<p>i hope you like my title. haha. (im hoping i will get a couple of "herp derp of course it will" responses.) i got accepted into columbia school of general studies as a transfer student, but due to lacking funds i have postsponed my admittance two semesters already. kinda thought i should just find a less expensive school and finish up my schooling elsewhere. </p>
<p>then a friend of mine said that if you get accepted into an ivy league school, you pretty much really should go because it'll guarantee that you become rich. i guess i have been naive to all this stuff, because i didnt know that top companies target top schools to pull new workers from. it makes sense now that he has told me that... he said that my pay will start at AT LEAST 80,000 dollars a year... hmmm. </p>
<p>however, this guy is a business guy and i feel that kinda career is different. what i want to do is become a licensed counsellor (master's in psych) and i would like to work in a hospital or a prison, or possibly start up my own practice. </p>
<p>i've been reluctant to go for columbia since it is so much money that i do not have that i must spend. i don't even think i can get a loan of the needed size, haha. of course they have discrimnatory laws toward foreigners, so what they told me is that i need to have 80,000 dollars in the bank for them to transfer my student visa. sigh. </p>
<p>anyway, hopefully there are ppl on here that have travelled down the same route and that can tell me if im friend is just full of crap or actually right. </p>
<p>Columbia opens doors. Particularly if you want to work in finance or consulting, where yes, Columbia will make a big difference and you can start at $120k. However since you’ve been ambivalent, and the salary for a counselor in a prison will be nearly the same regardless of your institution, it sounds like GS isn’t the place for you.</p>
<p>Unless you took time off from the Street to line Columbia’s pockets, no one’s going to walk out of GS and into Goldman Sachs and pull down 120k on the basis of your brand-name university and freshly-starched shirt. I know, I know…you “know a guy who did it.”</p>
<p>Newsflash: finance jobs don’t always go to the guy with the 4.33 from GS. They often go to the 21 year old who’ll work 20 hour days and whose father happens to be a Vice President.</p>
<p>“Newsflash: finance jobs don’t always go to the guy with the 4.33 from GS. They often go to the 21 year old who’ll work 20 hour days and whose father happens to be a Vice President.”</p>
<p>There are plenty of people in GS who are headed to Wall Street. How do I know this, because I’m one of them. After rounds of tough interviews I was offered an analyst job at Citigroup. The notion that there are nepotistic hiring practices is true , in some ways. But , if you get a high enough gpa and rock the interviews , you’ll be just as competitive as any other undergrad at Columbia. </p>
<p>Going to college is a big decision. I would do some real research and find out if GS is right for you. Avoid anonymous internet conjecture.</p>
<p>Beyond that, how does that relate to the OP’s desire to “become a licensed counsellor” or address my primary assertion that “Unless you took time off from the Street to line Columbia’s pockets, no one’s going to walk out of GS and into Goldman Sachs and pull down 120k on the basis of your brand-name university and freshly-starched shirt?” </p>
<p>Hardly anyone at any undergraduate college will be pulling down $120k off the bat. Most Ivy League undergrads start off as analysts and work their way up. Getting in the door is the first step.</p>
<p>So that doesn’t really vibe with the latter part of Campaigner’s assertion that “Columbia opens doors. Particularly if you want to work in finance or consulting, where yes, Columbia will make a big difference and you can start at $120k”</p>
<p>Nope. Doesn’t vibe. Another case of counting your chickens before…well, let’s not get into the economics of factory farming. </p>
<p>Sending this link to my friends at Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Morgan-Chase, and Goldman Sachs: I think they’ll get a kick out of it.</p>
<p>Huh? Your attempts at humor come off as awkward. Anyways, Columbia does open doors. Through career services at Columbia I and a few of my friends at GS landed summer analyst internships at Citigroup, credit suisse, and Goldman. I also know a few Barnard girls who landed summer internships at Goldman. </p>
<p>I can tell you first hand, that having an internship for a prospective employer really helps when applying for a job with said company.</p>
<p>I know several people who’ve graduated and are making $100k-$120k with bonus. Certainly not most, but for talented people in the right sectors, sure. That happens with a Columbia degree, but would’ve been a whole lot harder for those same people with a SUNY Albany BA.</p>
<p>There’s a difference between can and will. Columbia doesn’t guarantee anything, but it makes it a whole lot more possible.</p>
<p>Although it’s practical to think about future salary when choosing a course of study, or a school, I’d caution against making important decisions this way.</p>
<p>Find what motivates you on a fundamental level, pursue it professionally, and you’ll likely be rewarded. Put money first and it’ll be a compromise that slowly eats away at you. </p>
<p>Hang in there, follow your heart, and I assure you that cool things will happen.</p>
<p>I think the take home message here was lost somewhere between the lines. I would say that the most important thing that you will use coming out of Columbia directly (other than your wealth of knowledge of course) is the network. What campaigner said and tsar echoed, “Columbia opens doors” is true, and to people in certain fields, completely worth the price tag. </p>
<p>Columbia has many on campus resources that help with job placement, finding internships, and networking opportunities for students and alumni alike, making it very reasonable to think that landing a job in most fields directly after graduating is practical. I would, however, caution against making a decision on the sole fact that you would “need” to make 80 - 110K a year for it to be worth it. That may or not be possible, and would probably depend on your performance at GS, and how well you utilized these resources and the network during and after your time at Columbia. </p>
<p>Good luck, and please continue to ask additional questions if you have them. Don’t let a heated message board stop you from getting the information you seek. (And don’t be afraid to look at all of Columbia’s official websites and contact these offices directly. No matter what the questions you have is, there is a person on campus who’s job it is to answer it).</p>
<p>No. You can break into investment banking or consulting from a state school if you try hard enough. My Managing Director at Barclays is in fact from… U. Wisconsin-Whitewater.</p>