<p>-Which is 4yr UnderGrad (Bachelor) Major is more relevent for a career in I-Banking, directlty after the degree: Business, Economics, or even a Liberal Arts one ?</p>
<p>-Generally, which one gives more chances of 4yr scholarships ?</p>
<p>-Also, by and large, which of the 3 degrees has a lower Tuition Fee in a TOP 20 college, institution, university - whatever ?</p>
<p>An applicant from India might come out ahead economically by staying in India and doing a degree at IIT, I'm afraid. There is NOT very abundant financial aid for foreign students for undergraduate degrees here in the United States, other than that all higher education receives heavy indirect subsidies of various kinds.</p>
<p>I got a SAT I score of 1600, that could improve chances of a tuition waiver.</p>
<p>I've taken commerce, and IIT is an engineering institute.</p>
<p>An SAT I score of 1600 does little or nothing to reduce the tuition of a foreign applicant to the kind of school you desire to attend. You will have to decide whether your main concern is to reduce cost--and I sympathize with that concern, as I have lived in the Third World--or to obtain the most prestigious degree you can, in which case you may be able to pay back a large amount of debts. </p>
<p>This was a problem for me a generation ago, although I was a United States citizen. Deciding when to borrow freely and when to minimize cost is an enconomic issue you will have to know well before pursuing an investment banking career, I think.</p>
<p>i would say a Finance major would be the best for that kind of career.. at my school it's called Economics & Finance..</p>
<p>A few universities and liberal arts colleges are need blind for internationals, meaning if they accept you they make sure you have the money to attend. Funds are extremely limited, however, and positions are competitive. Your SAT scores certainly put you in the running, but scores, as you probably know are only one piece of the puzzle for US admissions. Top US colleges are also looking for good grades and involvement in non-academic pursuits.</p>
<p>Williams College is one that I know of that is need blind. Williams is also an excellent choice for someone considering going on for an MBA. They don't offer an undergraduate business degree, but are very strong in economics and other liberal arts disciplines. I'm sure others could give you other ideas for schools that are need-blind for internationals. I believe that Yale is as well, but that is one of the most selective colleges in the world so you should have other options.</p>
<p>I would think the best approach would be to research the colleges/universities that you are interested in and ask them what their policy is on financial aid for internationals.</p>
<p>If you take a look at the MBA thread that was on this board a few days ago you can see advice about getting an MBA. In my opioion, you should study what you're interested in for your BA or BS, get good grades, get a job for a few years for some realworld business experience, then go back for your MBA. </p>
<p>Many top business schools now have international MBA programs whereby you can get a degree in your home country mostly via internet. I know that Chicago and Duke have these programs; there are probably others.</p>
<p>You face several challenges if you want to go into investment banking for a US firm.</p>
<p>First, the challenge is finding and getting into a school that i-banks tend to recruit from most. In general, those schools are UPenn's Wharton School of Business, Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth. All are need-blind and promise to meet financial need - but they do not offer merit scholarships so they will only offer money based on your family's demonstrated financial need. Of these schools, only Wharton offers a degree in finance but majoring in economics at the others is fine.</p>
<p>Second, many i-banks want candidates with MBA's for the fast track jobs. Momrath has already done an excellent job of discussing this and offering some suggestions.</p>
<p>However, the main problem that internationals face is that to stay and work in the US after graduation, you must have an employer sponsor you. This can be very difficult in fields where there are ample American candidates like i-banking. In other words, if your goal is to stay in the US after graduation, you will face an uphill climb. If you want to work in i-banking in India, you will have to do some research to see if a degree from India or the US will serve you best.</p>
<p>Finally, I am curious as to why you are interested in investment banking. It is a field that many THINK they want to go into because of potential pay rewards --- but it is also a field that is intensely competitive and demands huge amounts of time and dedication from its employees. Hopefully, you are interested in this field for reasons other than money.</p>
<p>"A few universities and liberal arts colleges are need blind for internationals, meaning if they accept you they make sure you have the money to attend." </p>
<p>Being need blind only means that you requesting finanical aid or your ability to pay is not considered in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Meeting 100% of your demonstrated need means accept you they make sure you have the money to attend. </p>
<p>Williams just happens to be both.</p>
<p>While a school like Williams gives very generous financial aid to both citizens and internationals and has a philosphy of no hidden cost there are approximately less than 5 other schools in this country that follow that philosophy.</p>
<p>Also OP needs to keep in mind that if you think it is a competive pool for U.S. studnets trying to get into the Ivies& Elite LAC's compund that a few times for international studnets.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is not need blind to international students but will meet 100% of your demonstrated need if admitted.</p>
<p>"First, the challenge is finding and getting into a school that i-banks tend to recruit from most. In general, those schools are UPenn's Wharton School of Business, Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth"</p>
<p>Wow, Carolyn! Can't you hear the fast approaching footsteps of Alexandre? As soon as he gets in shouting distance, you can expect an earful of outcry for having overlooked the almighty Michigan. </p>
