Undergraduate

Hey y'all, rising senior in an international school outside of the US. Likely want to work in buy-side finance: (PE/Sovereign Wealth Funds/Impact Investing/HF), and am hoping to get an IB job out of undergrad that positions me best for this. It would be absolutely amazing if I could get one at a BB/Elite Boutique, but I know that they're quite difficult to snag, so I'm trying to find colleges that would best help me for this. School college counsellor says that I have a shot at every college I'm considering (bunch of targets and semi-targets, also have couple of safeties). I think I'm going to

10 Jun 2021

Hi, I am a high school senior who was admitted to several universities. My top choices are the University of Chicago, UC Berkeley (College of Letters), Carnegie Mellon University (Information Systems program), and Georgia Tech (College of Computing). I will probably pursue Computer Science at university or Computer Science with a combination of Economics/Business. My goal is not to really work in FAANG but ideally launch a startup (going into Entrepreneurship). Otherwise, I would be interested in going into PE/VC or working in Investment Management firms with a specific technology focus. I

11 Apr 2021

Hello! I know many of you are extremely busy people but I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to help me with this decision. My college application process is now over and I committed to ND but I could still switch to Berkeley as of this moment. While I know both are great schools, I'm wondering if I should reconsider and accept my Berkeley letter rather than ND. While I already got into Mendoza for ND for finance, I didn't apply to Haas for Berkeley and would try to transfer my sophomore year into the program. Would taking that risk at berkeley be better than being at ND? I

05 May 2021

I am about to choose HKUST for a bachelor's in Quant finance, but before that, I wish to obtain some information about the financial industry. My thoughts are that studying quant finance + (a double major in comp sci) at a bachelor's would allow me to best develop my quantitative/critical thinking side as a strong foundation. However, I suppose I do not particularly enjoy spending all my time sitting behind a desk trying to build models/validate models/full-on research (this is my general stereotype based on what I have read on quant finance jobs); I do also sometimes enjoy being at the

02 Apr 2021

Hi guys, So a follow up on my previous post-- I ended up getting rejected from Wharton undergrad. Apparently this year was much more difficult, but it still stings like a you-know-what. I still want to believe that my hard stats (4.0 unweighted, 1530 SAT, 800 Math II Subject SAT) can get me into other targets, but my confidence is currently nonexistent. Have any of you guys faced a similar situation and have any advice to cope? I'm still planning to YOLO apply to UChicago, Stern and all the Ivy's. Whatta masochist lmao. Also are there any other underrated targets that I should consider

17 Dec 2020

I recently accepted a job at a MBB firm and have a lot of free time until I take on my final semester. Happy to answer any and all questions regarding recruitment during COVID, prepping for case interviews, choosing between internships, etc. To help you get a better understanding, I provided some background information below GPA: ~ 3.75 Internships: Corporate Finance Intern @ Fortune 200 (Junior Year), Finance Intern @ a very small marketing firm (Freshmen Year) Involvements: five organizations including an undergraduate consulting club (President / VP for three of them) I did not land a

11 Jan 2021

Hi all, I am currently a senior at a target/semi-target UG school with a 3.5 GPA, good extracurriculars, and a corporate strategy summer internship at an F500 firm this summer. I have been recruiting for FT since early August, but have only received one interview invitation from a T2 firm (where I went onto the final round but didn't receive the offer). I also know that I didn't get past the screening process for a different T2 and a T3 according to my emails, but that is about it. Is anyone else experiencing this or should I be worried? If I should be worried, is there anything that I can do

11 Sep 2021

Hello, I was recently admitted to the Huntsman Program but it will probably result in my taking out around 200k in student loans. I was wondering if this amount of loans for undergrad worth it? I've heard opposing opinions, and want to see if I'm going to make the right choice. Currently I am interested in taking a concentration in finance, healthcare management, or business analytics at the Wharton school. I'm not sure if I should go to graduate school and get my MBA, but I'm interested in careers in investment baking and hedge funds as well. I'm not sure what I specifically want to go into

07 Jan 2021

I am a high school Senior going to a small state school next Fall majoring in Finance. Would transferring to a better, more well respected and has a great education after my first year being that I'm set on that major and have good enough grades be a good idea?Any advice is helpful, thanks.

