Which Undergrad should I pick?

If you get in, I would say 1) Berkeley and 2) UMich (Ann Arbor)

Disclaimer: I am Canadian and don't know anything about a lot of these.

Mich Ross, Berkeley, Rice, USC

With your current acceptances, pick Indiana University hands down then work your ass off to get into their investment banking workshop. If you don't make that workshop, then you're screwed.

But assuming you get admitted to all of them,

1.) UC Berkeley (preferably Haas) 2.) UMichigan (preferably Ross)

Then you can play around with the rest, probably USC because I heard the chicks there are amazing

Those are all pretty much non targets. since you applied to a group of weak schools (not trying to knock you in any way) i am assuming that your grades are not that strong. if that is true, i would expect you to be rejected from berkeley. therefore, your best bet is UMichigan but you didnt specify if it was ross or not.

NYC or West Coast?

To be honest I'd probably pick Michigan either way

Cal only if you're in-state

edit: oh and don't listen to what Will Hunting says... that guy's just fucking around

I prefer NYC but I can do West Coast or Chicago or even Texas (that's where I live now, makes me an out-of-stater at all the public schools).

I've heard CMC gets a lot of recruiting from major BBs and even KKR? I would lean towards there because I prefer a smaller environment.

if you want to work in the South - go to Rice: most of the BBs recruit there and there isn't much competition from your peers for spots because its mostly an engineering/pre-med school

if NYC - go to Ross if you can get in

There was a CMC kid in my intern class this summer (BB); pretty much anyone who wants to do IB from Claremont can get it (just not many people from liberal arts choose finance)

If you want NYC then Michigan is your best bet

If you're out-of-state for Cal then there's pretty much no reason to go there from an "I only want to do investment banking" standpoint

oh and no reason to go to Rice if you can go to UT in-state...

Berk really traps you to west coast for finance, I'd go UMich for sure.

If I get into Michigan I'd very much consider it but I do like the point about Rice and CMC being schools where there won't be much competition to get into IB while at UMich a lot of Ross kids would be going after the same jobs I would be.

And I got into UT but not McCombs so it would be pointless IMO and I don't know if I want to risk the internal transfer route especially when guaranteed Kelley and having better opportunities from smaller schools.

so you have to apply separately to McCombs or did you just not apply as a business major?

You can transfer into McCombs, it just means you have to get a good gpa while in school. You'll need a good GPA (3.5+) anyways to get in IB, so why not go for UT?

do not go to Trinity in San Antonio. I have zero idea why that school would even be on your list.

Thanks to everyone, DM your points on the schools were especially helpful.

southernstunna don't worry, I have no intention of enrolling. I honestly don't know why I applied.

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Harvard, Princeton, Yale - in that order

IU and Emory, assuming Kelley and Goizueta, are well-repped on the street and you can network hard + good GPA to get into IBD.

If Ross, UMich.

IU Kelly is probably the best out of the schools you've gotten into so far. If you can get into the IBanking Club or whatever it's called, you'll have some pretty good opportunities. If you like cocaine, Southern Millionaires University may be your best bet.

All kidding aside....I know some guys at both schools. The guys at IU in the IBanking Club were able to land spots in Chicago banks. Most of the banks were MM, but I know a hand full of people break into BBs. Everyone I know who went to SMU and went into accounting/finance ended up at either boutiques or Asset Management in Dallas. I've heard Houston offices go after mostly UT, Rice and other schools outside of the state.

1. UMIch (Ross)
2. UT (McCombs)
3. Rice
4. IU Kelly

*I know very little about Emory, Tulane and Berkley.

I don't know why people are ignoring Emory, it's a top 20-25 school. It's not as great for IB as Cal or Michigan but definitely better than SMU/Tulane/IU.

UM, if you get in, if not Indiana Kelly all the way. We've got two Kelly grads here and they're pretty sharp. We tried to recruit some SA's there and everyone was already accounted for. I've been told their IB seminar kids have like a 98% placement rate. From the schools you've already gotten into, Kelly would line you up best. Kelly's also great because the rest of IU is comprised of a bunch of midwest party animal slackers ergo ample slampig opportunities without diluting your IB marketability. Emory's also great, but very southern and you won't get the same looks from Kelly. Go to SMU if you want to devote your life to your frat and John Wayne.

I can comment on Texas schools. (OP PM me if you want more details on TX recruiting as I just went through it).

1. UT - By FAR the best in TX for IBD in Houston/Dallas, also send quite a few to NYC. Literally everyone of my superdays had at least 1 UT kid there, some had even had separate, superdays only for UT kids (Some firms have spots that ONLY go to UT kids). Talked to a friend and he said something like 30+ kids go IBD every year. I know you said that you didn't get into McCombs (I got in to UT but not McCombs as well), but it seems to be very easy to transfer internally. I think you need like a 3.7+, but doing that Freshman year is VERY EASY. As long as you are motivated, which obviously you are since you already know what you want to do-this should not be a problem. And don't worry about not being in BHP- it seems to be overrated and everyone I met from UT at BB superdays wasn't in it. Bottome line, if you get in McCombs, have a 3.6+, aren't socially retarded, you will get a IBD job in Texas. NYC probably tougher.

