Need help picking school for finance major!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey everyone.
I have been making lists of schools and find one school I like in particular...Then I read up more on it and have to change my mind.....Basically indecisive..and I need your inputs. </p>

<p>Anyways, a little about me I am a finance major residing in San Diego.
Currently a 3.65 cumulative, Phi Thetta Kappa, at a cc. Taking one more semester at cc to finish business prereqs and should boost GPA.
Working full time while going to school, Insurance Internship, Finance and Investment Society Club, President's List.
I have a huge interest in trading stocks using charts, and just the global world..how it all comes together in markets. </p>

<p>The List I came up after revising it almost 8 times is: </p>

<p>Tulane University- Trading system, Burkenroad reports. Con-Lots of crime</p>

<p>CUNY Baruch - Cheap, super backup plan. Con-considered by many a dumb school...</p>

<p>Northeastern University- Good co-op, good clubs. Con-expensive, not strong finance school. </p>

<p>Bentley University- Great trading system, manage real money. Con-expensive </p>

<p>University of Michigan Ross- Great trading platform/system, good ranking, known by many. Con-expensive, located near Michigan River which has a lot of dioxin.</p>

<p>University of Delaware- Found out about this school through its online videos, and loved the trading room they had...seems like a school I can grow with and cheap. Con-low ranking, not much diversity </p>

<p>University of Washington/Foster - Great campus, great diversity. Con-not that strong of a finance background?</p>

<p>Univ. of Maryland–Smith - Cheap, ranks 22 in finance...</p>

<p>University of Illinois–Urbana Champaign - Great rep!, Cheap </p>

<p>Georgetown University (McDonough) -Still researching on this school but almost similar to NYU. Con-Expensive, Can only apply for fall?</p>

<p>NYU-One of the schools you go to as a finance major. Con-expensive, not too sure about NY life for me. </p>

<p>I know there are a lot better schools for finance such as Wharton, McIntire...but I probably wont get into those Tier 1.
California wise, UC schools in general don't have majors for finance other than the great rep at Berkley, and SDSU currently doesn't accept spring transfers due to state budget(lucky me)... and University of San Diego.. I don't want to spend 18grand to learn about religion and ethics...</p>

<p>To sum it up, I am looking for the best possible school I can get into that has a strong finance program such as a trading platform as well as good recruits. From there, the diversity and also location would be a plus but not as important as the ranking and strength of program. </p>

<p>I would appreciate everyone's input a lot.</p>

2

<p>Can you afford the expensive schools? It’s a con for some but an impossibility for most. Is waiting until fall really a big deal?</p>

3

<p>NYU is definitely a good finance school. But paying for it can be an impossibility (as Redroses says above)</p>

4

<p>Baruch is NOT known as a dumb school. Mich River dioxins are an issue if you want to swim there. I’m trying to figure out how $41K is cheap for UIUC (certainly cheap compared to NYU). </p>

<p>As far as figuring out how you fit, what are your scores? Is your GPA weighted or UW?</p>

<p>How about U Dayton?</p>

5

<p>Fordham? DePaul? Miami of Ohio? Minnesota?</p>

6

<p>Not wanting to go in too much detail…My dad is supposedly supposed to give me 50k total for 4 years from divorce papers. Knowing that in HS…I got discouraged(dumb excuse) and figured I was going to a cc regradless to save on tuition…Just FYI…Dad claims he is broke, lives in Japan(different divorce laws) and is known to flake and there is not even a guarantee he will have the money…Also already broke his promise from divorce papers of 25k every 2 years in college…and only received 3k…for the 2 years I went to cc…</p>

<p>Now regardless of my very strong opinion back in HS not wanting to be in debt and be a slave…I realized at cc I need the degree anyways…so with the rest I have saved up by going to cc and working full time from HS, and hoping for inflation to wipe out the loans…I am willing to take on debt to try for my dreams…which I hope I wont regret. </p>

<p>I figured if I study really hard about trading even on the side, even if the economy is weak when I graduate, I would have the skills to start trading on my own. </p>

<p>NYU is definitely expensive…and here I wonder if the rep of the school is worth going into debt…</p>

<p>Baruch, I read almost every single thread on here about it…and hear both good and bad arguments…but the truth is I won’t know the exact truth about it…just like assasination of JFK. The fact is they are cheap, not really ranked. The claims by people here are that they have great recruits to those who do well and supposedly great connections…but I sometimes ponder how legitimate that claim is. I figured if my dad really flakes on tuition, I will go to Baruch and do my best…</p>

<p>Regarding Michigan River…I get really paranoid of the environment, and then the air I breathe as well as the types of foods I could be eating from there…I really don’t want Dioxin in my system… But if i get accepted to Ross, I will probably def go there anyways. </p>

