<p>I read conflicting opinions about Columbia as a school to get out of to launch a career in Wall Street right out of college.</p>
<p>Some say great things. Some say prestigious private equity type places recruit only from HYP type schools, and Columbia is NOT included in this exclusive list. </p>
<p>Please give me your honest opinion based on experience/real life observation, not "patriotic" declaration of why Columbia is perfect. No need to preach to the choir: I think very highly of Columbia because of their strong core, I am now evaluating the practical side.</p>
<p>I am especially interested in hearing from those on this board who are working in the financial sector.</p>
<p>I may be uninformed and/or clueless, but I am dead serious. Why wouldn't I be?</p>
<p>There were some threads where a prospect for wall street positions was mentioned, and several posters mentioned that very exclusive equity firms only recruit from HYPSW (wharton), and a couple of posters even specifically mentioned that they do NOT recruit from Columbia.</p>
<p>Princeton, Dartmouth and UPENN have excellent track records on Wall Street. But I am sure Columbia is no slacker. They probably send people to Wall Street though their Econ dept, as does Princeton and Dartmouth. Alumni connections and internships are the best ways to get noticed. Hopefully when you graduate Wall Street will be hiring again.</p>
<p>Columbia is as much of a target as any school. Different banks skew towards different schools based on their headcount from them. Columbia hasn't traditionally been as represented for whatever reason as some other schools but that doesn't mean you won't get the interview. Over 30 years I've seen a lot more Dartmouth and Duke on The Street than Yale for example, it's not so much an HYP thing.</p>