I’ve been accepted to Northwestern University’s economics major and Cornell ILR. I was wondering which school would be better for a financial career? I know that NU’s econ is really strong and that I will have a large possibility of landing a job in Chicago. However, even though I will be attending Cornell as an industrial labor relations major, I have heard of many people from ILR breaking into ibanking and financial careers. In addition, I know that Cornell’s Ivy league brand name will help and that it is a target school for most finance firms. But the only concern that is holding me back is that I will be majoring as an Industrial Labor Relations major. I was wondering how hard/likely/possible it is to break into finance through ILR. Will (Cornell ILR+Ivy League Brand Name)>Northwestern Econ? Thanks!
Prestige is quite important for IB. Between Northwestern and Cornell, I do not see a difference in terms of prestige.
For an IB career, econ is a more natural major choice than ILR; of course, you can get into IB with ILR as well. Your internship experience and networking will play an important role. The econ curriculum will prepare you better for IB.
Most IBs would have a GPA cutoff. Not quite sure whether Northwestern econ or Cornell ILR will make your life easier.
The size of Cornell undergraduates is about twice of that at Northwestern. Selectivity is another factor you may want to consider. Most IBs would want to have a diverse work force, and the competition at Cornell may be a bit more intense than that at Northwestern.
Now, the NYC question. Cornell has many alumni in NYC offices, which is easier for you to network. But do not underestimate Northwestern’s ability to place into NYC, in addition to Chicago, offices. It is one of the few schools (think Stanford and Chicago) in the midwest and west that are able to place well in NYC, particularly among BBs.
Overall, choose a school that you like and would do well.
Not sure what the purpose is of asking this question now that you have committed to Cornell? Move beyond your buyer’s remorse and jump into Cornell with two feet! Your major from Cornell will not make much difference in your competitiveness for IB at a BB bank. They are going to want to see a high GPA and strong critical thinking skills at the interview level. In hindsight, students I’ve known that have gone this route wished they had more computer science background since programming needed to do certain required financial modeling is useful but an econ major is certainly not a requirement.
@prof2dad @YaleGradandDad thanks for the feedback! I’ve been looking through finance job postings and internships (corporate analyst, etc), and a majority of them say they are looking for applicants with majors in a quantitative field such as math, econ, etc. I feel like majoring in something qualitative like ILR whilst competing against econ and aem majors will put me at a significant disadvantage will it not?
For quant shops, hedge funds, and prop trading, it is nice to come from a quantitative field. But for IB, so long as you are comfortable with numbers, you do not really need to come from a quantitative field; you pretty much do all the computation using Excel. I would not say ILR puts you in a significant disadvantage so long as your earlier internships show interests in finance, such as an internship in wealth management (say with a local UBS or Morgan Stanley financial advisor), asset management (say with a regional mutual fund family), or corporate finance (say with a S&P 500 firm). Build your network and do not hesitate to use your family’s or anyone’s network.
If you are a non-diversity candidate and do not have a family tie to IB, your best hope is an IB internship for the Junior-to-senior summer regardless of whether you go to Cornell or Northwestern. So you want to demonstrate interests in finance during either freshman-to-sophomore summer or sophomore-to-junior summer with a finance-related internship. If you are a diversity candidate (good for you), many BBs have diversity programs for as early as freshman-to-sophomore summer.
I have taught finance in several state flagship universities and helped place quite a few of my students in IBs. One thing I can share with you is that successful candidates are often those who are active in networking. So when you go to your college, try to have as many friends as possible.
Again, both Cornell and Northwestern will serve you well. Choose a school that you like, do a good work there, and enjoy your life.
@genieforuboi I would place NW econ and Cornell ILR roughly on the same level for finance recruiting, maybe I would give a slight edge to Cornell when it comes to Wall Street specifically. But since birth schools are roughly in the same level, I would focus more on where I fit in best if I were you. Fit is a huge part of how well you end up doing at the school, which in turn affects your recruiting opportunities.
I disagree with Penn95. I worked in investment banking at a prominent Bulge Bracket (GS, JPM, MS) and then at a top PE shop (think along the lines of Warburg Pincus / Carlyle). I am extremely familiar with both schools through friends and family members who attended both. Northwestern Econ is definitely a more ‘prestigious’ degree than Cornell ILR. I do agree that Cornell and Northwestern are similarly prestigious but Cornell ILR is not the go-to place at Cornell for placement into IB. Cornell AEM and Cornell Arts / Science (Econ, Math, etc.) will place you best for IB. From an admissions standpoint, Northwestern Arts / Sciences is WAY more competitive than Cornell ILR. In fact, if you view stats online on Cornell’s website, ILR has an average SAT around a 1350 and an acceptance rate close to 25-30%, whereas Northwestern is at a 9-10% acceptance rate and an average SAT of close to a 1470-1480. Northwestern Econ is the part of the Arts / Science school (largest undergrad school at NWU) and would mirror Northwestern’s consolidated admissions stats. Northwestern Econ is comparable to Cornell Arts / Sci (Econ) but even then, Northwestern is more competitive from an admissions standpoint and has been that way for the last 8-10 years or so. Cornell Arts / Sci has a 13-14% acceptance rate and an SAT average around a 1430. And Northwestern benefits from the strong Kellogg MBA brand, whereas Johnson is still developing as a top program.