<p>A decent apartment on East 128th street costs about $500 000 at the very least and a 1 bedroom in Tribeca/Battery Park/Financial district is cheapest at $460 000 and you're living in a bad area. Median price for financial district 1 bedroom apartments is just over $1 000 000 (Source: NYTimes real estate)</p>
<p>However in Toronto living in the grand an luxurious Trump International Tower and Hotel is only $1 000 000. Everywhere else you get at roughly <=50% of what New York sells.</p>
<p>So despite lower pay you actually have more spending money in Toronto.</p>
<p>Remember this: Including your primary residence in net worth is the most meaningless calculation. You can never sell it and spend 100% of that money.</p>
<p>You should also note that your location isn't what matters. If you net 4000% returns in Bay Street you don't think JPM or GS would transfer you to Wall Street or give you a enormous bonus?</p>
<p>If you net 4000% percent returns while working at JPM or GS you're an idiot. A smart person would quit their job first then make those returns, since this way some corporation isn't pocketing the lion's share of the profits.</p>
<p>everyone's talking about landing that job in finance and international banking. but my friends who took that route are ALL miserable and want to get out.
sure that pay is good, but generally not as much as they expected. but the burn out in the field, at least from what my friends tell me, is high. Did you guys take commerce just for the money, or did you really enjoy studying it and ready to work like 16 hour days as a newbie in the field. As they do work the new guys to death.</p>
<p>First, I didn't study commerce. Second, I never planned on doing investment banking. It just so happened that in my final summer after undergrad I needed a summer job that would be relevant for my future (ie not restaurant work -- done that) and out of all my apps for internships in government, NGOs and consultancies a boutique IB was the only organisation that bothered to call me back.</p>
<p>Then I got there found that I really enjoyed the environment and the work, and moved on to a top BB. So no, it's not all about money. Plus, there are a lot of people in IB who wouldn't want to be anywhere else.</p>
<p>No. Toronto has a weaker overall application pool. You wouldn't find many Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, Stanford, and Duke grads aspiring to do ib in Toronto.</p>
<p>"No. Toronto has a weaker overall application pool. You wouldn't find many Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, Stanford, and Duke grads aspiring to do ib in Toronto."</p>
<p>IPBear, please substantiate your arguments with something other than unfounded statements. </p>
<p>signed,
--BigCat: aspiring bay st. trader, harvard '12</p>
<p>BigCat-
I see that you are just starting at Harvard. You want support? Go ask the 09's and see how many aspire to work on Bay St. and how many aspire to work on Wall St.</p>
<p>i was responding primarily to your assertion that "Toronto has a weaker overall application pool”. while it may be true that more americans are aiming for wall street, that doesn't diminish the quality or competitiveness of toronto’s applicant pool.</p>
<p>the names HYPSW may be the epitome of prestige, but don’t think for a minute that the kids at these institutions aren’t easily rivalled by the top students at the university of toronto, queens, etc.</p>
<p>"the names HYPSW may be the epitome of prestige, but don’t think for a minute that the kids at these institutions aren’t easily rivalled by the top students at the university of toronto, queens, etc."</p>
<p>BigCat-Your ignorance make me question if you really attend Harvard. Have you talked to any Canadian international students at Harvard yet? Ask them where the top students in Canada aspire to go to college. And, ask them where they aspire to work after graduation.</p>
<p>BigCat is spot on. At my BB in NYC there are UBC grads working alongside MIT and Harvard grads. You can't tell who went where because they are all very smart and very motivated.</p>
<p>IPBear, it really is too bad that you find me ignorant; especially when, in reality, your arrogance and american exceptionalist tendencies make it clear that you are the ignorant one. </p>
<p>the fact is that the overwhelming majority canadas up-and-comers are more than happy to study and work at home and those who do choose to venture south are not always doing so in response to the apparent allure of the ivy league and/or wall street.</p>