Hi,
I am actually a college student looking to transfer to the schools above. I live in New York and want to work on wall street in NYC. My options are Fordham, Villanova, Bucknell and William & Mary. All are around the same price except for W & M were I would have to take on en extra 35k in debt which would lead my total debt to around 70k. Also for Villanova I would be an econ major and not in there business school. Please let me know what your thoughts are on the above.
I would eliminate W&M, $70K debt is too much and W&M likely won’t result in better job opportunities that justify the extra debt.
I lean toward Fordham or Bucknell, but you should do some research/talk with the career centers to see the type of Wall Street jobs grads are getting coming out of each school.
For Villanova…Do you like econ and see yourself majoring in that? You should also research the opportunities avail to econ majors, relative to biz majors…like I said on your other thread, have you done that?
For example, are interviews for the types of jobs you desire and their on-campus programming/interviews open to econ majors and not just biz majors? Can econ majors join business clubs? Are business clubs competitive entry?
Why have you dropped the other schools that you have been accepted to? Perhaps those reasons will help you decide which of these schools is best for you.
Good luck.
Agree that an extra $70K in debt for W&M is not a good plan.
For the others I would back up and look in the mirror for a little bit. From a career perspective the differences between those three are vastly outweighed by what you actually do over the next 2 years. For “Finance” (which can mean dozens of different things anymore), that typically means strong marks, internships and networking.
So: which of those three places is the one where you- as a human- will shine? where will you feel confident about putting yourself forward, joining things, asking for recs for internships? where will you feel excited and motivated and like being the person who tries that bit harder in class, who goes to the guest lecture - and then follows up on linkedin contacts, not just with the speaker, but the other adults in the room? etc.
Some things to consider:
None of these schools are “targets” for wall street banks, and may not give you a meaningful boost over your current school if this is the reason you are considering transferring.
The biggest bang for your buck for Wall Street if you are a New Yorker is Baruch. There are pros and cons to each of your other options- Econ is a fantastic and interesting major, which may or may not lead to a Wall Street career. Fordham is a great school which “punches above its weight” in terms of recruiting and hiring so if you aren’t interested in the “best value” option I’d vote for that.
But you will need hustle. Top grades, good networking, interesting volunteer work, stretch yourself in terms of course rigor and analytical difficulty. Nobody hands you a job on Wall Street majoring in finance/econ coming out of any of the schools you have listed.
I think in terms of placement bucknell is better but fit wise would probably
be villanova.
So placement:
1.bucknell
2. fordham
3.villanova
fit wise:
I dont know which to value most. I know i can probably fit at bucknell but just not sure
imo, fit. Trust yourself.
Agree that fit is so important. All of the schools under consideration have excellent placement in Wall Street, consulting and banking. Go with your gut.Good luck
Thanks everyone for your input it is much appreciated!!!