Deleted in light of Gable’s last post.
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Honestly do not mean to suggest that. You probably do know more about the industry than do I. The “fundraiser for alternative assets” threw me a little.
I’ll just leave it as the private banker, as in my guy at Morgan Stanley. In my experience, the particular school background of people in that space is all over the place. There’s an ex-Penn football player at the TD Ameritrade retail office where I put some fun money and do my own thing at a discount and there’s my guy at Morgan Stanley who went to school in Canada at a place you’ve never heard of (hockey player). In Seattle, you’d find a lot of U Washington people in that role, but also a ton of other schools represented, like Gonzaga, UPS, etc.
Of the schools on your list, and I think we’ve talked about this before, Skidmore’s program really does seem to be successful in placing kids. I just e-mailed one of my Skidmore contacts specifically about wealth management, and his response was, ‘yes, a lot of that.’
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I went back and realize I did not make sufficiently clear that there are various alternative and separate tracks being evaluated. Apologies if I overreacted.
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Not at all. I understand. The “I’m not sure what you’re saying” sub-threads can take on a life of their own.
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All due respect, OP- I don’t think anyone is suggesting you are ignorant. But you’d get more helpful answers if you answered some of our own questions back to you.
Since now I’m not sure WHAT you are looking for- and certainly don’t know what your kid wants out of his education, I can give you a “back of the envelope” soundbite.
Intellectual engagement and rigor- Holy Cross, Georgia, F&M, Lehigh, Skidmore, U South Carolina. Lots of preppy friends and athletes (wealth management firms like athletes) Trinity, Denison, Clemson, Bucknell. Solid liberal arts education which can take him anywhere- Santa Clara, Skidmore, Richmond, Rhodes, Dickenson. Practical business education with many applications- Bentley, Babson, Miami. I’ve left off a few but since I really don’t know what your kid wants out of his education, it’s hard to think about this in a thoughtful way.
Wealth management is likely the 'easiest" path in terms of getting a job (compared with M&A, Operations, any of the quant disciplines, trading) so I’d be less concerned about how to get a job than I would in figuring out what your son wants to to put IN to his education, and therefore, what he’d be getting OUT of it.
Small firms can pay a bare bones salary plus a draw (they don’t call it a commission 'cause it sounds down market, but that’s what it is) and give you two years to figure out if you can make a living at it. So low risk to them. It’s not like a huge firm where they are investing in your training and don’t want to make that investment if they don’t see upfront that you’re likely to be successful at it.
I know several kids who could not get hired for an insurance training program (generally considered a low barrier to entry type of job for a recent college grad) but who did get hired for a regional bank in wealth management and a few specialty type firms (focus on private companies where the elderly founder is retiring, or focus on doctors who are selling their practices-- very lucrative market for wealth management, not so much for the doctors who become employees of HUGE health care systems), etc. Not hard jobs to get.
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Ok, I did apologize for overreacting; @cquin85 kindly acknowledged how the “confusion” line can easily be misinterpreted. Thanks for continuing to engage.
(A) Preppy friends and athletes (in sufficient number but not all)/country clubby and/or (B) practical business/Econ education are probably the best fit for him, and would make him the happiest regardless of what direction he decides to take. He is definitely not into the humanities or science. I could see him enjoying the sociology/psychology and applied math/stats aspects of business, but non-pragmatic academics (from a business perspective), with or without rigor, are a big turn-off for him. He attends a Top 25 Niche private high school with extreme rigor and competition and wants something very different, with which we agree as parents.
Richmond, Trinity, Skidmore, Denison, Bucknell, Lehigh, Clemson, Babson, Bentley, Santa Clara, UMiami, LMU, Gettysburg and Elon seem to align well with (A) and (B) from away. Not getting the vibe from far away that F&M or Dickinson would provide (A) (the kids seem a bit quirky on the videos). Not sure what to make of Sewanee, Furman and Rhodes on element (B) above, although they clearly meet element (A).
To lighten the discussion, Ill add the most “interesting” retail business model - Edward Jones.
Edward Jones business model is to have newer advisors knock on doors to solicit clients - Often referred to as “door knocking”. Im not sure if they still encourage this method of obtaining clients, but that had been their model for years, and perhaps still is.
Has he thought about Villanova? Their Business School Fall Preview Day in September, where you can meet faculty and students, is impressive. Fall Preview Days | Villanova University
Miami fits the bill. S20 loved it. Not enough merit. Friend’s D graduated two years ago and loved it. She’s the smart, athletic but practical type. She’s now in PA school.
After that I’d say Bucknell and Richmond. Not Dickinson. On paper Furman would be a fit but I think your hesitation is warranted.
I’d add Wake and maybe Florida State to the list. S21 is at FSU. He works hard but also has plenty of fun. Great campus and the kids seem happy.
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Since I believe you said he means to stay in the south(?), of these three I think Sewanee will offer the most opportunities. Then Furman. I’m not sure about Rhodes.
I think Lehigh is going to have the kind of rigor he is NOT looking for… lots of kids end up at Lehigh whose first choice was Wharton (or similar) and if your son wants out of the competition, Lehigh is not a good place to be.
I don’t have time to go college by college, but I don’t think your son is a good fit for an Econ major (as a “kinda sorta” Business major). There is a LOT of theory in an econ department- some of which can be avoided (he might not be interested in the history of monetary policy and why it explains WW2 and does not explain the rise of Communism-- so he won’t take that course) but much of which cannot be avoided. Macro is hard, and theoretical, and econometrics is REALLY hard, and very theoretical, and a college without a pure business major isn’t going to let him swap “Buyer Behavior” for macro. Doesn’t work that way.
SMU is typically ranked at or near the top on surveys of “most helpful alumni networks” (along with Notre Dame, which I don’t think fits what he’s looking for) so you might check that out. I’d also be looking closely at big state U’s where you can pretty much find your peeps everywhere just because of size and scale.
Skidmore has a big artsy/boho scene. Doesn’t seem to fit with what he’s looking for.
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I agree with this, Lehigh is rigorous and competitive, but plenty of pre-professional prepsters and jocks. I believe Babson has a similar culture.
Furman seems to fit the best of these 3 with a number of pre-professional business students.
I agree with this, and have mentioned so often on CC threads that studying econ is not like studying finance, or any other area of business for that matter. If one knows the student likes econ, say from AP Econ, and potentially the theory that will be involved in upper level classes, then that sounds like a good fit. But econ as a proxy for finance? Nope.
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Rigor and competitiveness in a business/Econ/math-focused curriculum are right up his alley. It’s the rigor and grade deflation at national elite day schools (like his) in general educational requirements (especially humanities and science) that he does not enjoy. His enjoyment and performance are very driven by specific interest, not ecumenical/“liberal arts” knowledge. This of course may change as he matures.
Thanks for the perspective. I myself followed the econ to high finance path and found the Econ major very helpful. You just need to be pragmatic and careful in your course selection but I can guide him through that. And no, this is not me pushing him in this direction; he fell in love with the track after doing a summer program at one of the schools above.
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Elon sounds like a perfect fit. Have you visited?
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Definitely on the list to visit. Very impressed from afar.
Great business school. Impressive business fraternity that really prepares the kids for interviews. Very good placement, at least in my kid’s class.