2. Rice- Doesn't seem like a very fun school to be at, but it's a great school. Little competition I'd imagine and most if not all banks in Houston come on campus. If you want to stay in TX, Rice will set you up very well.

3. SMU- It's alright. It's a preppy school where Greek life dominates so if that's your thing it might be for you. Great placement in Dallas it seems but you have to network to get to Houston/NYC. Not a great bang for your buck unless you get a $20k+ scholly.

4. Trinity- Are you serious

As far as the other schools go, I don't know much but I've heard USC recruiting is not that great, and super competitive for the few banks that come. I have a friend who is a junior there who interned at a HF last summer, has a 3.6, and wasn't able to get a single on campus interview. Also, it's like $50k/year.

If I were you I'd seriously consider whether you want to start your career in Houston, California, or NYC. Beware that if you change your mind in city or even IBD, then you better at least be at school with additional ops and good quality of life. A lot can happen in 3+ years, it's realy tough to pick schools based on exit ops. Seems like you got into really good schools though, you should be fine wherever you end up.

Thanks again to everyone for their insight. Looks like I have a tough decision to make. I'm leaning towards Kelley based on what y'all have said so far but I'll wait till April to decide (if Rice comes through I'm definitely going there though)

Michigan dude

kp217:

Accepted already: Indiana University (direct admit to Kelley) Emory University (have to apply to Goizueta in two years) Babson College Southern Methodist University (direct admit to Cox Business Honors) Tulane University Trinity University (TX) American University

Waiting on: University of Michigan (would have to apply to Ross after first year) Rice University Northeastern University University of California, Berkeley (would have to apply to Haas in two years) Claremont McKenna College University of Southern California

Thanks!

(Posting with a West Coast bias, particularly an SF focus)

If you're willing to willing to work on the West Coast, give STRONG consideration to Haas. The analyst classes at the SF offices of all the top banks are completely inundated with Haas kids and there are still a solid number of non-Haas Berkeley Econ majors that place.

Of the remaining West Coast programs, I would personally take Claremont McKenna over USC. I see a lot of USC students around, but feel that the ratio of students actually trying to get into banking vs. number of analysts that break in is likely higher at Claremont. Both will be great, albeit VERY different, college experiences.

Of the non-West Coast programs, I'll agree with everyone else and say take McCombs or Ross if you can get them. I've heard the internal transfer at UT isn't too bad (if you're not competitive enough to transfer, you probably aren't going to be a very competitive banking candidate anyway). If you're unflinching in your goal to do banking, I would actually give the nod to McCombs from the friends I've seen come out of both programs and its focus on banking, however if you think you might want some non-banking options, the UMich name overall will be a better bet than the UT name.

After that I would take Rice.

After Rice, I would say it's a toss up between Kelley and Goizueta. You can actually just apply the same argument of McCombs/Ross to Kelley/Goizueta and say that both are strong, Kelley has a more focused program, but Emory is a better school overall.

Good luck and congrats.

Yeah I mean if I went to UT I wouldn't be too worried about getting a good GPA because obviously I need one for a banking job. I have visited Rice and didn't think it was boring at all, yeah it's more expensive but with more opportunities, more professor accessibility, and high quality of life I think it's worth it.

Oh by the way, I was just accepted to Northeastern business program a few minutes ago. Any comments on their co-ops or placement?

Oh and as far as Rice, I mean, I went to a small private high school, so I guess I don't know what I'd be missing at UT or something. By opportunities I meant like when I visited I saw several banks had posted summer internship offers, I'm sure UT gets more but Rice has less kids chasing them IMO. Idk, I don't think I'll get into Rice. We'll see.

You've gotten into way better schools than Northeastern, I've never met anyone from there in banking. Plus I feel like with Harvard, MIT, Tufts, and BC in the same town I'd feel like a loser.

Couple other thoughts:

Have a lot of friends at UT and if you like a smaller feel, you'll hate Austin. One of the dorms there has it's own fucking zip code. It is a huge, huge school.

My little brother goes to CMU (or did he's transfering) and I'd recommend visiting Pamona before you go there. You probably already know this but it's part of the Pamona College Sys. So you'll be next to Harvey Mudd (really smart kids) an all chick one I and I forget the other one. But the kids I met there are pretty awesome, and you'd have fun there.

Also have a lot of friends at Mich. Whatever you do, don't go and try to transfer to Ross, at least as an Econ major. A lacrosse teammate from HS was our valedictorian, super smart kid, never made a A- type, and has been fighting tooth and nail against the curve in his econ classes rocking a 3.2, won't ever be in at Ross.

If you have faith in youself, I would choose Indiana. The workshop has 99%+ placement into quality investment banks. BUT, you must be able to get into the workshop. Let''s be real, if you can't be a top 35 student in finance at IU who wants to do investment banking, maybe you aren't cut out for the job.

Well I mean certainly students who aren't in the IB Workshop will get interviews but the workshop does have good placement in NYC/Chicago with the big firms so VanillaThunder12 has a point. Right now, I think that Michigan, Rice, Emory, and CMC are the schools I should be going for but if for whatever reason they don't work I think I'll go to IU, work my ass off and get into the IB Workshop, and enjoy life at a Big 10 school.

edit: double post