15 Jan 2021

I'm a senior in high school and I got accepted into IU Kelley and Rutgers Business School (New Brunswick) and I'm not sure which one I should go to. I am in-state for Rutgers and it would cost about 22k a year, while IU would cost 47k a year. I got accepted into the SAS honors program at Rutgers (not the honors college), and I was also accepted into the Hutton Honors College at IU. I am not sure if I want to do IB or some other finance job after college. Kelley is the more prestigious school, but is it worth an extra 25k a year? I plan on emailing the financial aid office at IU to see if they

10 Mar 2021

Trying to get a better understanding of the different types of undergraduate managed investment funds found on college campuses. I am referring to student groups who manage a fund of alumni money and learn the skills of analyzing assets to put into a well thought out portfolio. I went to Villanova University and there we had a fund called the equity society. This fund was $1,000,000 and was made up of about 60 kids with sector "managers" and an overall portfolio "director" (all undergraduates) I am curious to know though to know what the structure at other schools' funds were like. I was under

12 Sep 2020

Hey all lovely Apes and Monkeys, I'm a prospective college freshman looking to get into financial services (end-goal is PE or VC) coming from a non-target school who unfortunately had their summer internship canceled :(. I was wondering if studying the base SIE test this summer would be a good way to leverage my time to show employers and recruiters I am very serious about pursuing this path and show I am and goal-driven while also learning some barebones fluency in the field. I noticed on the FINRA site I only need to be 18 and need no sponsorship, so I'm interested at the very least. My main

03 Apr 2020

Hello Everyone! I'm an international high school senior trying to pick between UIUC and UMich for CS. I will be paying roughly the same amount at both places, so the cost isn't really an issue for me. I wish to pursue an education that encompasses both CS and Finance. Both fields really interest me, and after much experimentation with various niches in the CS fields such as webdev, blockchain research, I really liked applicational-CS, and as such I wish to eventually start my career as a quant/algo trader or builder/analyst in the finance industry, with the help of my CS skills. Some things

03 Apr 2021

Hey Monkeys, I am a sophomore business student and I have a very weak idea for what dual minor/major I should pursue! I know Statistics and Economics are fantastic, I tried to see if an Architectural minor was feasible, but no dice and the major is a pain - I would have mainly done it from straight interest. There are maybe 200 Liberal degrees that aren't serious choices for me and I just wanted to get y'all opinions. Does anyone have particular advice as to what additional field would be super useful for someone in my position? (I want to head into REPE, pursue development as well, etc.)

27 Nov 2019

Hello Stern hopefuls. I am currently a student at Stern, and in an effort to procrastinate applying for internships/jobs next summer (yes, it starts this early) I decided to write some things I wish I knew when applying to Stern. Being one of the only direct admit business school programs in the country and a top school for finance/related fields (academically and location wise), NYU Stern is a great option for people that want a world class business education in NYC. With an acceptance rate of 12% and college applications due in 4 months at most (almost 2 if you ED), it's best to get informed

23 Aug 2017

Some of my professors have degrees from the best institutions. Every semester I read their Bios and I am impressed with the level of knowledge. However, I keep asking myself why they chose to leave industry and teach / research when they know so much about their expertise. Is it too stressful on the Street!

08 Oct 2018

Hi, all, I'm a freshman from a non-target school who is really interested in pursuing a career in private equity. I have had coffee/phone chats with people from sell-side firms. Generally, they advise me to get into an IB for a few years then go to PE... My first question is that, in your experience, is it possible to get a job at a PE firm such as BX or Appollo as an undergraduate who's fresh out of the college? Also, what would you suggest me to do now as a freshman besides focusing on getting a good GPA, so that I would have a better chance at landing an internship/full-time job at PE

15 Oct 2018

I am a current hs senior and just received my college decision results. My top two acceptances are Amherst and Bowdoin. This is a hard choice for me. I am fairly certain that I want to go into finance, and I have heard that Amherst (along with Williams) are top tier, best-of-the-best among LACs for IB recruiting and placement. Problem is, I've heard over and over that the social scene and student life at Amherst has recently become ABYSMAL (got rid of social dorms, division in the student body, very bad food, not much to do...). Conversely, I have visited Bowdoin, loved the campus, and heard

03 Apr 2018

Hi all, I'm a current HS senior looking to do something in Finance and Investment Bankings seems like an appealing and interesting thing to pursue. I know IB is not the end all be all, but I would still like it to be an option for me should my interest in it continue into and through college. The current schools I'm looking at are: Indiana University (also, I know the IB Workshop is great, but what about kids not in it, how do they place?) Villanova Wake Forest Miami of Ohio How do these undergraduate business programs place in different regions of the country, if at all? Do you have any other

