<p>Hi! I'm considering UChicago among other schools and I just wanted to know more about the job prospects that a UChicago undergraduate degree could bring me. How well does UChicago compare to other schools (like Duke, Dartmouth, Columbia) in the eyes of top employers? I plan on majoring in Economics and applying for CIB: Financial Markets. </p>
<p>I admire your courage to aim high. I think if you could get admitted to UChicago, study economics and do well there, you should not need to worry about the job prospects. Chicago Economics is considered arguably the best economics program in the world. On the other hand, if you are lucky enough to go to any of the other schools you mentioned, (Columbia, Dartmouth or Duke), go there and study hard and you would become just as successful as you’d get an Economics degree from UChicago. </p>
<p>Considering your options, you should focus on the location/environment. You will be able to get a job in finance from any of those schools. </p>
<p>Personally, I would choose between Chicago and Columbia because I’d want to be near a big city. Or Dartmouth vs. Duke if I’m interested in being involved with Greek life. This is the sort of discussion you should be having!</p>
<p>I’m actually committed already, so I’m not asking about these things to make my decision but rather so I know what to expect in four years. Bump?</p>
<p>What specifically are you interested in? Maybe which major employers recruit from UofC? If so, I can send you a list of the major firms that hire from here – the career advancement website actually just updated with the firms recruiting for Summer 2015. Shoot me a PM and I can send you a list. </p>
<p>Depends on where you want to land up. “Top employers” is a little fuzzy. Enough top finance recruiters pick UChicago grads, but if you want to land up at a Bulge Bank doing Investment banking in NY, then you may be better off at Wharton or Harvard. for NY positions, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wharton fill up most of the slots (say 70%) the rest 20% is filled by Uchicago, Columbia etc, from what I know. You will have to work harder to get a spot in NY since you are in a a Midwestern City and will have to network much harder. You can get into the same banks for their Chicago office easily from UChicago. The work, deals and industries you will work on will be different though. You can also get into a lot of high profile trading firms for their Chicago offices. I have heard that 95%+ of Uchicago grads in the Careers in Business program get placed with great firms. It just depends how keen you are to go the NY route. </p>
<p>In general there are five major finance hubs in the US, but they have very different sector and industry orientation.</p>
<p>New York, LA, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco. For eg. Chicago focuses on Industrials, Houston on Oil and Gas, San Francisco on High tech etc. </p>
<p>In general stay close to the city you want to work in, if you are focused on finance. Just makes it that much easier. For example the Banks recruit heavily for their Houston Offices out of Univ of Texas at Austin and Rice. Majority are from these schools. Similarly for Stanford. </p>
<p>Of course all this is only from a career perspective. It says nothing about the quality of education you will receive at any of these schools. That is a completely different discussion. </p>