<p>Hypothetically, which of the following liberal arts colleges would be best for someone who eventually wants to pursue a career in finance:</p>
<p>Williams
Amherst
Swarthmore
Pomona
CMC</p>
<p>I've conveniently left out all the intermediate steps like whether I'll get a MBA because I really haven't decided. So which LAC would leave my options as open as possible while also guiding me to the right direction? Thanks</p>
<p>I think Claremont McKenna is more finance oriented than the others-at least through its curricular offerings. It also has some really great placements so I would say it would be the best, but by only a slight margin. Pomona will be virtually the same, considering they’re in a consortium. Swarthmore may not be as geared towards finance as the other colleges, but it’ll still be a pretty good bet. It also has Engineering, which some consider a stepping stone towards finance. Williams and Amherst will have excellent job placements and the like, but again there won’t be curricular grounding in finance per se.</p>
<p>Where do you want to work? West Coast or East Coast?</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that you can’t go wrong with either Williams or Amherst for East Coast
and Pomona and CMC for West Coast.
There is not a significant difference between each schools for each coasts. They are each other’s competition, it’s not like you’re comparing them to a school ranked #50.</p>
<p>Even at a “lowly” #50 like Rhodes you’ve got trustees who are the heads of local finance operations like SunTrust Bank and of Wall Street IBs like Mariner Capital. The undergrad business program here puts folks there and a lot at other firms like Stephens, Morgan Keegan, etc. as well as into top MBA programs like Duke, Vandy, Emory, Harvard, etc.</p>
<p>In other words, your seeking a distinction where there likely is none. Pick the school you like best.</p>
<p>You have to understand that the campus cultures and the locations of these schools are very different, that choosing a school solely on employment prospects may ruin your life.</p>
<p>You should apply to all of these schools and think about this question after you’ve been accepted.</p>
<p>I recommend Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Dartmouth, Colgate, Holy Cross, Williams have strong alumni networks in finance and business fields.</p>
<p>Claremont McKenna and Tufts are the two best in financial areas</p>
<p>Do all these schools even have finance programs? </p>
<p>Anyways, it really depends on what job within finance you want to have. Ibank salesman need analytical thinking ability and a basic understanding of statistics. Ibank traders need more stats and analytical ability. Quants need an extensive understanding of statistics and computer programming. </p>
<p>My understanding is that salesman need the least education and the most natural selling ability and practice on the job. I would consider going to a school that either has a simulated ibanking cooperative or allows you to spend as much time as you can working for ibanks.</p>
<p>And of course, remember that tuition is a major factor… unless your parents are paying and it’s too awkward to take the lower tuition offer and ask your parents for a portion of what would’ve been the extra tuition at the higher tuition schools.</p>