<p>Hey Alexandre, I remember reading a lot of your posts about Umich job placement, which is pretty impressive. But I noticed that they were for the Ross business program and not the LSA. If I do LSA Honors and major in econ, will I have the same opportunities as the Ross students? I know you got into i-banking for a while after an econ degree, so I guess it's just as good. Also, you say you didn't like i-banking. What do you do now with your econ degree? What are the various options? What do most econ majors at Umich LSA want to do later in life? I might end up not liking i-banking. Ideally, I would want to work at a boutique like Lazard, which actually recruits at Michigan, but I don't see many people being hired there from any school. (I used to want to be an accountant/tax attorney but am now more geared toward i-banking.)</p>
<p>Redhare, Your observsation is quite correct. It is Ross, not LSA, that has an impressive job placement. LSA is not quite as strong and requires a lot more self-initative. But it is certainly possible to graduate from LSA with a good job offer from an IBank (or any other exclusive company for that matter).. I personally majored in Economics and join an Investment Bank (Lehman Brothers) upon graduation. I also had offers from another prominent IB. I interviewed with Lazard, but I unfortunately did not land a job. I did know of 4 (3 of them MBAs) people from Michigan who got offers from Lazard. I did get an offer from Coutts in London...a similar outfit to Lazard. But as you observed, those companies do not recruit many students straight of out of college. They usually like more seasoned candidates.</p>
<p>Many of my fellow Econ majors chose the IB route...or the Law school path. I knew a lot of English, Political Science, Psychology and Math majors who also accepted offers from IBanks. But like I said, you will have to take initative. You have to go to job/career fairs, pro-actively look for good summer internships etc... You obviously need a good GPA too. </p>
<p>Connections also never hurt. My father was a high ranking Director/VP at Banque Paribas. At a certain point, he was considered for the CEO chair but he pulled himself out of the race because he wanted to take it easy before retiring. But thanks to his connections, I knew influential people at many of the top IBanks.</p>
<p>All of the people I knew who got jobs with IBanks had at least 3.3 GPAs. Most of them were 3.5+ students. I noticed that regardless of major, those who were most successful at landing jobs in IB were the students who took copious amounts of classes in Mathematics, spoke a foriegn language fluently, travelled a lot in summer and had a good command of computer software packages such as Excel and now PowerPoint.</p>
<p>Michigan will open any door you would like. Every major recruiter reguards Michigan as a "strategic" campus. But it is you that must plan ahead, take the initative, maintan good grades and keep your wits about you.</p>
<p>I personally did not like IBanking because I found many IBankers to be superficial, arrogant and disloyal. I also did not like the work hours. After 3 years with Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, I realized that IBankers have no life...at least, not one that complies to my definition of the word. Working 80-100 hours a week well into my 50s just isn't my cup of tea!</p>
<p>At any rate, your first step, no matter what sort of career you wish to pursue, is to go to the career office, prepare your resume, hit the career fairs hard and apply for interviews for internships on the Michigan computer network.</p>
<p>Alexandre: Please check your private messages, I sent you a PM.</p>
<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>I'm a BBA 1 in the Ross school at UM, so hopefully I can shed a bit more light on the recruiting procedures. After all I went through this process for internships this summer, and will have to go through it again next fall!</p>
<p>Firstly, let me say that Alexandre is correct in that in doesn't matter which college you are in, if you do well in class and are pretty much a well rounded person, you can get a job in ibanking. I was at a presentation by CSFB, and there was this guy who majored in art history! So it doesn't mean that you have to get into Ross to have a shot and an ibanking job</p>
<p>That being said, the career resources in Ross are much more focused than the general LSA resources. I think that they can afford to be more focused because most students in Ross have already found their niche, and the career center can afford to be more specialized. In LSA, the career center has to cater to the many different students who all major in a variety of areas. Personally, I have found this to be the biggest advantage of being in the business school.</p>
<p>They have a wealth of information that really are quite helpful, like career counselling and resume reviews. Also, they have a system of applications for internships and jobs here at Ross which is pretty good. Basically we have all our resumes stored online, and when we want to apply for a particular position, we just "drop" our resume with that particular company. The company then reviews all the resumes and selects several students for interviews. This is known as the 'closed list'. If the position is popular and you don't get on the closed list, then you can bid for it. Each person has an allotted number of points to bid with, which you should spend wisely. </p>
<p>Michigan is a good place to get recruited in general, but some of the ibanks, Lazard for one(I think), recruit mainly at the business school. I would say that it would be an advantage to be in Ross should you want to apply for the boutique investment banks.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>What can I do as a freshman next year to really better my chances at being accpeted into Ross...besides maintain a high GPA...i keep hearing that a student's campus involvment and leadership at umich is a large factor for admission consideration....how many leadership positions are really available to me next year as a freshman? what does the business school want???</p>
<p>I heard that in general, an econ major will have the same opportunities as a business major, that it is not necessary to major in business at the undergraduate level. Is this true?</p>
<p>I think i read that the chaiman of Goldman Sachs was an undergrad English major.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter all that much...just a bit. I'd stay away from a majors in cosemetics or beverage-consumption though.</p>
<p>Laxman: Basically the bsch wants someone who is all-rounded, not just someone who studies constantly and is not involved with other activities. There are leadership opportunities if you look for them. One way is to try find something that you want to do, and work your way into one of the committees. </p>
<p>redhare and Laxman: Yes, in general, if you do well you will have opportunities no matter what. As i said, if you do well it doesn't matter. But I was referring solely to the resources at Michigan, and I think that there are more resources at one's disposal in the bsch. I don't think that most of the LSA students will dispute that.</p>
<p>Redhare, theoretically, you are right in assuming that Econ majors are just as sought after and respected as Business majors. In some circles, such as graduate school adcoms, I would say that Econ majors are even more respected. However, at most universities where you have an elite B school (like Penn, Michigan, Cal, NYU, CMU etc...), the B school students will have access to greater resources and as such, they will usually find opportunities more easily.</p>
<p>so...majoring in economics and majoring in business: different at those schools? which is better?</p>
<p>Hey Sin_87,</p>
<p>I am also a first year Ross student. What section are you in? I am in section 3.</p>
<p>333UM</p>
<p>Does it help to be in honors LSA?</p>
<p>Not really. A 3.5+ GPA is a 3.5+ GPA...whether you are part of the honors college or not. Obviously, most students who can maintain a 3.5+ GPA at Michigan were good enough to get into the honors college in the first place, but it doesnot improve your chances.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot Alexandre for clearing things up. But I still think I might do the honors program anyway if i do go to umich.</p>
<p>Oh, one more thing, Alexandre. What sort of work do you do now?</p>
<p>Redhare, if you got into Honors, go for it. It certainly cannot hurt.</p>
<p>I personally started off as an Investment Banker when I graduate from Michigan. I joined Lehman Brothers in London and later, followed my boss to Goldman Sachs. After 3+ years of Investment Banking, I realized I did not like the profession and returned to school to get a graduate degree in Labor Relations. Since then, I have worked in the field of Human Resources, forst with Ford and then with Eaton. I am currently the Director/VP of Human Resources for a Dubai-based company with a total workforce of 3,000 employees.</p>
<p>333UM: I'm in section 5.</p>
<p>Good luck for the finals!</p>