@NEPatsGirl, thanks for that guidance. I’m doubtful of adding/removing Colby as I see it has quite a bit presence on Wall Street.
Also removing St. Olaf, Muhlenberg, Reed, Trinity College (CT).
Can a independent person, introverted, heavily academically oriented person be happy at DePauw and Washington & Lee? Looking for moderate Greek presence and no religious affiliation.
DePauw and washington and lee wouldn’t be great choices for you. The Greek presence and social aspects might be less than ideal for you. Both excellent schools and tough classes. But the rest wouldn’t be a match for you.
As you mentioned Wall Street being your current goal – and i don’t mean to use “current” to patronize you, only to highlight that some kids change their minds and majors at some point – these seem to be the top target schools. Check wall street oasis’s site for confirmation or correction:
Tier 1: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wharton
Tier 2: Penn (non-Wharton), Stanford, Cornell, Dartmouth, NYU Stern, Columbia, MIT
Tier 3: UChicago (may become higher as B school gains footing), Northwestern, Duke, Brown
Tier 4(?): Georgetown, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, maybe CMU, Emory, WUSTL, USC, BC, Michigan, Berkeley, UVA, UCLA…
Maybe UChicago is Tier 2 now, and I don’t know how much of a recruiting/interest difference there is between these Wall Street placement tiers, but I imagine kids at any of the above schools – provided they make good use of their schools’ career offices, get strong grades, are personable and somewhat outgoing, etc. – have an easier time drawing interest from Wall Street than the rest of the world.
But where do the top LACs fit in? That’s what I wonder. I’m sure Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury and some others have their own long-established WS ties. But i don’t know how the level of recruitment compares to the university tiers mentioned above.
Stevens has an excellent quantitative finance, financial engineering, economics, and financial mathematics program. The graduates are highly recruited by the large Wall St. investment banks as well as smaller boutique firms, and enjoy in the top ten of starting salaries of all US universities. The largest high frequency trading firm on Wall St. for example was founded by a Stevens alumnus and one of my classmates used to be Goldman Sachs’ chief information and technology officer. About a third of Stevens students are in Greek houses but it is laid back and isn’t the high profile “animal house” party scene that you may see at larger universities. The students work extremely hard in the intense academic curriculum but they are well balanced and also enjoy themselves. The program is highly and intensively mathematical and analytical, but is also well rounded in science and computer science, which makes the graduates extremely well regarded as problem solvers. The academic environment at Stevens is competitive, but not cutthroat competitive (believe me, cutthroat competition in undergraduate studies is not what you want. It will take toll on your health even if you are a Type A personality). The students and faculty foster a collaborative environment.
@GuessME5 - Stevens is not a safety. The acceptance rate in the QF/FE/FM program is 10-15%, and the average SAT/ high school GPA of the first year students is 1490 (math/verbal) and 3.9, respectively.
@Engineer80, thanks for your recommendation, I love it and I really love Stevens since the beginning. Sure, their program is exactly as per my liking and given it’s proximity, it’s amazing school. I’m really hoping for the Ann P. Neupauer Scholarship else I’ll be gapped around $20,000 which will be unaffordable.
I also wouldn’t mind Greek life as long as it doesn’t interfere with my life and as long as it doesn’t go crazy. In fact, I’m really interested in some professional, business-related Greek organizations (Kappa Sigma) but I can’t really afford Greek life costs in college.
There are not my discussions revolving around Stevens on this forum, which would’ve been helpful.
Do you have any suggestions / advice on devising a strategy in application to Stevens for Quant finance which maximizes my acceptance and financial aid chances? I can’t really apply ED here, wish they had EA.
@prezbucky I know what you’re alluding to (the Wall Street Oasis report)
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/investment-banking-industry-reports
“The other schools in the top 10 were University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Cornell University, University of Texas at Austin, Columbia University, University of Chicago and University of Michigan.”
“Duke was also ranked as one of the only top 10 schools to receive recruitment and hiring focus from all of the bulge bracket banks, along with the Penn, NYU and Harvard.”
