UVA or Princeton

by a long shot

UVA will definitely get you a job in banking. Of course, you have to perform like at any other college, but plenty of UVA kids enter into banking. Lots of banks recruit there.

UVA also has a business program. I'm not sure if Princeton does or not (I'm no ivy leaguer). If it doesn't, you really shouldn't go to Princeton and major in something you aren't interested in if your goal is to be a banker.

Princeton is obv. better but UVA is a phenomenal school plus it is very prestigious. you won't be at a disadvantage in terms of anything if u attend UVA. maybe fewer recruiting events, like 5 GS events at princeton vs. 3 at UVA but thats about it.

aguy, I think you misread what I was saying. I didn't say that you had to go to an undergrad business program. My point was that if you want to go into finance, why do a non-finance undergrad when a finance undergrad will be a lot more interesting to you and get you to the same place? Princeton clearly a more recognized and prestigious school. However, I'd reckon people don't go to Princeton thinking "I want to be a banker." They go to Princeton thinking "I want to be an XYZ" and then get interested in and become bankers. Anyways, I don't want to derail the OP's thread.

Why go to a nonbusiness school when you want to do business? Maybe because tons of college kids find out they want to do something different than what they thought coming out of high school. Additionally, having a Princeton degree simply opens doors for you; the alumni network is as deep as any in the world and the college resources are bottomless.

UVa is the best state school in the land and a great place for 99% of kids to go, but if you have a choice between Princeton and anywhere besides Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or Wharton, you'd be crazy to pass up Princeton.

"You'd be crazy to pass up Princeton"

unless you wanted to have more fun that is...

This thread is (predictably) turning into another college vs. college gunshow and whining-fest.

Here's one thing that no one has mentioned yet. UVA is at least three times the size of Princeton. Say what you will about the quality of either school's graduates and they quality of their alumni networks etc. UVA still has three times as many alums alive and out there. I started to notice that my friends who went to Michigan are CONSTANTLY running into alums partly because there are so many of them out there. At least something to consider.

All the banks recruit at both schools and in pretty big numbers. Off the top of my head, I think my BB hired one or two more summers from UVA than Princeton (but still far more from Princeton if you control for school size). Subjectively, the Princeton name still has a cache that UVA probably can't match.

I cant event believe people are entertaining this. If you are accepted to both school the obvious choice is Princeton, hands down, Period. End of Discussion!

Get into Princeton first, and then worry about making a decision. You'll have fun at both places, and get a great education at both. And if your still a senior in high school, you have no idea if in two years you'll want to be an investment banker. Go where you'll enjoy the academics/people the most, not what you think will be better for you in 4-5 years (you will do fine out of both places regardless)

Princeton may have more prestige, but if you have a passion for business at a young age then there's no point in studying (and possible struggling) at Princeton in a subject that you don't even enjoy. I can't say much about UVA, but if you really excel there, you can be just as successful.

you haven't even sent in apps yet if my time frame is correct. kid you're thinking WAY to far ahead.

but to address your question anyway, there is little difference between UVA and top schools for getting into finance. Princeton/etc your alumni connects/prestige will be a bit better, and you will be ok with a lower GPA. at UVA you will want a high GPA but that is EASY. (Princeton is one of those country club schools so maybe it's easy too.) plus Princeton will set you back 40k/yr more than UVA unless they're doing that no tuition thing. even if parents are paying you can spilt the diff with them and put it in stocks.

basically your main concern should be which place has more fun and hotter chicks, and I'm pretty sure that's UVA.

The only reason you would go to UVA over an ivy is if you're getting a full ride. Saying that going to either school will give you similar opportunities is absurd

This is silly. Princeton by a longshot. You'll have a good shot at banking even with a 3.0 at Princeton.

Yeah the guy's original question was "Which school has a better reputation on Wall Street?" I don't think it's even close...

You cant really go back and make this decision again..... theres a lot of kids that come out of ohio state..... but not a lot of them are going to be good for positioning yourself into banking. In a world where the name on your resume matters more than what you know...... going to princeton is the easy decision no matter what you plan to do in life.....

