Worth Attempting to Transfer from Semi-Target to Target?

I am currently at a semi-target(BC). I was wondering if it is worth it to transfer to a target school for opportunities. I had pretty high stats in high school(4.0 UW GPA/34 ACT, sports, leadership, volunteering, etc), and am doing very well academically here so far. I am doing well here, but I I went to a pretty average public high school, which had barely the opportunities compared to my elite private school peers here. Its made me kinda feel bad about my lack of opportunities before and I don't want that to happen anymore as I can at least choose my college. Also, most of the private targets would also offer better financial aid than BC, so there's that.

Is it worth throwing a few transfer apps out there to some target schools? I know a lot of people at non-targets try to get to a semi target or target, but this is far less of a jump. It is the end of my freshman year, so it would have to be for sophomore spring or junior fall, and I'm not sure if that's too late to transfer and acclimate to a new school before recruiting begins. I know there are social issues with transferring too. However, I feel like I'm the type of person that would always regret it if I don't try. I was thinking maybe Georgetown(extended waitlist for freshman admissions, less selective for transfers) and UVA would be (slightly) more realistic targets to apply to. Any other schools I should look into and any opinions if I should seriously consider transferring?

 

BC has pretty good placement on the street. They have ins at certain banks, and I know multiple BC guys who got analyst positions at solid banks.

Realistically, if you want the better financial aid that you mentioned, then it doesn't hurt to at least try the application process, whether you end up going or not. If you hustle and continue to do well academically at BC, you should have no problem getting interviews, just make sure to keep networking.

 

I know BC does really well with Citi(already talked to a few alum/recruiters lol), Deutsche, Barclays, and UBS, but it seems like the others don’t really come here or st least not that I know of. There have been Goldman/JPMorgan events but it doesn’t seem as much of a target. I have been reading mixed reviews of BC here as well, with some saying what you’ve said and others saying BC doesn’t have very good Wall Street representation.

If I were to throw out a few apps, do you have any suggestions? I’m pretty typical high stats, good involvement, etc but I know that’s not enough for HYS kind of schools.

 

Please take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I went to a non-target state school and made it into banking, and personally, I would not have transferred to a target if given the opportunity. I've never been through traditional on-campus recruiting processes. I would stick it out at BC because I think the opportunities are good enough to get where you want to go, especially if you network your ass off.

However, if you want to throw transfer applications out, consider places like Michigan, UVA, NYU, or WashU. It really depends where you want to end up in the U.S. as well. From what I understand, transferring can potentially set you back in the recruiting game, especially with summer analyst recruiting moving up.

 

Let’s say with strong HS stats, 3.6-3.8 college GPA and decent involvement in business competitions, volunteering, and other clubs, would I be competitive at places around Georgetown and Cornell level? My biggest issue when applying for freshman admissions is that a lot of top undergrad business schools were out of state(UCB, Mich) or private schools with bad aid(NYU).

 

Absolutely you'd be competitive. Cornell has articulation agreements with a few dozen community colleges. Most of the agreements state that you need a 3.5 to be competitive. Here is a list from Cornell CALS https://admissions.cals.cornell.edu/apply/transfer/transfer-agreements

Some of the articulation agreements even spell out that the transfer is 'guaranteed'. See this one between Cornell Engineering and Monroe Community College

https://www.monroecc.edu/fileadmin/SiteFiles/GeneralContent/depts/trans…

Bottom line: If you do well the first 1-2 years of college, there are good options for transfer. downside is that the financial aid packages may not be so great.

 

I'm currently a freshman at Skidmore College and have been accepted to Vanderbilt University & W&M for transfer. I haven't heard back from Cornell yet but if you're looking into Dyson you need a 3.5 to APPLY and most acceptances are around a 3.8 GPA range with great essays/involvement. I also haven't heard back from G-Town yet but MSB transfers are very competitive in being at or higher than Dyson level. With you being from BC I'd say throw around some apps but if your dead set on leaving have some backups ready.

 

yes, absolutely transfer if you can. when it comes to OCR, there are generally 2 careerfair events each year...the people from the banks don't remember anybody...its such a small part of their life. If you can get in for your junior year...goto the fall career fair / OCR events and try to get an intership for the summer between your junior/senior year. That is essentially your best job interview. The majoroty of fulltime hires come from those junior summer interns

just google it...you're welcome
 

not really, no. I've been the guy who goes to the college career fairs (i went to Duke to recruit). We stand in our booth, and the people who come over to talk to us and make a good impression get interviews. Its not that scientific. Heck, if you make a good enough impression, your grades don't really matter. Once you get an interview, your resume is irrelevant...its all in how you present yourself.

just google it...you're welcome
 

Sorry I know this is thread kinda late now, but are banks taking more kids from targets than semi targets though? I thought semi target meant there's still a great deal of networking into getting the internship while target students have an easier chance. Also, what about in terms of moving forward and having a better brand name on your resume down the line for after IB?

 

Disclaimer : Student, take this with a grain of salt.