Doesn’t seem like Stanford and Dartmouth belong in tier 2. Duke and Chicago do.
@prezbucky, do you have any idea about Financial Aid at UT Austin? For McCombs.
My NCP lives somewhere in Texas and although I heavily believe he doesn’t claim me on his taxes, can I be in state for this school? On the UT’s FA web page, it says - If your parent(s) claim you as a dependent on their federal income tax return, they must establish domicile in the state for you to claim residency.
NCP is domiciled but doesn’t claim. Then what?
Economics majors at Uchicago (especially when double majoring with statistics or math) are super highly sought after by hedge funds, investment banks and private equity firms. Every but as much as Wharton undergrad.
Dropped the following -
Trinity CT
Macalester
St. Olaf
Muhlenberg
Reed
DePauw
Carleton
Washington and Lee
St. Lawrence University
Kenyon
Southwestern University
Santa Clara University
I read through this quickly but didn’t see Swarthmore (uber competitive, LAC-version of UChicago plus has consortium that ties it to UPenn, Haverford, Bryn Mawr) and I didn’t see Colgate (lots of NYC business ties) and Johns Hopkins isn’t on the list? Again I may have missed this. Bloomberg has Johns Hopkinds ties for example and it’s uber competitive.
I also want to mention Baruch for a safety because it’s literally sitting in Wall Street’s lap and recruiting and internships on Wall Street are definitely available.
@Dustyfeathers, thanks for the great advice! Swarthmore, John Hopkins and Colgate are on my list.
Baruch is a great safety but I’m unable to comprehend it’s Net price and costs and the NPC isn’t helpful either.
Just got amazing news from Union College, they’re willing to waive NCP info based on my email.
Gettysburg college seems to cover almost entire net price even without the CSS NCP profile. Amazing, except for the haunted stories and the town it’s located in!
@GuessME5 - I hope you win the Neupauer scholarship. That is a great accomplishment, and I wish you all the best in your endeavors.
Stevens does offer Early Admission (EA, that is, admission after one’s junior year in high school), however, you indicated you are a current high school senior so this isn’t an option at this point. The Stevens 2017-2019 academic catalog (Page 24) reads: “Applying Early Admission: Under very special circumstances we will accept students who have finished their high school requirements at the end oftheir junior year. You must adhere to the same requirements and deadlines as those applying for admission”.
Your high school stats are certainly excellent, and I think you would stand a very good chance of acceptance into the QF/FE program. Definitely apply for the Neupauer scholarship, which I hope you get. I take it you are graduating from high school this spring semester is that correct? Have you applied for regular decision?
Dropping URichmond, one of the worst FinAid offices to deal with.
@Engineer80, I haven’t yet applied for college admissions. I’m planning for fall 2019 semester. Since I’m attending a non-US high school, the academic year here ends in May 2019, that’s when I’ll be graduating from high school.
I’ll send in my apps in the second half of this year.
“Would prefer Urban/suburban campus. Want hardcore academics with excellent networking, study abroad, internships, OCR opportunities. Not interested in partied in hardcore social life. I’m independent and introverted. I’m also not at all found of nature and environment.”
If you’re looking to reduce your list (which you should lol), and urban/suburban is important, there are a few colleges that are more rural than others and more nature oriented. Even if you’re introverted, don’t give off the impression that all you’ll do is attend class, go to the library or dorm and back to class. You have to show some engagement at the more selective colleges. Many colleges on your list are not hardcore academics, meaning you can find some hardcore majors, programs, but the university emphasizes sports, greek life etc. . As others have said, Chicago, Columbia, JHU, Swarthmore are your best bets for that.
Dropped SMU, St. Lawrence off the list. Also Boston College has been axed. Again, one of the most annoying FA office to interact with.
Also dropping Boston University. Does anybody have FinAid experience with Texas Christian University?
Dropping Syracuse, Urochester, Harvey Mudd, Occidental, Grinnell, Carleton, Dartmouth, Brown and Tulane.