<p>I agree with hmom’s point of top schools offering a distinct advantage to entry into WS front-office positions. These analyst positions are incredibly hard to land (and, as last year showed, sometimes hard to keep). I’ve spent several years each on the trading floors of three of the bigger investment banks, and the trend seems to be that every year’s front office analyst class is getting smarter, hungrier, and more “elite” (so to speak), with a greater concentration of graduates from the top 20, maybe 25 schools, and less from others (not that there were that many from other schools to begin with). </p>
<p>An advantage of attending a target school is the opportunity to land interviews with these investment banks come recruiting season. Of course, at that point you are competing with your classmates for those few interview slots.</p>
<p>My view is that this unfortunately short list of target schools applies to a select few companies: the major players on wall street recruiting for front office positions, and the top 3 to 5 consulting firms who can generate a deep enough applicant pool from these select schools. </p>
<p>Agree with par72 on Colgate as a possible add to your list.</p>
<p>And on your original list, Michigan, UVA, and Georgetown are target schools for many of the big WS firms.</p>
<p>The OP specifically asked about investment banking and management consulting. Those are the only jobs I am addressing. Many people get all sorts of great jobs from all sorts of schools. The majority of CEOs did not attend an ivy.</p>
<p>And certainly if you later get a top MBA, your access to these fields will be based on the MBA rather than the undergrad school.</p>
<p>That said, front office jobs in investment banks, and jobs at management consulting firms, are dominated by people from a handful of colleges. This has been the case for a long time. These firms recruit at a limited number of top schools and even getting an interview, unless you are very connected, is unlikely if you do not attend a top school.</p>
<p>Not only do these jobs go to top school grads, they go to the top grads at top schools. Anyone interested in further research can start with the ibanking board here and check out vault.com.</p>
<p>What about Emory, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, or Boston College? Any of these stand out to you guys?
I’m just not too sure what I feel about a small LA school.</p>
<p>Haas is a good school but 1)most grads stay in CA and 2)it doesn’t have an active alumni network. My husband attended Haas, I went to Wharton. The difference in networks is stark.</p>
<p>So Haas doesn’t have as much prestige/recognition in the mid-west and east coast? Would one still be able to get a high placed job? How did your husband do?</p>
<p>i think what Hmom is saying about haas is that while its well regarded, the alumni do not actively get involved and help students get jobs, unlike wharton, for example, where alumni will hire directly off the campus, making it much easier to get a job. In other words haas is great, but if you graduate from there then youre on your own.</p>
<p>what about indianas kelley school? ive always heard its EXTREMELY well regarded and one of my high schools top ten ranked students went there last year, could it land you a top job on WS?</p>
<p>hmom,
I don’t want to turn this into a chance thread, but do I have a shot at my schools from NYU up?
Also, would Boston College be a match/slight reach?</p>
<p>Correct. It is not well represented on Wall Street which for decades had the most sought after jobs in business.</p>
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<p>Great, but it’s only fair to mention he also has a Stanford MBA.</p>
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<p>Sure, you have a shot. I’d focus on writing a truly exceptional application. I don’t think Dartmouth will happen with this combo of grades/scores, but the others look possible. That said, I’ve studied Dartmouth’s stats more closely that the others because it was a top choice for my DS. Take a hard look at common data sets, they are very helpful.</p>
<p>Common data sets include scores for the enrolled, so would actual accepted scores be a little higher than enrolled?
Would any ivy seem possible at this point?</p>
<p>Hmom: I think the key is that most Haas graduates stay in the West. As a Haas MBA, my experience, is that the alumni network is quite active here in California. </p>
<p>That said, several from my class got jobs at investment banks in New York, but they had to go out there to get the ball rolling.</p>
<p>Quilah, in post #25 I say just that, Haas grads stay in the West as a whole. As for banking, I think when times were good and lots were being hired, it was very possible for top grads from strong schools that are not recruited to find jobs. That will be tougher for at least a few years now.</p>
<p>Elasticity, the biggest thing to remember when looking at CDSs is that 40% of the class has a hook. They can have lower stats. When you back them out, an unhooked candidate needs to be at or above the 75th percentile for a fighting chance. Especially if they have other issues such as being in an overrepresented pool.</p>
<p>Again, I don’t think the lower ivies, Cornell and Penn (not Wharton) are possible as are the others on your list if the ‘soft’ factors are great–namely excellent essays and recs.</p>