<p>I'm a rising sophomore and I'm starting to compose a college list. I attend a private school that doesn't rank but I had a 3.92 Unweighted GPA freshman year and several EC's. </p>
<p>I hope to go into investment banking and I want to attend a college with a strong finance program. I have a rough list of colleges, but I only have two real matches and one safety on the list.
Does anyone know of some safety schools with relatively strong finance programs?</p>
<p>It’s pretty hard to recommend safeties for only a one year GPA and no SAT/ACT scores</p>
<p>Yeah, I understand that.
I’m just looking for generally safe bets for an early college list.</p>
<p>There are several threads on the subject of guaranteed merit-based aid, and competitive merit-based aid in the Financial Aid Forum. Pop over there and take a look.</p>
<p>There are no safety schools for elite investment banking employment, since they preferentially recruit from those schools that are very selective (e.g. Harvard, Yale, Princeton), or, in some cases, specific highly selective divisions or majors at less selective schools.</p>
<p>It can also be a very stressful and unhealthy job:
[Warning:</a> Banking May Be Hazardous to Your Health - WSJ.com](<a href=“Warning: Banking May Be Hazardous to Your Health - WSJ”>Warning: Banking May Be Hazardous to Your Health - WSJ)
[Slavery</a> in the City: Death of 21-year-old intern Moritz Erhardt at Merrill Lynch sparks furore over long hours and macho culture at banks - Home News - UK - The Independent](<a href=“Slavery in the City: Death of 21-year-old intern Moritz Erhardt at Merrill Lynch sparks furore over long hours and macho culture at banks | The Independent | The Independent”>Slavery in the City: Death of 21-year-old intern Moritz Erhardt at Merrill Lynch sparks furore over long hours and macho culture at banks | The Independent | The Independent)</p>
<p>I understand that recruiters won’t be looking at safety schools for elite investment bankers.
I am just trying to find a school that is less of a reach than some others on my list, (Penn, MIT, Cornell) but still has a relatively strong finance program. I have been working for those reach schools, but I need some schools to fall back on if I get rejected. </p>
<p>I also understand the stress of my hopeful career path. Finance has been my interest for a very long time. When I was in seventh grade, my dream was to manage my own hedge fund. I have researched the field for years and the more I look into it, the more I want to go into it.</p>