From the above, it is quite clear that Princeton has a better reputation than UVA and will open more doors. The question is: do you spend four years at a better college and study whatever it offers, or do you go to a lesser school and study something that you actually want to study?

I'm guessing, from the OP's desire to be an investment banker, that he is very interested in business / career progression. I think he would be pretty miserable at Princeton compared to UVA. If both get him where he wants to go, why choose misery?

If he takes Econ at Princeton, he will have some business related exposure, but I know Princeton's econ program is very quantitative and has little exposure to finance (but its still one of the best in the country).

If he can enjoy the liberal arts program, go to Princeton, join an eating club (Ivy, TI etc), and have a merry time for four years. I have 15-20 friends there and not only do they love their major, they have a great time every couple days out of the week.

I'd have to go with Princeton. It's actually quite ridiculous (on the verge of sickening) how much finance recruiting goes on here. In addition to the large amount of BB recruiting, you have HF's and PE shops that don't hire in too many places. Blackstone was here on Sept 27, and other names that come to mind are Citadel, DE Shaw, Lazard, and a bunch of less known places.

The student body is also second to none. You get the opportunity to learn from and test yourself against the best of the best, and if your interest is business, you'll find many driven likeminded students and some great business-oriented organizations on campus. And, of course, the alumni network is great - if you're a freshman looking for a good internship, this is invaluable. If alumni donation percentage is any metric, Princeton alumni are among the most loyal you'll find.

The question is: do you spend four years at a better college and study whatever it offers, or do you go to a lesser school and study something that you actually want to study?

Not necessarily true. One of the luxuries of coming to Princeton, as I've discovered after coming here, is that you can major in Art History and still work at Goldman afterwards. In most colleges, if you want to worry about putting bread on the table after graduation, you don't have that kind of freedom. Heck, for the '07 grads, I think Philosophy majors had the highest average graduating salary (~71K). This gives you a lot of freedom. Even at UVA, you don't really have this degree of freedom.

But if your primary interest is finance, check out Princeton's Operations Research and Financial Engineering degree. It's the biggest department in the engineering disciplines, and some outrageous percentage of ORFE majors work for GS/Blackstone/DE Shaw and the like.

Look, before I came to Princeton, I kind of thought people made way too big a deal about big brand name colleges, but since when you get down here, you see that doors really DO seem to magically open for you...

On the surface, if you compare the two schools, Princeton seems like the obvious choice. However, if you compare the McIntire School of Commerce to Princeton, it may not be so obvious. One person said that,

"Off the top of my head, I think my BB hired one or two more summers from UVA than Princeton (but still far more from Princeton if you control for school size)."

I think that if you control for the small size of McIntire (~350 kids per year), and the grossly disproportionate number of people who go to wall street from McIntire (relative to UVa in general), then you'd find that the number of people recruited to BB's from McIntire is comparable to most targets.

Also, I believe that people tend to perform better academically when they're happier in their environments. So if you're some frat star from Woodberry / St. Chris / Collegiate, you'd probably be miserable at Princeton and not perform as well as you would at McIntire (assuming you get in 2nd year).

There are also financial considerations. You don't want to be paying off college loans the rest of your life like some kind of pauper (being facetious- don't PM me your life story about how your family came over on a banana boat, and everyone's working two jobs to pay for your education and some 30-year mortgage).

If you are truly dedicated to finance, and are already reading the WSJ daily, then I think you'd enjoy McIntire more than some Econ program. (Caveat: I only have experience in McIntire, so I can't make the comparison for you).

EDIT: for those of you who are interested in a breakdown of McIntire's Class of 2007 "Destinations Report" with information on graduate's salaries, industries, geographies, etc.:
http://www.comm.virginia.edu/career_services/2007InteractiveDestination…

If your sole goal is investment banking, then there is really no difference between Princeton and UVA (if you are in the undergrad business program). Both will get you jobs on Wall Street. It's not like you are looking at a state school with no on-campus recruiting, as long as you do well in school, you'll have a good shot coming from each. Princeton is a strong brand name, but UVA has an exceptional reputation for finance.

