stacks against the others

For Houston hands down UT. 30k is a lot for a public school though, and while the other options are really expensive, they aren't significantly more than UT. But UT doesn't place nearly as well in NY.

Emory is a nice school, but placement is weak compared to the other schools on the list. You'd probably have a good experience going there though.

USC is a great feeder for west coast offices, but you seem more interested in NY and Houston, where USC is much weaker. True some people place in NY every year but no more than Emory.

Vanderbilt is probably your best bet. Definitely a solid semitarget. Good placement. But most importantly, the best balance. It's an SEC school, you'll have a great time there. But at the same time you're not sacrificing anything in terms of recruitment going there.

I think UT is one of the best places to go with. It's a core school for every single Houston offices. Also I was surprised how UT places so well to NYC as well (I'm not UT alum or student). It's a core school at EVR, MoCo, and PJT. But downside is, recruiting at UT is very certain club-oriented. If you cannot get into one of those and Wall St program they have in B-School, I would say other schools are better.

USC is a very well-respected school. And maybe it will be more difficult to go to NYC, but chances are you may love working in Cali. You are already talking about Houston, so I suspect the location of your work is not set in stone. USC has an incredible campus, student life, weather, and a well developed business school w/ many international programs, competitions, clubs etc.. It is also very large so you will surround yourself with a ton of people with similar interests. Placement, as the other poster has said, is not bad.

UT is good too. It places well into NYC and out of the park for Texas. Starting salary is similar to Emory's, even though McCombs is probably less selective. UT is cheaper, which is an important consideration.

My best advice to you is to really consider what you want your college experience to be like and what you want to study (business or econ).

I can speak to UT, but am not as familiar with other schools. BHP doesn’t really matter for IB (but MBB only hires BHP out of mccombs fwiw), what generally matters is getting into investment groups and the two IB feeder orgs on campus (IBA/WSFM). Some recruiting teams seemingly exclusively recruit out of the IBA/WSFM resume books. Placement Evercore NY is pretty into UT, there are several senior MDs who are alumni, and consistently like 4ish? (estimating here) SAs in the NY office. Other SAs at GS/JPM/Moelis/PWP/Gugg in NY (also some Rothschild/PJT recently/Jefferies/Greenhill thrown in there occasionally), pretty much every bank in Houston, couple kids in SF (GS, Qatalyst afaik). Have to say, a lot of kids will recruit/have the goal of NY but have to do Houston instead just because banks aren’t taking endless UT kids, but there’s decent numbers in NY. UT is great for Houston.

In regards to the other schools: Vandy definitely has the most prestigious name in my opinion if you care for that sort of thing, great brand overall. Emory doesn’t really have a great presence on the street from my knowledge, beautiful school though. USC I don’t know much about..friends who went there weren’t in Marshall or the business scene.

I’m sure you’ll do well at any of those schools though! Tough decision but you’ll be able to succeed wherever as long as you work for it.