Worth it to transfer? (current freshman)

yes its worth transferring to a target if you can swing it. a better school will not only increase your odds of getting the job you want but also provide you with a better network and help you get into a better MBA program if/when you apply to bschool

There's no harm in applying and then making a decision based on where you get in and what the package looks like. Other schools might be willing to give you more aid now than you got when you applied last year.

I'd say try to do it. Not to mention it helps for other jobs outside of finance if you ever changed your mind.

yes, get a package first. you don't have to decide when you apply...

10 ish BBs can range from ops to the AM to IB to anything

It is entirely dependent on your school. "nontarget" is retardedly vague, but yes, in all likelihood you should transfer.

just go and apply for outside scholarships this year, and then apply for financial aid next year.

Can you accept, defer for a year and apply for financial aid in the meantime?

No, stay with the full ride and work hard. I did and I'm about to graduate with a good job and a shit load of money in the bank. The school doesn't make the man

Thanks for the feedback guys. I didn't apply for financial aid because I thought I wouldn't get much anyway, and I can't defer admission. Would Wharton pretty much overshadow CAS anyway?

I'm at NYU and was admitted into Penn CAS as a transfer. If you've seen penn (I visited) its beautiful. Looks like great college experience and good party scene as well. I think it should depend on the college your current at and whether or not your happy there.

I opted to stay at NYU due to Penn extending my college career because of differences in requirements. That being said, if I were a freshman choosing between NYU and Penn I'd be at penn in a heartbeat

From my understanding, the business school at Rutgers (UG) is steadily improving it's share of placement into Wall Street. There's a student club LIBOR (Litter Investment Bankers of Rutgers) that seems to be a good stepping stone. This is only one-sided as I am not sure how Uni of South Carolina does in terms of placing students in the street, haven't met anyone from my class from Un of South Carolina.

As someone from Jersey (who loves Jersey) Rutgers gets absolutely no respect and is looked upon as a trashy school. USC has solid name recognition and a good b-school as well. Unless it would be substantially cheaper tuition wise, I don't see it being worth it long-term.

I would vote for staying at South Carolina. Rutgers isn't much of an upgrade (I don't think it is at all.)

I think the biggest question is, are you happy at your current school? SMU and Tulane would give you marginally better chances if you want to get into banking (which I am assuming due to the forum choice). I would say that Wake would give you substantially better chances than UConn or Va Tech, marginally better chances than SMU, Tulane and Rutgers.

I think people are too quick to jump to the transfer option when they realize their school is a "non target", when it isn't always the best option. There are tons of people who have broken in at top tier banks from marginal schools because they hustled (Whiskey comes to mind off the top of my head).

Also, check your PMs.

Only if you want to be in Houston after graduation.

I have a couple friends at SMU and they didn't fare particularly well in recruiting. One wound up at UBS (he did the Sophomore Symposium and networked pretty aggressively), and the other went for his Master's in petroleum engineering and started out of undergrad at a big O&G company.

Know a kid that transferred from my school (for financial reasons plus the fact that he was from NOLA and really missed his family) to Tulane, got absolutely shut out of recruiting.

Those are only three data points obviously, but back when interviewing and now at work I have personally met more kids from UConn than any of those other four schools you mentioned.

why would you need to do an extra sem? due dates aren't until march, and then you can do 2 years starting september

I would definitely transfer if I were you. I'm assuming you are applying to the non-business colleges out of selectivity and difficulty right? One thing I would recommend is bumping that GPA to 3.7+ (especially for Cornell).

@ above responses, for clarification my current GPA is a little bit over a 3.3 right now, but by the end of the semester It should be right around a 3.5. I was only a bit over a 3.0 freshman year but then got a 3.91 fall semester and am on track to do similarly this semester.

I'm waiting the extra semester to apply because my application will be more competitive with a 3.48 than a 3.33, for example. It will also make the upward trend in performance a bit clearer. I can also emphasize in my application that my major GPA is roughly ~3.9.