12 Sep 2015

So I have heard back from all the colleges that I applied to, and I now must choose between Wisconsin, UCSB, Indiana, and Boulder. I know none of them are really target schools, but I'm wondering if it is easier to get an investment banking job from one of them over the others. I'm from California, so I get in-state tuition at UCSB, and it is the most highly ranked school to which I was admitted, but they don't have a business school, just an economics program,. I have the opportunity to take business classes all four years at Boulder, which may be an advantage. I was directly admitted into

13 Apr 2015

Not seeing anything else about this on here, so I figured I would start this forum to see if anyone else is going through this process at the moment. I know Bain Capital stopped doing a summer analyst program for undergrads, but I think they must have restarted the program this year unannounced. I did a first round for them last week but did not hear back. They said they're only hiring 2-4 people for this program, Path Into Private Equity (PIPE). First round was two case based interviews and from the looks of it, the super day would be a similar thing but more rounds. Is anyone else in class

22 Sep 2020

Hi guys , just wanted to ask you your two cents about my situation. I am an 18 yrs old Italian student (South Italy) , and I applied to a few university for my undergraduate. I have a 1810 on SAT test so just got into some crappy colleges (with full tuition scolarship) in the US, not worth the effort to cross the Atlantic (I received offer for scholarship from University of South Florida or Hosfra university, so figure out the level). Fortunately I applied to some unis in Europe and got in at Warwick (L100 Economics) and Bocconi (Bachelor in Economics and management taught in English). So my question is : In your opinion which of the two should I Pick?

13 Apr 2014

So... yesterday I was officially accepted into Carnegie Mellon. Now I'm wondering - is it worth the money? It costs 55k a year - assuming parents provide 15k a year, I provide 5k a year, and CMU gives me a grant of 10k a year, that leaves 25k a year, or 100k worth of debt. Short and sweet: is it worth the debt over a public university (specifically, University of Maryland)? I've crunched some numbers and assumed I get an S&T job out of undergrad in NYC. The numbers would look somewhat like this: Apartment: 1500 Utilities: 200 Other: 50 Total Rent: 1750 Food 300 Metro 100 Cable 100 Cell 100 Misc 150 Total Misc: 750 Total Monthly Cost: 2500 Total Yearly Expense Cost: 30000

29 Mar 2011

I'm attending BC's Carroll School next year and am trying to understand the reputation of Carroll students in IBD, and other competitive positions, now as compared to the past (when CSOM's reputation was only slightly above mediocre). Considering BC and Carroll are highly ranked in recent published rankings, I'd like to gauge how the school's prestige fares today. Some background: Carroll is currently ranked 6 in Bloomberg's BBA ranking (I understand that most people ignore these rankings, but I've also heard that recruiters do at least consider them.) BC is also ranked above NYU in the US

15 Jun 2013

Hi, I need advice. I currently attend JMSB and have really enjoyed it so far, although I don't think I want to stay in Montreal upon graduation. I currently have a 3.93 and am thinking about applying for a transfer. Is it worth it? How do regular Desautels students place, assuming I'm too late for the HIM program there. Will simply having over a 3.5 and networking my ass off be enough to break into IB as a regular Desautels grad? Would a Kenneth Woods student from JMSB place better than a standard Desautels student?

25 Apr 2020

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28 Aug 2021

So I am trying to decide between the following 3 schools, i know that none are major targets but what would give me the best shot at an investment banking job. 1) Indiana University- sounds like there is a decent shot at ib with the investment banking workshop. And it is 18k cheaper per year than the other schools 2) Villanova University - whenever i visited they mentioned some banks coming to campus and a pretty good alumni network on wall street 3) Michigan- Not a preferred admit, and would have to apply after freshman year (sort of a risk). I know that Michigan is my best shot at ibanking

05 Apr 2010

Hello all, I am a junior undergraduate student and I have a first-round, 30-minute phone interview with a private equity firm tomorrow. I have no prior banking/consulting internship and have little-to-no technical knowledge of finance outside of a basic understanding of how PE business models and transactions work. I have no idea how I got selected for a first-round interview, yet, here we are! My game plan so far is to refresh myself on PE business models/transactions, do basic online firm research, practice common behaviorals, and prepare my questions. I would also like to learn as much

05 Mar 2019

Okay, so I'm about to go to Villanova University and I need advice for my future. I didn't plan well in highschool, and got about a 3.5 GPA (3.85 my last two semesters) and 2170's on my SAT's. I had some unique EC's like starting two internet businesses that probably got me into Villanova's business school, but nothing spectacular.

