<p>I’m trying to decide between the University of Michigan and Brown. I’m not in the business school at Michigan, and there’s a good chance I wouldn’t get in sophomore year. It is highly competative even after being admitted to the university itself. </p>
<p>My ultimate goal is to work on Wall Street. From my research, it seems that Brown would offer better opportunities (for an Econ major desiring a Wall Street position) despite not offering a Finance degree. I will most likely major in Economics or BEO, or a combination of both.</p>
<p>I know firms recruit Brown graduates for Wall Street positions, but how difficult is it to land one of these coveted spots? Assuming I work my ___ off and get around a 3.5-3.6, have great social skills and land a few good internships, would I have a good shot landing a Wall Street position as a Brown Econ major?</p>
<p>Also, what is the typical starting salary for a Brown grad on Wall Street? I’ve looked at websites like PayScale and Glassdoor but I’m getting conflicting information. Are we talking about $50,000 (total compensation) or $70,000-80,0000 (total compensation)? I’ve seen both numbers thrown around. </p>
<p>I ask because to go to Brown I’ll have to assume $50,000~ in student loans. I’m trying to measure whether or not I could manage my payments if I land a solid banking job out of college.</p>
<p>Brown is my top-choice for a number of reasons, and knowing more about recruiting/earning potential on the Street after from Brown will help me tremendously.</p>
<p>Firstly, it’s important to know that Brown’s average GPA is a 3.6, so getting a 3.5-3.6 is “below average.” But, the grade inflation will help get you to Wall Street because many firms have gpa cutoffs.
(<a href=“Office of Institutional Research | Brown University”>Office of Institutional Research | Brown University).</p>
<p>In investment banking, at the top tier (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc) you can expect >140k salaries first year including bonus, but expect to work like a slave (100 hours/week, no exaggeration). The salaries varies at lower-tier banks. It also varies depending on your position within the bank, some of which are more prestigious than others. (This is only what I’ve heard, I’m not really an authority).
It’s important for you to realize how difficult it can be to work in investment banking, and you need to find out for yourself exactly what that lifestyle entails. You basically are going to be working long hours for a long time.</p>
<p>Look here for graduate outcome data:
[Class</a> of 2011 Employment | CareerLAB](<a href=“http://brown.edu/campus-life/support/careerlab/class-2011-employment]Class”>http://brown.edu/campus-life/support/careerlab/class-2011-employment)
Brown sent 104 people into Finance/Banking.
Of those, 18 went to Goldman Sachs, 7 went to Morgan Stanley. This is pretty good, I think.</p>
<p>If you want investment banking jobs, it also helps to take more math classes (if you’re good at them).</p>
<p>Go to Michigan. There’s no reason to get into that much debt for Brown. You’ll find an excellent, maybe even better education at Michigan.</p>
<p>Go to Brown. So much more of a target.</p>
<p>cougar, friend of mine live close to Ann Arbor, Detroit Suburb, he told me almost half of his high school classmates get into UM. You can figure out the student body there is very very different from Brown’s. You have to make an intelligent choice. JMHO.</p>
<p>Brown will be “easier” to get into investment banking. There will be more competition at Michigan. However, banks do recruit at Michigan.
And if you’re smart enough to get into Brown, you’ll probably do well at Michigan (certainly above average).</p>