I was reading an article about this on M&I, and apparently with how accelerated recruiting is getting the only worthy transfer is from a complete non-target to a semi/target. I'm pretty sure you have to be a Sophomore Fall Transfer to be able to get a GPA, network, get familiar with clubs for the time OCR comes around. This is what I was told. Doesn't hurt to just apply though, no reason you shouldn't. I just don't see how realistically you could make it as a junior transfer, and compete with people who have been there since their Freshman year. Extending graduation is always an option though.

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Best Response

Seems like you have a pretty solid handle on how BC places kids in IBD. Citi / Barclays / DB / UBS are the top recruiters from the BBs. My year also sent 1 - 3 kids to each of the rest of the BBs (GS / MS incl.), and then a handful to EBs/MMs as well (Jefferies and RBC being the two biggest recruiters there). I know that Citi considers BC one of its "top-tier" targets, and I think BC sent something like 9 kids to intern there last summer in IBD alone, so that connection is very strong. I remember trying to count all the kids my year graduating with IBD roles, and me and my buddies were able to come up with ~40 or so kids (out of a business school class of ~300(?).

One other thing to keep in mind is that the average kid in CSOM is probably not interested in IBD. The vast majority of my classmates all went to BIg 4 (audit or consulting). Target schools like the ones you listed will undoubtedly send more kids each year to IBD. However, I suspect that if you looked at things in terms of the % of students interested in IBD that successfully land something, that BC packs a respectable punch. If someone was interested in IBD, had a solid GPA, and put in the effort to go through the recruiting process, they generally ended up with a NYC IBD role. If you have already taken the step of reaching out to alums / recruiters at banks like Citi, I have to imagine that you are ahead of the curve in terms of recruiting at BC.

It also seems like you don't have a major school culture / fit reason for transferring (at least it wasn't evident in your posts above). The benefits of transferring in sophomore spring might be marginal at best (limited time to actually establish yourself at the new school with the accelerated recruiting process Pump and Dump referred to). Consider carefully whether the social / non-academic hardships of transferring are worth the benefit, especially since you seem to be content at BC already.

Apologies if the above was a bit rambling... just dumping some thoughts late at night. Hope some of the above was helpful... feel free to drop me a PM if that's easier

 

Thanks for the response. You're right that I don't have any school specific/fit reasons for wanting to transfer. The social/non-academic reasons is really making it hard because I'm really happy here with my first year and when I was considering applying to transfer for sophomore year, I couldn't really think of something that I disliked. Transferring would be strictly for better opportunities. I didn't get an internship for this summer either, so I feel behind already cause even at BC it seems like so many CSOM kids are already doing relevant stuff. However, transferring and starting a new GPA, having to explain why I transferred, and those social/non-academic hardships makes it seem like too many extra hurdles.

I'm surprised with your comment about the Big 4. I was told that the major consulting companies don't consider BC a target school. Either way, I'm not exactly dead set on anything, its just that I want to set myself up as best as I can career-wise and prestige/connections in general help for that in most of business.

 

I painted houses the summer after my freshman year. I had a bunch of friends who all landed IBD offers from BC who did something similar after freshman year (waited tables, lifeguarded, etc). I'm going to guess that the group of kids who have cool internships for this summer tends to be a bit more vocal about what they are doing than the kids who do not. I wouldn't stress too much about it. Just take some time and enjoy your summer... it may be the last one where you have minimal commitments for quite some time.

I'm speaking a bit outside my comfort zone here, but I think that the Bulge Bracket equivalent (major consultant companies) refers mainly to the "MBB" companies- McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting. You are right that those do not recruit heavily at BC. But the Big 4 Accounting firms (Deloitte, EY, PWC, KPMG) all do for their consulting roles, with Deloitte and EY being the two biggest. Summer internships at those companies are relatively limited, but they come back in the fall of Senior year and hire some additional people for full-time roles.

And I just want to echo what @EagleFA" said about junior and senior year getting significantly more fun at BC. Freshman year was definitely the least fun year I had, and I know that experience was similar for a lot of guys. If you had an enjoyable experience so far, you are in for good times to come as you get older at BC.

Ultimately, it seems like you have a good understanding of the pros / cons of transferring. It doesn't hurt to send a few applications out there to test the waters and to keep that option open. Wishing you good luck on your upcoming finals, and feel free to drop me a PM in the future if you have any more questions about all this.

 

Went to BC as well and currently at a buy side firm in NYC right out of graduation. Had the same concerns as well with transferring when I was a freshman and sophomore.

Again, everyone is different but I could not imagine if I had transferred. Junior and senior year at BC are amazing (I'm sure you'd have a good time at any other school). Living in the mods and going to tailgates will always be such great memories so if you have a good group of friends / like the people I would say stay. BC has a lot of solid opportunities. If you don't like the environment then maybe it is worth it. Let me know if I can help with anything.

 

How seriously were you considering transferring? BC has already been great, and I know it will only continue getting better socially especially senior year. Transferring would be strictly about opportunities/career, but I already feel like I'm setting myself up well here, and starting over socially and academically seems like a lot when I'm already content. I've just always been the type to go for and strive for the best, so the thought of trying to transfer to a target keeps popping up in my head, even though I'm happy here.

 

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