Which undergrad public safety is best to attend: IU, Penn State, UFlorida, or Fordham?

I am a rising senior in high school and I am aiming for the Ivy League and other top schools, but I have heard that people have success in IB from less selective schools. The costs for the colleges I am thinking about are Penn State (25-30k), IU ($38k), UFlorida (Full-Ride), and Fordham (Free-tuition/ $20k). I have heard Penn State is a target school for IB especially from the NLF, but there are so many students so is it uber-competitive there? Fordham is close to NY but doesn't have a great program and UFlorida is kinda semi-target so would it be even harder for me to get a position from there. IU I know has a great program, but how does it compare with Penn State? Thanks in advance for any help I could get!

 

IU is great if you can get into the Investment Banking Workshop. Everyone coming out of it has great success getting offers. That being said, it's hard to get into, so you would need to have a good GPA and extracurriculars/leadership positions during your freshman year.

 

"uber-competitive" lol

There's a thread here I think titled "IU Kelley Prestige", you should check that out. Goes in depth with how that IB workshop places lights out.

Penn State also places lights out if you get into the NLF but to a few BB's (BAML & Citi) and a few others it places but definitely less so (GS,MS,etc.).

In regards to the competitiveness, yes PSU makes there NLF competitive but for good reasons. PSIA may host 100+ students in their bi-weekly meetings but only allow 20-30 seats for incoming analysts. Grill you on technical and behavioral questions but that's so they can mimic a super day environment.

For $8-13k lighter cost of debt, I would say PSU with the NLF but all up to you at the end of the day.

Cheers and best of luck.

 

I go to one of those. Are the numbers in the parenthesis how much it'd cost per year or how much the full 4 years would cost? Assuming it's for the full 4 years, I'd go with IU Kelley first. If you an get into the NLF, go to Penn State, then UF, then Fordham. PM me if you want to know about my specific school.

 

UF is top school. It does not matter where you go with all of these because they are all non-targets. As long as you have a good GPA, network, and read this website for the next 3 years you are good to go. I would go to UF and take advantage of on campus recruiting.

Go onto LinkedIn and look at how many people are in IB from UF compared to the other schools. Also, look at where they are physically because IB in New York is different than IB in mid tier cities. That will settle the argument.

My Brother. My Captain. My King.
 
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Full Disclosure. I do not go to UF but have several friends that go there. They tell me all BB's go to recruit at UF. UF is a core school for Raymond James, Suntrust and Wells Fargo. They come to campus and take several kids across all lines of business. UF is a good place to be if you can make yourself stand out because just like you, there are other kids who are grinding to be one of the few that gets recruited.

With regards to career services, they do not matter for shit. It is all about what YOU do. Do not expect to be handed an offer just because you go to a certain school. Just like everyone else, Ivy to non-target, you need to grind your ass off to be the best and secure the offer. Recruiting is competitive and you cannot ride your schools name or resources, you need to put in the hours. Granted, coming from a school with a good name looks good on your resume, but when you are at a Superday and the non-target kid with a 4.0 can perfectly explain what the IPO process is and you don't even know what EBITDA is, you are done. Your school name will not matter for shit because while you have the "elite" name on your resume, you lacked the actual knowledge to succeed because while you were chilling with your Ivy friends, the non-target was memorizing every line item on an I/S. If you have the mind-set to succeed you will. Regardless of where you go to school.

On another note, I do not know if this is true or no, if anyone can confirm, but I keep hearing that Ivy league schools do not have Finance classes at an undergrad level? I hear that they only teach econ at a basic level and teach social sciences. I only ask because of personal experience with candidates from Ivy leagues that were extremely unprepared and general rumors.

My Brother. My Captain. My King.
 

I go to UF. Basically if you want NYC you most likely have to do MSF or the investment fund both of which have pipeline recruiting and are pretty selective. If you aren't dead set on NYC, you can easily get into Charlotte and Atlanta because there's such a large alumni network. You have to be in the business school however, all the networking/coffee chats/recruiting is ONLY for business students so if you try a liberal arts major it's basically over. (Although https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-us happens to prefer lib arts majors to business majors don't ask me why).

 

VP friend of mine went to IU and had solid placement into banking. I've heard there's a undergrad program that places well too. We have a bunch of kids in my analyst class (lower BB) from UF as well. You're definitely going to have an easier time landing in IB from an Ivy, but it's definitely also a function of your own performance. Being a rockstar candidate from IU or UF or even Fordham will make landing one of these gigs easier than if you were a 3.0 bottom tier candidate at an Ivy. That said this is just based on my own experience coming into banking from a non target, as well as some kids I've mentored at Ivy's/target schools w/ low GPA's and a lack of relevant internship experience. If you can land at an Ivy, afford it, and have a decent expectation of performing well, definitely go for it. Beyond undergrad recruiting, having that name on your resume is a signalling mechanism to future employers. You'll be much more of a known quantity within finance and other selective fields given the number of students who go to top fields/firms from ivys/stanford/etc and excel there.

 

I know a few kids from Fordham who were pretty happy with their time there. From what they say, the career placement department is kind of shit but is making a push to build it out more by hiring ex industry ppl. The location is NYC def doesn't hurt either. All three good choices overall but I definitely think if you're motivated you can do fine at Fordham, don't know as much about the other two.

 

If you come to UF you might realize you don't want IB. There are many cool companies that recruit here with 50hr/week finance positions and solid pay. Often the MM groups of the BBs come and recruit. The salary isn't that bad, and the lifestyle is much better. If you want IB you can get it also.

 

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