19 Apr 2009

Hey guys, This is my first post and I'm looking for some help. Let's start with some background info: I'm a senior in high school living in Toronto, Canada. My family is middle income. I'm pretty set on pursuing a career in finance. I got accepted to NYU Stern recently and received around 20k in scholarships from them. That lowers tuition down to about 50k/yr? My family can contribute a good amount, but they'll be taking out loans and I'll have to pay them back afterwards. Expecting around 100k+ in debt. Alternatively, I can stay in Canada and go to the Richard Ivey School of Business. Tuition for Richard Ivey is only about 20k.

14 Feb 2015

I have decided, after quite a few posts on College Confidential, to post my query here on Wall Street Oasis which seems to have a base of older, more experienced users that can perhaps provide me with a different perspective! I have been accepted to USC-Marshall, UT Business Honors, UVA, UNC-Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, and Rice. I was also waitlisted at Duke. I have pretty much narrowed it down to UVA and UT Business Honors, choosing not to chase the undergrad econ route I'd have to take at Rice, Vandy, and Duke or the business schools at USC or UNC that I feel aren't as good of a fit for me as UVA McIntire or UT Business Honors.

10 Apr 2012

Hi there, I was recently admitted into Columbia's class of 2025. I will be studying econ-math (may switch to applied math), and am wondering if any of you have any advice on how to break into the industry asap. I'm also wondering if you have any advice on how to approach landing relevant internships right from freshman year, or anything else I should know about the recruiting culture at Columbia. Thanks so much for the help!

24 Dec 2020

Hi everyone, I have been lurking on this site for a while and have learned a lot, so thanks for that. I wanted to get your guy's opinion on what I should be doing right now as an undergraduate in the process of transferring to a target. I am currently at 3 CC's in LA transferring this next fall(not one of the CC's had all the classes I needed). I am sophomore but when I get to a target I will extend my graduation date to have time for more internships. I do not know which target I will get into as I am submitting my apps now. I have attended a university before this in Utah and transferred to

08 Nov 2018

I'm currently a freshman at a non-target, private school in Buffalo, New York. It is highly respected in this area, however outside of Western New York it has little prestige. I have talked with a couple of Finance and Economics professors here and they have informed me that we have a few alumni in the industry working at the big NYC firms, so I am not completely without connections. However, here is the problem:

19 Apr 2011

Hey everyone, I've been reading a lot on the forums lately about Carnegie Mellon Tepper; however, none of the content is super relevant (very outdated). That said, I was wondering how Carnegie Mellon Tepper places on the street? I am a freshman there and want to go into IB, except I keep reading outdated threads and they don't really provide much insight. I guess you could say I'm asking if Tepper is a target? Do they place well? Thanks!

22 Oct 2020

I have recently decided that I want to become a quantitative financial analyst after I finish my education. I was originally planning to double major in math and finance, along with a minor in computer science. However, I learned that a math-finance double major is next to impossible at my school due to the fact that they are in different schools (arts & sciences vs. business) and thus it would be a "dual degree" instead of a double major, which has a lot more requirements and is difficult (if not impossible) to complete in 4 years. So now I have to decide on (an)other major(s). I am now

24 Oct 2018

Hi guys I would like to work in IB in the beginning of my career. Perhaps I will start in London but my long term goal is the US. Say I have these two options - which one is the best for name recognition & prestige and contacts in the US? 1) St. Andrews, BSc in Economics and Statistics (with a lot of financial maths/stats) - 4 years. 2) Bocconi, BA in International Economics, Managment and Finance + LSE, MSc in Finance/Economics - 4 years.

22 Jun 2013

Hey Everyone, I am a senior at Michigan from a software engineering background with no finance experience. I applied to an AM FT opportunity because I thought it sounded interesting and FO high finance is something I always wanted to look into, but I thought my GPA was much too low (sub 3.0). I got an interview with a firm that serves institutional investors, with 150 Billion USD+ AUM and a derivatives portfolio worth a little less. The position would work with various asset classes and later, derivatives. The first interview went really well, and I was basically told on the spot I would be

14 Sep 2018

Is there a significant gap between these schools, at least one that is noticeable in the context of graduate B school admissions/career opportunities? Princeton and Dartmouth seem to offer very similar benefits (best undergraduate focus in the ivy league, tight alumni networks, etc), and then of course Yale is Yale. I know the hierarchy usually goes Y>P>D, but in the real world does going to one school versus the other really matter?

01 Aug 2018

Hey everyone, New to the site, so I'm not positive if I'm posting this in the right section of the forum. I'm an enlightened ex-political junkie who's rekindled a love for the business/finance world wondering how the top IB firms/Wall Street will view an Emory Goizueta undergrad. Recently enrolled at Emory via Early Decision, considering possibly setting myself up for a transfer to McDonough at Georgetown after my upcoming freshman year.