I'm not applying to the business schools for several reasons. Slightly lower selectivity is a small part of it. Stern also notably doesn't take spring transfers. Another part is that I do enjoy my field and would be pretty far into completing my degree, whereas I would be starting a lot of those other majors from almost the beginning.

I'd need to know examples of schools in your ranges to give an opinion, the description of schools is too vague.

There aren't 10-15 public schools in the top 30-40 schools. There are like 5 or 6 - a few UC schools, UVA, Michigan, UNC...

If you really are at one of the top public schools, there are plenty of good jobs for top students.

UPenn is a target, Northwestern and Duke semi-targets, I have no clue about Cornell and Georgetown but they are definitely below Northwestern and Duke, and Vandy/UVA (undergrad) are both pretty close to non-targets

www.collegeconfidential.com

Work your ass off and do everything you can to make your transfer app stand out from what other people might have. You need to be top 1% of your class at Wake, join clubs and hold meaningful positions, do relevant internships and you will have a good shot at transferring to a target. Think about it like this - if you're top 10th percentile at Wake, how many kids are ahead of you? How many colleges are "better" than Wake with kids that also want to transfer with similar stats (# of colleges x avg # of students that want to transfer) and how many positions do you think are open at McIntire or AEM?

do you think wake is comparable to AEM and Mcintire for finance- IB/ hedge fund?

No, it is not comparable. In my opinion AEM > McIntire, but there are a lot of schools ahead of AEM that you should also consider applying to.

thanks for the post, what other universities would you recommend corrections for fianance? . I am looking to do really well at wake my first semester then hope to transfer to a target.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/comprehensive-list-of-target-scho… http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/target-semi-target-non-target There is a general consensus on which schools are "target" schools.

A note, your SAT is quite low, and you may not be able to transfer to a great school after just 1 semester. If you don't get accepted, I would recommend you stay at Wake for another year and apply for transfer as a junior. Keep in mind you need letters of recommendation 1-3 depending on school.

I think letters should be fine, Wake is small in the sense all profs. no your name, i can get some good recs. Also my ecs are good and will pursue more in college. MY sat/act arent great, but there in the range of uva i believe. I am hoping my really good senior year 4.4 on a 5 point scale and good college gpa offset he sat? what do you think?

You earned a 4.4 in the first semester of senior year in high school? What is your cumulative weighted & unweighted high school GPA? College GPAs carry a lot more weight than high school GPA.

yes 4.4 weighted, 4.0 unweighted first semester senior year. 3.8 cumulative GPA weighted. My school only calculates weighted GPA. I finished senior year very strong. I am looking to put forth the same effort next year. My hope is to get a 3.7+ the first semester and then transfer for the following fall. what do you think

At the risk of making this a "chances" thread, I will say you should aim higher instead of just McIntire/AEM. You might be able to get in, but the improvement from Wake is not mind blowing. Why would you aim for anything below a 4.0? Wake "tough grading" is BS, if another kid at Wake gets a 4.0 and you get a 3.7, he deserves the opportunity to transfer more than you; have that mindset and you will be fine.

I understand I will shoot for a 4.0. For a finance track/ im also from va. What are good schools that are a tier above uva/AEM/ what should I aim for. I know my SATs are average, but they arent horrible and im determined to get a good GPA in college.

Please see the above 2 links to see the "target" schools. UPenn Wharton, Harvard, MIT Sloan, Berkeley Haas, UMich Ross, NYU Stern, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Northwestern, UChicago, etc etc - not in any order, some people may have minor disagreements. If you can finish those apps (select some) in addition to your UVA and Cornell AEM app, you will be in fine shape. Princeton is not there because it does not accept transfers.

I understand that I dont want this to become a chances thread. However I did apply to wharton/NYU/ aem/ uva. and got denied by all of them. If im understanding this right, if I do all the right things at wake such as: take the required courses fro transfer, get straight As (3.7+), get involves, get good recs, write good essays. I should have a good shot at getting in to some of the school I got denied from applying senior year, by applying as a transfer for sophomore year?

