<p>Hi I am debating between U Chicago and a few other schools right now. </p>
<p>What are the employment opportunities available for Chicago undergrads in the analytical majors (economics, computer science, physics, math, etc)?</p>
<p>What companies recruit, and what is the typical starting salary?</p>
<p>Also what are the benefits of choosing Chicago over an engineering school (UIUC, CMU, Berkeley, etc).</p>
<p>I am asking because I am debating whether to study at UChicago, or study ECE/CS in the engineering department of a good engineering school. </p>
<p>Thank you! </p>
<p>PS. It is hard to find recent information on this on their website or Google, which is why I am asking.</p>
<p>I’d like to hijack this thread to pose a related question, if that’s alright, because I presume the people able to answer SlumyB’s question might also be able to answer mine.</p>
<p>How feasible is it for UChicago students to participate in REUs and other STEM research internships over the summer? Most of them are 10-week programs starting on or around June 3rd, as far as I can tell - perfect for a student at a semester school, imperfect for a student at a quarter school that doesn’t let out until mid-June. Obviously many UChicago students participate in summer research internships, so are special accommodations made for these programs?</p>
<p>Well I was hoping to work for either a technology company (Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft, etc), or I-Banks/Consulting firms (BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, etc). </p>
<p>With degrees in an Engineering related field you can do both of these (as more in Wall Street are recruiting students with Engineering degrees, rather than traditional “business like” fields).</p>
<p>Will a degree in CS (or Economics, Physics, Math) at UChicago give me these opportunities? I imagine that the hardcore tech companies wouldn’t be so inclined, but what about the consulting firms/I-banks? Which companies usually hire from UChicago?</p>
<p>U of C is a better choice for ibanking/consulting. JP Morgan and Credit Suisse heavily recruit there, and I have talked to several graduated seniors who talk about how great the recruiting there is for Wall Street jobs. </p>
<p>But with Berkeley you can recruit very well for tech and okay for ibanking/consulting, so in the end I guess it really depends on which field you’re more interested in. Go Berkeley for anything tech, U of C for anything ibanking/consulting.</p>
<p>FYI recruiting for those “prestige” jobs still overwhelmingly favor traditional business/econ students from a very specific set of (mostly private) schools, which U of C is part of. And if you are as bullish on U of C’s future as the rest of us are, then I would say to come here.</p>
<p>TheBanker, thank you very much for this valuable information. </p>
<p>I also do have a question about internships/co-op. What type of opportunities to people have for internships/co-ops? Does Wall Street recruit from Chicago for internships/co-ops?</p>
<p>No, wall street does not recruit from chicago. in fact a student from here has never been placed into a wall street firm. You could always be the first, though, I guess.</p>
<p>^^Do you actually attend Chicago??? Even back in the early 80s Wall Street firms have been recruiting at Chicago…I don’t know what you are talking about. Several of my friends were recruited by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Boston Consulting, Lehman Brothers, Salomon Brothers back then…</p>
<p>Yes, I know, it’s very counterintuitive that literally not a single wall street firm recruits from a Top 5 nationally ranked university, but this is indeed the case. I am a student here and can confirm (I have personally interviewed each member of graduating class of 2014) that not one person is placed into finance.
So, although OP’s inquiry appears incredibly vacuous and inane, it is in fact merited. Keep asking the right questions!</p>
<p>Thanks for confusing me for a bit there. What I meant was whether Chicago grads are as competitive for Wall Street jobs as those from HYPSW-Stern.</p>
<p>In the past year, I went through the full recruiting process here. Chicago is highly competitive on Wall Street. JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Lazard, etc. all do on campus recruiting, they will fly you out (depending on what you are doing) for NY final rounds, and they all have strong U of C presence. Consulting-wise, BCG and Bain hire significantly along with firms like Accenture and Deloitte (they also do lots of on campus recruiting). We also have hedge funds, mutual funds, trading firms, government agencies, Fortune 500, etc. etc. It’s a top school—it’s pretty much in line with what you would expect.</p>
<p>Google and Microsoft have come to campus before, but not as active on-campus recruiting for engineering (lots of management/marketing/sales though). However, my friends who went through the process all received first-round interviews with Google, Microsoft, Amazon, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. for both engineering and management positions (and some received offers after multiple rounds).</p>
<p>Typical salary varies by the industry you pick, not the school you choose (amongst the top schools). Clearly, career flexibility matters to you. It just so happens the industries you named are incredibly high-paying. For first year full-time, Consulting=80,000, Banking=110-140,000, tech=90,000+, etc. That said (as I’m discovering), your first-year pay matters little to none in the long run in context of full career potential. Pick the school you like, but trust me when I say that if you come to Chicago you will have many, many options.</p>
<p>Depends on the field. For banking and bulge-bracket S&T most people end up in NYC just by numbers. New York offices simply hire many more employees. Chicago offices normally have one industrials team or one generalist team that run only a few analysts. On the S&T side, nearly all of your sales/trading operations are going to be out of NYC. For prop shop trading, many are going to be in Chicago.</p>
<p>For consulting offices, it’s nearly all Chicago. Bain is headquartered out of there, BCG runs a huge practice there. This is also because of the numbers. BCG and Bain run much bigger practices in Chicago than in New York.</p>
<p>For tech companies it’s a bit mixed. Marketing jobs will be in Chicago and New York, and engineering jobs will be back in the Bay Area. For Fortune 500, the big hirers are the midwest companies like Sears and Target.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot ‘alreadydone’! Your comments have alleviated a lot of concerns off me in terms of choosing Chicago over a traditional engineering school. Until the remainder of results come out on the 28th I am not 100% sure, but your comments have solidified Chicago as my top right now.</p>
<p>Also what type of internship/ co-op opportunities do you receive at Chicago? more in terms of who employs. Thanks!</p>
<p>Same names as those I listed for full-time—all firms (of those I listed) that do full-time recruiting here also participate in third-year recruiting. Most of the first-year class at many of the banks and consulting firms are from the third-year interns (third-year is the heavy recruiting year). </p>
<p>Second-years and first-years do a variety of internships from boutiques to research shops, to non-profits to research on-campus, etc. Some do it in Chicago, some go to New York—some of those firms I listed have second-year programs but they are a lot more difficult to access than when third-year recruiting season starts. If you’re looking into full-time work for one of the big firms I listed, it’s third-year that’s critical. First-year and second-year are more about learning different tools/experiences that you can speak about during your interviews.</p>
<p>Awesome, thank you! Also, what about Study Abroad? I was looking at their offerings, there doesn’t seem to be much opportunity for study abroad during your first two years. What is your take on that? Do they become more available as the year progresses?</p>
<p>There are definitely a few that are third-year only—for example, Paris Math teaches some classes that require you to take abstract algebra pre-requisites. Civilization study-abroad programs are very open to all years. Most of the language and civilization programs are filled by second and third years. That said, I’ve always believed we had a lot of study abroad opportunities; they’ve expanded a lot since my tenure. They opened programs in Egypt and some other countries in the Middle East. </p>
<p>For applying, most program offerings open up the quarter prior to going, and everyone I knew were able to study-abroad their second years, third years or fourth years without issue.</p>