West Coast Semi Targets
Hey, So I have heard that the West Coast targets are primarily Stanford, Berkeley, and UCLA. I was wondering what are some West-Coast semi targets. Thanks.
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I think the competitive landscape looks like this
For California Stanford (top target) Cal/UCLA(targets) Clermont Mckenna/USC (semi targets - targets in LA) Smaller UCs: Irvine/Davis...etc.
Then there are UBC, UW, and more northern schools which get a good look in
Why is Stanford considered the top target over Cal/UCLA
Probably because Stanford is one of the most selective and prestigious schools in the world
In terms of people looking outside in, it is probably considered a tier above; however, the three schools are relatively similar so you could put them all in one target 'band' if you want
How the f does anyone think that Berkeley is more target than Stanford? Just look at disparity in quality of the people from both schools I'm from neither school but have worked with analysts from both, really appalling tbh
USC sends way more kids into banking than UCLA fyi.
Idk why you got downvoted, this is true. Not many people at UCLA are gunning for IB either compared to USC
West coast semi-targets are probably UCLA, USC, Claremont McKenna, and Ponoma. I think UCLA fits in better with this tier because while they send kids to IB, it's more like 10 to EBs, which is line with other semi-targets rather than lights out placement at targets.
If you look at linkedin alot of UCLA kids go to BBs as well, probably more so than EBs. The main reason a lot go to EBs is due to location: moelis and HLHZ are in LA
I'm not sure what you mean when you say a lot go to EBs because of location. I'm saying sending 10-15 kids to EBs is similar numbers to other semi-targets, like UNC, Indiana, Texas, Emory, Vandy. Also, HLHZ CF is MM, only their RX is EB.
How do schools like the smaller UCs, UW, Pepperidne, and Santa Clara do in the West Coast?
Those do ok but I would guess they do better in tech than finance
UCSD does alright afaik
I think in terms of BB they do the best with BAML, with two incoming summer interns. This year Lazard also had a legitimate resume drop up on Handshake.
decent placement from SCU, growing banking culture
UCSB and UCSD send 1-3 analysts to IB/ST in NY/SF/LA each year
horrible. avoid at all costs if you want banking. transferring from tier 2 UC as there is virtually no chance to break in. anyone who says otherwise is lying
Top Target: Stanford Targets: Berkeley, UCLA, Pomona Semi-Target: USC, CMC, UWashington
pomona?
Pomona is one of the best LACS alongside Amherst and Williams, and is sometimes ranked higher.
USC is on par with UCLA and Berkeley
I dont think so
UCLA and Berkeley are the top public schools in the nation, have strong national/international brands, and are well regarded academically. USC less so
Nah USC is still behind UCLA and Berkeley. It has a reputation for feeding into Big 4 accounting. It's a decent semi-target though.
This is false - USC absolutely sends more kids into banking than UCLA; I personally think UCLA is the better school but when it comes to IB recruiting, the alumni network at USC is unparalleled and they all go to bat for each other like no other school.
Pinging Synergy_or_Syzygy , he probably has a better idea when it comes to this though.
In 1 sentence, you said USC was better in IB, UCLA was better in IB, and then USC is better than everyone
It depends a lot on the bank with regards to hiring practice. I would say in general USC has an actual finance program (compared to UCLA's biz-econ) and a generally bigger and more organized finance club in the Trojan Investing Society. So there is a bigger candidate pool at USC which is of high quality.
That being said, UCLA's Sharpe Fellows program (https://partnership.ucla.edu/sharpe-fellows-program/</a">Link) has some of the best resumes I've ever seen and those students receive great mentorship.
Our bank will continue to recruit heavily on campus at USC as well as always interview some top UCLA students who are proactive and reach out to us, including the Sharpe Fellows. Same applies for top UC Berkeley students who reach out to us; our Bay Area office goes on campus and sends students who have expressed an interest in LA to us.
All of the above applies definitely to LA banking recruiting. New York is a different animal and I won't pretend to be able to speak to who is a target where.
Any thoughts on how UW places in West Coast? I heard they do a recruiting trip to SF? Are they general well regarded, they're like 20th in the nation on rankings
I feel like UW is criminally underrated. Foster is improving rapidly although I think they place better in tech than finance simply due to Amazon being in Seattle
I wouldn’t say UW is overrated. By nature of being in Seattle (Amazon/MSFT HQ, large presence of most other big tech-virtually no big banks) it is dominated by tech and Corp fin. However, Foster is a well respected business school, and if someone takes the necessary steps, recruiting is possible for most banks. I know alumni who currently or previously worked at GS, JPM, MS, Laz, Moelis, Blackstone, and more. There just aren’t that many students gunning for positions discussed on this site. Happy to answer any other questions about UW.
Sorry @wex22939" just realized I misread your comment (Read: Overrated not underrated).
Curious on which rankings. #20 schools are like Georgetown, UCLA, USC, Berkeley
US News Public university rankings - difficult to compare public to private
UCLA - 1 UCB - 2 . . . UW - 22
Stanford/UCLA/Cal USC/Pomona/CMC/UW UCSD/UCI/Smaller schools
Search USC vs UCLA for finance recruiting and the different reddit / college forums results. I think you’ll see more folks saying usc is a better target for finance at the undergrad level. Not sure about consulting though
what are the reputations of Stanford/UCLA/Cal/USC internationally?
Stanford and Cal have the best reputation out of those schools internationally. Especially Cal in Asia, many people are obsessed with it.
What about Pitzer, Scripps and Harvey Mudd? I would add all the Claremont schools but list them by tier.
Pomona/CMC Harvey Mudd Scripps/Pitzer
If this ranking is for finance, then yes. If it’s general, Pomona is at the top and CMC/Mudd are on the same tier. Mudd kids are really strong engineers
Is SMU a semi-target?
Target for Texas but non-target for West Coast, though a few kids will make it to IB in SF/LA
Yes, but those kids often get jobs from their parents rather than their school
Santa Clara’s banking culture is growing very fast. Have been placing kids in BBs and EBs over the past few years.
I got to one of the core west coast schools. I think usc/ucla are equal, both sending 25-30 kids into ib. UCLA kids are more technically prepared but lack EQ/connections/trojan network of USC. The early recruiting timeline of alot of west coast offices benefits the early prepraration of ucla and as function of that ucla signs more, earlier, at the good shops. However, when you look at NY recruiting, USC is able to place more numbers into better shops. As a public school without undergrad biz, ucla is more cut throat and has 10-20% less kids who recruit.
Hass is clearly beter than both schools. Stanford as well but they tend to have less kids wanting to go into banking and those who do tend to go to NY. Kids at the core schools tend to do alot of offcycle internships, something most CMC/pomona kids don't do which kind of shafts them for recruiting.
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