Absolutely. I know a lot of people that did not get into the university they wanted initially, but did 1 or 2 years at another university and transferred into great schools. Being rejected from a university while in high school does not count against you when you apply as a transfer.

I guess transferring to a target is my only option

I'm not going to give a direct answer, but keep in mind that one advantage Stern has is that you're right next to wall street. This gives you the ability to intern during the semester, and makes networking a lot easier.

"My friend's brother" -- rolls eyes -- riiiiiiight. Why don't you just have the balls to say it's yourself? It's not like anyone knows who you really are, anyways.

This one's not really difficult - I'm going to lean towards no, because 1. NYU Stern is a fantastic target, 2. you have excellent alumni networking on Wall Street/finance, and 3. your GPA is fantastic. If you were at another top school not as well known in finance, like WashU or UNC or something (just pulled those names off top of my head), then of course, do transfer if you're able to.

What do the other schools have that Stern can't give you? You are right in NYC and Stern has #2 best undergrad b-school program, with strengths in finance.

Maybe you just have an inferiority complex when it comes to "prestige"? NYU Stern is very prestigious, in terms of finance, which any dummy would know...

The effort you put into putting together these transfer applications, can be used to get you a great internship coming from NYU.

okay oaky maybe 3.9 may be pushing it.. How about if say, around a 3.7 - 3.8? Would this sway your verdict?

how come the gpa of 2 places after the decimal all of a sudden changed so much? sounds like a bs post.

Stay at Stern unless you actually like Columbia or Wharton better.

Duke and Cornell should be a negative considering the vastly inferior networking and general ease at floating around for interviews, casual meetings, etc.

You're in a good spot, and you seem to be succeeding. I'd ride it out and finish on a strong note, with an emphasis on gaining as much from living in NYC as you can. Don't be afraid to go out of your way to establish contacts.

Im currently a rising junior at stern and faced a similar dillema last year as a rising sophmore. I also had like a 3.96 at the time and wanted to transfer to something like Ross or Wharton, but couldnt consider it because Stern doesnt have a macro class which was a requirment to transfer to those schools. I stuck with it and had an amazing sophmore year, including a semester in London and landed a great internship this summer and now am not even considering transfering in the slightest. What i realized is a gret thing about stern is the people. Foreget the classic stern kids who are ultra competitive and assholes and find friends who love finance like you do and want to do well and create a great network. This summer i got my job, helped a friend get one in the same place and another friend helped a 4th get one at a hedgefund. Being in the city is great for that because you always know a few kids working a good places at all times. Just go abroad, make good friends and enjoy yourself

@stifler naa im not BSing, it's because he only finished his freshmen year, and NYU Stern FRESHIES mostly take liberal arts courses during their first year, hence not subject to the Stern curve and resulting in higher GPAs (as long as they don't slack off too much). But as sophomore year starts, all his classes are taken at Stern and everyone will be competing against each other (Stern curve). That's why he's expecting a dramatic drop, or at least realistically he wont be getting 3.9s as easily as he did freshmen year.

@others

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it.

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I'd only transfer if you (I mean he) get into a "super-target"; e.g. Stanford, Wharton, Harvard, Yale, maybe Columbia.

But I would also look at cost. NYU is expensive, and you may or may not be eligible for financial aid at other schools. The cut off is pretty high now at many colleges. In which case, I might cast a wider net; for instance, Duke is comparable, and if you get out with 20k less debt...

Go to Wharton. Stern is umm...

What are all your thoughts on a similar situation, except the prospective transfer is NYU CAS into UPenn SAS (school of arts and sciences) or Columbia?

On my current resume however, I'm in 2 Stern clubs and my interviewees seem to think I'm in Stern initially. If they ask I'm obviously honest, but that doesn't seem to matter (I've received offers after explaining I'm not in Stern).