25 Feb 2011

I k the titles kinda (cliche?). Ok, dilemma: I'm a strong student (4.08 weighted, 1550/2220 sat) and I want to get into Ibanking after my bachelors. My problem is I didnt really do much ec or anything else during HS, so I didnt get into any of the 3 ivys i applied to or uchicago or washU. So... I'm left with the other colleges I applied to. Which are Indiana University, Grinnell, Macalester (I'll leave the rest out; I dont think grinnell or macalester will have any street presence much less depauw, case western, etc)

30 Mar 2011

Hey guys, I know there's a million of these post but I'm really unsure of what to do and could use some feedback on my situation I am a computer engineer from Rutgers University (Big Ten State School) -3.4 gpa (2.7 underclassmen GPA || 4.0 upperclassmen GPA) (due to personal issues my freshman and sophomore years) -decent internships in tech is it realistic to pursue IB or should I give up and focus on tech instead?

31 Jul 2017

First want to thank everyone for taking the time to answer my questions and for providing great insight on WSO. I've been an active reader for the past few months but haven't really posted much, so here goes the first post. To cut to the chase, my question is in regards to when to pursue my MBA – I'll start with a little background and then go into what my plan was.

16 Feb 2015

I'm interested in doing Asset Management eventually, but it's not entirely realistic coming from a non-target. What other paths are there with a finance degree besides the typical IB/PE/AM/HF/ER/S&T/VC kind of things? Is corporate finance the only other option? I'm not giving up, but I'd still like to know what my backups are if I'm not able to break in. How difficult is it to get into IB or PE at local firms? Anywhere near the same difficulty as the BB firms? Is this a feasible backup?

17 Jul 2011

Hi, I got an offer from wbs for BSc Accounting and Finance and I was wondering on how strong is this degree when following its finance pathway in Investment Banking and Financial Analysis. Also which Masters would you recommend to make me more competitive in the job market?

18 Mar 2019

So I've recently been kicking around the idea of training for a marathon beginning next fall semester (my senior year). I know it takes a tremendous amount of dedication, physical and mental strength to even pull this off, and I'm conflicted by the thought of giving up so much time during my last hurrah before entering the workforce. But at the same time, the thought of pushing myself to such limits and achieving this goal is incredibly enticing. This will probably be the last year (for a while at least) that I'll have so much control over my work outs and nutrition, and realisitically it could be now or never.

10 Apr 2011

Hello folks, So I'm a senior who is looking to go into college this fall. I was accepted into both the UT Austin McCombs Business Honors Program (out-of-state) as well as Washington University in St. Louis Olin school. Unfortunately, both are quite expensive since I didn't get any aid besides loans from both institutions. Currently, I'm in conflict on which one to pick. On one, Olin is quite good, especially for having a very diverse education and consulting is extremely prevalent, and there are good chances for IB too, especially with a strong network that the school makes possible. Generally

28 Mar 2020

Hey guys would like to ask for some advice here. I am currently 17 years old studying in Melbourne, Australia and am originally from Malaysia. I would like to pursue a Major in Finance at a top business school in the US, while also having the ability to study International Relations/History which is another one of my interests. I participate actively in co-curricular activities at school and a above average student. My predicted results for my high school certificate are at the top 5% of the state and i should score fairly well on my SAT's with my two extra subjects being Chinese and World History.

08 Nov 2010

I was recently accepted to the University of Chicago and the Business Honors Program at University of Texas for Undergrad. I'm very grateful to be accepted to both of these schools, and now here comes the hard part: deciding. I get the sense that UChicago is better for recruiting, but it also costs a lot more than UT. I guess the main question I'm asking is: is UChicago a better target than UT BHP for a career in finance at Wall Street. And if it is, is it worth the money? ( I know the social and academic scenes at the schools are extremely different, so i'm only asking about sheer

13 Feb 2010

I'm currently a high school senior entering the college apps phase. I'm looking for schools that would serve as relative safeties and that would offer me solid merit scholarships. I have a 35 ACT, 2210 SAT, 229 PSAT (semifinalist, likely finalist), 3.72 unweighted, 4.08 weighted (both GPAs do not include a total of 5 community college classes, all As). I was looking at Indiana University but I realized I'd get only $4,000 in auto scholarship. The $9,000/year one is for 3.8 GPA unweighted. Any suggestions? Or is this really the wrong direction to be focusing in?

03 Oct 2010