<p>This fall I will be attending IU as a Kelley Direct Admit. (finance major, german concentration). I know Kelley is a good B-School, but I know there are many better schools (esp. if one wants Wall St.) Thus being said, part of me thinks it might be a good idea to go ahead and try to get into a better school to give me a better shot with a top firm.
At orientation I happend to test out of 17 hrs of German and I will begin my concentration at the 300 level. All in all, for my first year there, I will be taking 16 hrs (a few business classes mixed with some music classes (one of my passions)). Basically, by the end of the first semester, I will be a sophmore. I think more competitive colleges will like the looks of this and it got me thinking even more.<br>
In high school I had a 3.4/4.0 with nearly as many APs as I could. I had numerous ECs, many of which being affiliated with music in one way or another. I got a 29 on the ACT and a 1870 on the SAT. I know these grades arn't stellar, but I don't see them as being terrible at the same time. I plan on having a 3.5+ for my first semester. I figured I should have an idea now as to whether or not I should give "the transfer game" a shot. Do I have a chance at schools like Cornell (ILR), Northwestern (Kellogg), Duke, U. Chicago (econ), or Dartmouth (econ) or are those near impossible? If not, what schools appear to be in my ball park? Would it even be worth it to transfer from Kelley if I didn't get into some of those school's B-programs? Maybe I should stay there and try to blow the lights out? Any input would be great!</p>
<p>Probably not for any of those schools because your high school stats are low. However, if you wait a year things may begin to look up. You need around a 3.8- 4.0 to be competitive at those schools. FYI, Kellogg is not an undergraduate program.</p>
<p>I did however read on Cornell's ILR web page that they don't require any pre-college material, it's all optional. IMO, I believe I'd have a shot at that. Hypothetically speaking, if I got in, would it be that much better to transfer to ILR if I wanted to pursue a degree in finance?</p>
<p>ILR is not really Cornell's finance school, AEM is a better program for undergraduate business. That certificate program at Northwestern looks pretty good if you could pair it with a statistics or economics degree; I'm sure it is also very competitive to gain admission to. The problem you are going to have, even if the college only evaluates you on your college record, is that you are not going to have an extensive college record when you apply to these other programs during your freshman year. Many schools will not accept a candidate who only has one semester of grades if the high school record doesn't match up. I said to wait a year because by the time you apply in the spring of your sophomore year you would have a full 3 semesters of grading for schools to evaluate you on. If you did well during those 3 semesters, you would be more likely to be accepted. </p>
<p>I'm not saying it is not worth a shot, I just feel it is going to be very competitive for you. Combine that with the fact that you are not a New York resident and cornell becomes much more difficult to get in to.</p>
<p>If you go to a 4 year state U like Indiana and take courses that fulfill the prerequisites of other universities, everything should transfer and you will be able to graduate in 4 years. Most transfers to top business program graduate at the same time as everyone else. The only difference is if you applied to a school like Ross as a sophomore, then you would have to spend an extra year in school.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If for my first two years I got a 3.5+ would I have a shot at some of those more competitive schools (UChicago, NWU, Cornell etc.) If not, what do you think I would need to do?</p></li>
<li><p>Would it be worth it to transfer at that point if I were in the top of my class at Kelley?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It's worth trying. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain. You must understand that investment banks are focused on their so-called "core schools":</p>
<p><em>+</em>+
Ivy schools, top-state schools, other few top private institutions.
<em>+</em>+</p>
<p>Although IU-Kelley isn't necessarily a "target-school" for front office jobs such as investment banking or private equity positions, IU-Kelley's "Investment Banking Workshop" has an excellent history of sending their members to top investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and etc.</p>
<p>Don't be fooled by the list of recent graduate job placements at your career service office. Although he/she may be hired by Goldman Sachs, at the end of the day, it all comes down to whether or not the person got a front-office job meaning investment banking division, sales & trading, equity research, private equity group, asset management (alternative investments), and etc. Think about it, would you be a back-office employee at Goldman Sachs or a front-office investment banker at a boutique investment bank? I would take the latter.</p>
<p>In order to be part of IU-Kelley's "Investment Banking Workshop", you need a 3.5 GPA.</p>
<p>Here is the link:</p>
<p>Click on their pictures to see their profiles. They all got very top-notch jobs. </p>
<p>Bulge bracket investment banks tend to hire strictly from top notch undergraduate programs, meaning: Ivy + Top Sates + Few other top privates</p>
<p>Bulge bracket investment banks have the capacity and resources to train students coming from non-business and non-finance majors.</p>
<p>On the other hand, boutique investment banks and second tier investment banks more often than not prefer students coming from business programs and, specifically, finance programs. This is because smaller banks tend to have limited capacity and resources to train their new analysts and summer analysts, or at least, those who come from non-business and non-finance areas.</p>
<p>First of all, Chicago is a highly academic school that doesn't directly cater to pre-professionals, so I think you should consider the atmosphere of the school itself before you decide that you'd like to attend.</p>
<p>That said, the degree carries a lot of weight.</p>
<p>Here is yet another hypothetical...if at the end of 3 semesters I had a 3.5+, could write some good essays, and make a solid transfer application, what would be some schools worth transfering to that I'd have an alright shot at?</p>
<p>"You have nothing to lose, but everything to gain." </p>
<p>...at least, at my age, I don't have much to lose. Don't hesitate, just shoot your applications out there. The question of whether or not you should transfer comes when you get decisions from the colleges you applied.</p>
<p>If you really want to get in to top investment banks, you might want to try to shoot for top notch business programs.</p>
<p>Why not state schools? State schools don't usually impose "in-state" preference during their transfer admissions.</p>
<p>Try: UVA, UMich, and UNC</p>
<p>Otherwise, I think IU-Kelley is a fine school.</p>
<p>I'm sure it's pretty hard to transfer into McIntire or Ross. Do you think an economics degree from Mich or UVa is superior to finance at Kelley or are there many factors that contribute to that?</p>