You friend, friend of a friend, relative, or whoever he is doesn't have a good shot at Wharton. He is brining nothing new to the table - Wharton already has enough wanna-be-bankers.

Nobody has a shot at really any of the top colleges as a transfer...Stanford, Harvard, Wharton all admit sub 1%.

Can't hurt to try though.

As for NYU CAS to Columbia or Penn, I would say to go for it. CAS has a good networking location, but, correct or not, recruiters will see you as "too dumb for Stern". It's the same way that Econ kids at schools with Business majors get screwed in recruiting.

You'd still have that at Penn SAS, but there are more opportunities there as a whole; it would be a debatable move, all things considered. But NYU CAS to Columbia is a no brainer. Good luck getting in though; transfer admissions are a godawful process.

One word: transfer

DO IT NOW

Okay, thanks for the input. Where do you suggest I look? Would I have a shot at Georgetown, Vandy, or BC?

Absolutely transfer, it can have a life changing impact if you transfer to a top school.

I agree with above posts to transfer. But not with such immediateness. People do not realize that it isn't necessarily only the quality of the College/University or the name of the School. It is the School's location. You want to work in Finance/IBD/S&T all that stuff etc. Go to a school that is close to a major financial city. Example: New York, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Boston, San Fransisco. It is almost common sense. Really think about making your choice, like any other important choice. Tulane is a good school, they have the cool trading floor also which is nice. But you have to think about the situation logically, think New York, chicago, pennsylvania. Thats my opinion, but I'm sure someone will have to disagree which is completely fine, as long as they can give better advice, thats all that really matters.

I mean for finance etc. I would try Georgetown/NYU/Columbia/Wharton. But man these are hard fuckin schools, so good luck man (Literally good luck)

Yea I agree with Mayor Quimby, I see a lot of Georgetown in NYC. Example:

http://perellaweinberg.com/People.aspx?SectorID=Professionals,%20Asset%…

Perella Weinberg has a few who went to Georgetown.

Side note: my uncle went to Georgetown and George Washington University and hes doing well: he works in PE

Hey, long time reader but this post finally prompted me to register. I am a sophomore at Tulane, and I was contemplating the same move a year ago. I did not decide to transfer. As a poster above mentioned, unless you are transferring to a school at the VERY top, I would say it is not worth it. I made my decision to stay based on several factors. I am very, very content at Tulane. I, too, am doing very well. Despite what other people may tell you, there is room in the industry for people who graduate at the top from Tulane.

However, because we don't go to a heavily recruited school, if you do not have connections you need to network. When it comes to recruiting, make yourself stand out. Consider double majoring and/or taking a language that is useful in banking yet still more "unusual" than Spanish/French (consider Arabic, Russian). That is what I am doing and I can tell you people don't care what school you come from if you have the skills that they need. As a freshman you have all the time in the world to shape yourself into a great IB candidate.

I am confident that I have absolutely made the right choice. Consider the advice of posters here as well, but keep in mind that some of these people have no connection, no knowledge of the industry. I am no Wasserstein or Blankfein myself, but I have spoken to people in the industry, both alums and others, who have reinforced my views of the matter. So, the more important question... are you happy at Tulane?

To piggy back this thread:

Would you guys say it was worth transferring from a state school (minimal alum on the street) to North Western if you're currently a junior? It would probably push you back one year but bear in mind that you are already a year younger than everyone so age wise it wouldn't make a difference.

Try and transfer to Cornell, NYU, UVA... but don't be too down on yourself with Tulane as it is a fine school - just not well represented at banks.

I agree completely with EuroTunnel. You should be at a school that you, yourself is happy at. It's all about making it happen, work hard, make contacts, network, set yourself apart from everyone else if you can. Because once you get some experience and some knowledge of the industry and your sitting in that interview room, all the sudden where you went to school doesn't fuckin' matter anymore. Just to be clear To the haters that think school name is everything, Yes it is easier to get an interview if you go to a "top school". But it doesn't matter how you get the interview, what matters most is about getting the job.