<p>I thought UIUC cost $22,232 a year…I will have to double check on that. </p>

<p>I didn’t take any SAT or ACT in HS as the above situation…and am a transfer so the w/uw won’t really be applied to the current 3.65 cumulative at a cc. </p>

<p>I haven’t heard anything about Dayton, but if you have any interesting facts about it please let me know.</p>

7

<p>Schmaltz, I havent really checked up on those schools yet.
Do you have any interesting facts about those schools such as a trading system??</p>

<p>BTW i was also interested in Villanova due to its trading system, but growing up in an environment where there wasn’t much diversity and everyone was “better off” while you are trying to find the next meal is not a happy enviorment to be in…so I took that off my list.</p>

8

<p>“Schmaltz, I havent really checked up on those schools yet.
Do you have any interesting facts about those schools such as a trading system??”</p>

<p>All I know is these are fine schools with business programs that are well-respected, and that you would probably get into.</p>

9

<p>You might want to check out Wake Forest, Villanova (it does have a Roman Catholic affiliation though), UVA.</p>

10

<p>Which state are you in? And which year are you in CC? </p>

<p>If your in-state is Illinois, UIUC certainly is a good, first choice. And if you are first year/semaster in CC then your HS records may have an effect on your application for transfer.</p>

11

<p>I am a junior going into my fall semester and i am in CA.</p>

12

<p>Have you thought of San Jose State and some of the Cal State U’s such as CPSLO? Are they good enough for you? They looks like the cheapest solutions for your transfer and SJSU has a well regarded finance major.</p>

13

<p>Besides, IMHO, if you are interest in Stock Trading as a broker, your undergraduate programs are not that important as the Stock Trader is a sales job. As a first year stock trader, your job some time is to sell those stocks that the company wants you to push. Gradually, you will grow into a portfolio manager, at that time you will be more selective on your own accord.
If on the other hand, you are more into market research, you will need the advance degree, so UG school is not that important whereas your gpa, ranking and test scores are.</p>

14

<p>Thanks artlovers, I havent looked into SJSU but thought of CPSLO. Do you know how CPSLO and SJSU ranks out of SDSU and the likes on the list such as Tulane and UIUC?</p>

<p>I dont really like sales but will do it, to achieve being a legit trader. I really like technical analysis and a little fundamental…</p>

15

<p>If you want to do Technical Market Analysis without going through the Trading process, a Master or even PHD is probably the only way to go. It is rare for a major stock brokerage sucn as ML or Morgan to hire some one as an analyst out of UG. </p>

<p>As a transfer, merit money is far few and in between. With your cc stat, I am not sure UIUC or Tulane is going to give you any money, never mind a full ride. Since you are most likely going to do the advanced degree, you mind as well go to a state school, keep up your cum at 3.9ish and go to a better graduate school such as Hass, Booth, Sloan or Wharton and more money will come to your way then.</p>

16

<p>I’m going to stop you right there just to give you some advice about the finance business with regards to trading. If you want to trade, do not think that a job as a broker will get you there. Clerk on the CBOE, NYMEX, ect. But do not think that quasi-related positions will get you trading as a career. </p>

<p>Two things will get you a trading job: Trading will get you trading. Physically supporting traders (typically as a clerk) can get you trading. </p>

<p>IBanking, Retail brokerage, VC, Private Equity, Equity Research, ect., will NOT lead to a trading position. I can post or PM a list of trading firms for you to contact if you’d like, most if not all are in Chicago. That’s the route I’d go if I were looking to go into trading. They have their own training programs for traders and it helps if you have experience from one of these ‘undergrad trading’ schools.</p>

17

<p>I just don’t want you to think that ‘putting in your time’ in an allied position (even with a bulge bracket firm that has a trading arm) will mean anything when it comes to getting a job specifically in trading.</p>

18

<p>It’s the same way getting hired as an aeronautical engineer for Delta would never make you a pilot. It’s just a different skill set so they seek out those people that either have that specific skill or experience in that specific task.</p>

19

<p>OTOH, I am not discuraging you to apply for some better schools. You can try all these better schools with FA in mind. But just like any college application, you should have reaches, matches and financial safeties in mind and IMO CSU will be your best safeties, CPSLO and some better CSU’s are great in Finance.</p>

20

<p>With regards to poisoning from Dioxin, you’ll probably get as much of that at Michigan as you’ll get shot while at Tulane. :slight_smile: I’m not sure if you’ve mentioned this already but where are you looking to work ideally? Or is your job/position more important than the region of the country you live in?</p>