Sincere there is very little difference in terms of recruiting, I would base your ultimate decision on where you would enjoy your 4 years in college more, New Jersey or Virginia, type of students, type of environment, etc. Also keep in mind, that UVA will be a more linear path, whereas you can take a broader path. If banking/finance is ultimately not what you want to do, then you're going to have more options coming from Princeton than UVA.

If you do a survey of people who work in hard-to-get jobs (banking, consulting, PE, HF, etc.), ask them about the Princeton vs. UVA.

I have a feeling that all these pro-UVA people have no idea what they are talking about...

If you do a survey of people who read the link I posted, I have a feeling they'll tell you that:

54.4% of McIntire grads go into finance (IB, S&T, Corp Fin) 27% of McIntire grads go into consulting

It's just a feeling though.

Warren Buffett certainly has a point, you can't argue the statistics.

And for the record, I work in banking and am pro-UVA based on the assumption that finance is what interests the OP. So, as of right now, your survey is 100% incorrect.

No offense to anybody but there shouldn't even be a debate about this. Unless you're getting a free ride at UVA, go to Princeton, no matter what you want to do.

UVA is a good school but you can't compare it to Princeton, plus UVA is a little overhyped in my opinion.

jesus, go to princeton and if you hate it transfer to UVA. Unfortunately if you go to UVA and regret the decision you can't transfer to Princeton.

After re-reading this thread, I have to ask: has the OP even gotten into both these places? If he's a HS senior, he won't be hearing from UVA or Princeton till March (since they don't have early admission). So why not make your application really great instead of fretting about one school or the other?

Hey, you may be a smart guy, and you may well make UVA and Princeton. But until it happens, it's silly to ask a message board for advice on which one to go to.

If you have gotten in to both, Princeton. If you say anything else you're a fucking retard. Alsom if you have not gotten in and you are tossing up between UVA and Princeton chances are you will not get into Princeton so UVA it is.

It's amazing how no one has presented any statistical or anecdotal evidence supporting their claims that Princeton is superior to McIntire in placement for finance careers.

Again,

54.4% of McIntire grads go into finance (IB, S&T, Corp Fin) 27% of McIntire grads go into consulting

If anyone thinks that Princeton has similar placement, I'd be interested to hear your evidence, whether it be anecdotal or grounded in some published statistic. Here's my evidence: http://www.comm.virginia.edu/career_services/2007InteractiveDestination…

so what WB? what percentage of those going into IB or consulting are going to MM shops?

I realize that you are just defending your school and whatever which is fine, but honestly, Princeton is arguably one of the best schools in the world; UVA is just a really good state school.

The simple way to put this to equalize for all these things (since it seems so difficult for some people) is ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL if you had someone from Princeton and someone from UVA, who would you put your money on to get that coveted IBD job?

Also UVA isn't the best public school, Berkeley definitely is way more ridiculous.

"you won't be at a disadvantage in terms of anything if u attend UVA."

sure you will. Head to P-town.

If you do well at either school you will put yourself in a good position to get an IB job. I think that it comes down to whether you are all about the big state school sports/southern flare/frat or the academics and ivy league stature of Princeton.

All I am saying is that you go to UVA over Princeton you start to shut doors, e.g. these hypotheitcal situations:

You change your little I want to IB mind towards doing: theoretical mathematics, quantum physics, become president, etc. You can do al this at UVA but welcome to the middle of the line, which is no where near Easy Street.

You go to Princeton and you now have residence on Easy Street

It is that simple

What the hell are you talking about tbroker?

I like the idea of heading to pton, and if you dont like it transfer. transferring from pton is extremely easy, people will think youre crazy since it's a one way school so if you pick pton, you can end up at uva, but not the inverse...

Princeton. It'll open a lot more doors down the road. Princeton on your resume will carry far more weight no matter what job you are going after.