<p>Hello everybody, </p>
<p>Fortunately, I was accepted to both of these schools. I am having a difficult time choosing between the two. Which school do you think would be better for investment banking? </p>
<p>Anyone's feedback would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS! They are both excellent schools and universities, plus both will provide considerable i-Banking advatages. I won’t offer an opinion, but I’ll suggest an alternative slection approach. </p>
<p>I suspect you’ll find ceaseless debate – with no resolution – concerning which university and program is better. Therefore, you might want to consider the fact that two university “cultures” are distinct and considerably differ. Your individual “fit” just might be an easy, legitimate, and important decision metric. For example, would you prefer to spend the next four years in the “wilderness” of south, central New York State or in DC’s urban environment. Please understand, I do not advocate one in favor of the other; rather, matters of this sort simply may be a LOT less complicated to assess than the nuanced academic ratings of two similarly distinguished international relations programs.</p>
<p>@BranchWarren the decisions letters haven’t been mailed. How did you know you were accepted?</p>
<p>Neither of those decisions have been released yet…</p>
<p>Please keep in mind that I applied for Spring Admissions, and have been notified of admission two weeks ago. </p>
<p>Cornell is very, very cold. If you don’t mind the cold, you may not mind Cornell!</p>
<p>These two programs have very different curricula I imagine, don’t they?
Look carefully at what you will be required to take at each, how-many in-college credits you will be required to take, specific courses you will have to take (if any), etc. Your program of studies probably cannot be identically the same at both.</p>
<p>Once having analyzed what you will be required to, and able to, learn at each school, you should have a clear preference based on your interests.</p>
<p>With regard to I-bank recruiting, it may or may not prove relevant that, IIRC, SFS is regarded as the elite program at Georgetown, whereas ILR, while perfectly respectable there, is not regarded as the most elite program at Cornell. If any employers would care about these trivial status distinctions it would be I-banks. Similarly, they may not treat all transfers (from “lesser” schools) the same as original admits. These people are snobs.
Many ILR grads at ibanks are in in their Human Resources depts. But they are by no means limited to that.</p>
<p>But recruitment to an Ibank will depend very much on individual merit, within a most competitive pool of applicants, and fit. In both cases. Don’t go solely for that, because that might not work out. From either school.</p>
<p>The snob factor of IBanks is frankly, overemphasized. Both schools can get you on Wall Street. Whether you get there is up to you. Your decision should come down to fit and curriculum.</p>
<p>what do I know, I only worked there for 12 years…</p>
<p>The term "I-banks " encompasses a wider range of activities (hence snobbiness) than they used to, that’s true.
And, after all, there are janitors who work at I-banks too.</p>
<p>But there is no way that the areas and firms and activities I have in mind are not still snobby, in their hiring. In the sense that they would be aware of these fine distinctions between programs at the various target schools. And care about them, to some extent.</p>
<p>(got timed out) while other areas, likely less so, that’s quite possibly true.</p>
<p>I still think of a so-called “Investment Banking” firm from the perspective of actual Investment banking.
My handicap.</p>
<p>@monydad: I see. I was (and am) on a trading floor. We care about who makes money (or has potential to).</p>
<p>yeah you guys how crude…</p>
<p>Now how does this work, OP? So you applied for spring 2015 and those decisions have already been mailed out? </p>
<p>@monydad. Indeed. Animals.</p>
<p>So perhaps we can conclude that if OPs goal is to join PupleTitan in the arena, in an environment where traders, commercial bankers, retail salesmen, janitors et al all get to call themselves “investment bankers” even though they aren’t, then he may perhaps pay little heed to these distinctions. Qualifications would include, for example, killing and eating raw game, and cheating your mother in poker.</p>
<p>If ,alternatively, his skills and objectives lie more in the area of getting corporate clients to trust him, so that he can then throw them unsuspectingly over to Purple Titan in the arena, he might best be served paying some heed to these distinctions.</p>
<p>[insert smiley face thingy]</p>
<p>@monydad, we are not so uncivilized as to cheat our own mother. Your mother or anyone else’s mother, however, are fair game.</p>
<p>In any case, you can make your own decisions, but aspiring to be an investment banker is . . . well, not a path I chose or would ever have chosen.</p>