<p>FWIW, I think that it would be a mistake to only consider the I-Bank firms located on the East Coast. There are a number of firms that are located on the West Coast and in the South that are heavy recruiters in their geographical area. For instance, a leading company like Stephens of Arkansas tends to cast a wider net to find the very best candidates for early entry in IB.</p>
<p>Xiggi, I guess I am getting worn out from arguing about whether you have to go to an Ivy to get into i-banking. The fact that I know several people who are very successful in i-banking and did not go to an ivy doesn't seem to hold much sway with most folks so I just listed the generally agreed upon schools. </p>
<p>Again, the main issue for an international wanting to work in America for an i-bank is NOT going to be going to the "right school" but rather finding a company willing to sponsor him/her after graduation. Very few work visa's are granted to internationals for work that can be filled many times over by US citizens.</p>
<p>Carolyn,</p>
<p>Princeton was notably missing from your list, and as I've looked over the majors offered there with S, they do seem a little thin in terms of "real world" majors, unless one wants to embark on an engineering degree or perhaps pre-med.</p>
<p>As an English major at a midwestern University, my memories of my four-year idyll there marred only by the ugly moment when all the business majors were recruited into well-paying jobs and I was left to my sonnets and the want ads. Unlike my parents, I will be happy to encourage S toward a graduate degree, but my own experience makes me want to shout "Danger, Will Robinson!" to S, who was unlucky enough to inherit my love for literature and writing.</p>
<p>Is the path for kids who major in English and similarly less "applied" majors in the Ivies any different than for those of us who went to "ordinary" colleges?</p>
<p>Is the path for kids who major in English and similarly less "applied" majors in the Ivies any different than for those of us who went to "ordinary" colleges?>></p>
<p>Dizzy, funny you mention this today as I just got off the phone with someone who majored in English with a minor in Communications at one of the better cal state university schools. He graduated last May, has yet to find a job or even land an interview, and was calling me for advice. Of course, when I asked him if he'd done any internships while in college or during college summers, or even done any volunteer work related to writing/communications, his answer was "no." I think internships and volunteer work are vital for kids majoring in the "softer" majors, especially at lesser known schools.</p>
<p>I understand your "danger, Will Robinson" remark - my daughter swings back and forth between majoring in art, history and sociology...but she has a long way to go before she figures out what the heck she will do to support herself.</p>
<p>Princeton was quite well represented at the investment bank I worked for in New York. The only college that can I recall more analysts came from was Harvard.
To get hired these people had to demonstrate various personal qualities and aptitudes, but no specific majors were required. The best analyst that worked for me majored in archeology I think.</p>
<p>Monydad - Do i-banks generally recruit internationals and sponsor their Visa's?</p>
<p>Carolyn, thank you so much for your response -- I have often wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your rational and reasoned posts here.</p>
<p>Monydad -- would those individuals have been Econ majors in their undergraduate life? </p>
<p>I honestly have no idea what direction S is going in, and neither does he, but he will be expected to support himself after he gets his education, which I guess is not always the case...sometimes I wonder if he will have been dropped into the fast-forward of an Edith Wharton novel!</p>
<p>1) The Fortune 500 company I worked for in the midwest did sponsor internationals. But I don't recall anything like that at the investment bank. Of course they hired many international students to work overseas, but I never saw any of these people.
They may do it, they may even have done it while I was working there, but I didn't come across it. I was not in the HR loop so far as the new hires went. As far as I can recall no internationals worked in my department.</p>
<p>2) The analysts that I was referring to were straight out of undergrad. They came from various backgrounds and undergraduate majors. I already mentioned Archeology. Some others that I specifically remember were: Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Finance. The majority were liberal arts majors of one kind or another. Some were probably economics majors, but I don't recall specifically. As I thought I said before, one's major field of study per se was not the most important factor in their being hired.</p>
<p>sometimes I wonder if he will have been dropped into the fast-forward of an Edith Wharton novel!>></p>
<p>Dizzy - LOL! Maybe he can marry my daughter and they can live happily ever after in the same novel. (And thanks for the nice compliment as well).</p>
<p>Thanks Monydad for the information. The international students who majored in business I know in the U.S. have had difficulty finding employers to sponsor them after graduation.</p>
<p>I think Carolyn asked the most relevant question as to why someone wants to become an I-banker at such an early age (17-18?). The hours are very long especially for new hires. I know someone who is from UPenn and was hired by CIBC. He does not have time to go home during Christmas, so his parents visit him during traditional holidays. I think that is a good question to ask.</p>
<p>Achat, "I-banking" seems to be the new catchphrase among kids - sort of the way the term "dot.com entrepreneur" was viewed at the end of the 1990's. I suspect that many kids are merely focused on the financial possibilities and aren't even looking at what they will have to do on a day to day basis.</p>
<p>Achat, for the same reason that so many kids just want to go to an ivy, any ivy. This seems to be an era of money and prestige at any price.</p>
<p>Carolyn, to answer your questions, the banks have no problem sponsoring internationals and do it all the time. They can keep them here as expats for a few years and then spend what it takes to get them a green card if they want them to stay rather than putting them overseas.</p>