I was accepted to the following colleges as a transfer, and I plan to major in business analytics/information systems management or finance. I wanted to know which schools are a target/semi target for investment banking or tech. Or if large companies recruit from these schools.
Any answers or comments will help narrow it down for me!
Large companies will recruit at all.
I-banking happens not just in NY - and you can get in from all - but you may have to work that both yourself with alums, etc. Too many think it’s just NY - and it’s not. Tech - also can be from anywhere and could happen from all the schools.
I’d choose the school you can excel at - and get in the career center on day one and start working to network with alums. There’s so many companies and opportunities.
I think the top 3 on your list can all work - I might actually go SMU first. I’d probably have Florida last - but you can go anywhere and still not break through.
It will be up to you to do the leg work but you do have a chance but it’s going to require work - but you can say the same for kids from any school.
Good luck.
PS - I always look at the budget - that’s me - because college is expensive and with no guarantees, I err on the side of caution.
thank you for all the information! I hope to stay south after college and I know there are a lot of large banks and also some companies are opening offices down south. I do think SMU’s career services stands out.
Yes, banks are expanding into Dallas and Florida. At least, I know Goldman Sachs is.
ETA, my oldest went to SMU and got a job at a selective investment bank. His professor made the initial connection.
Emory - go to the biz school, 3rd year entry.
I work on Walk Street, so here’s my view on:
IB specifically (vs other areas of finance like investment management, prop trading, etc) - still tends to target a small set of schools and unfortunately the 4 you listed aren’t typically targets. Note that I said “target” - which means them reaching out to actively seek graduates. This of course does not mean you can’t get an IB job from one of your schools - it only means you have to take the initiative. Your professors or the career center might have connections, or you may need to proactively reach out yourself. So, definitely possible - but that’s different from being considered a target school.
As for financial industry jobs more broadly, Emory will probably give you a leg up over the others. Invesco is headquartered in Atlanta and some other banks have a presence too.
thank you so much for the information, especially since you have experience working on wall street!
My answer is keep an open mind. Those are two extremely narrow categories, and I wouldn’t choose a school based on that criteria, especially if it’s going to cost you large amounts of debt. Let’s say you spend $100,000 in student loans and you get into investment banking. What if you find out you hate it? That’s why IB jobs have such a high turnover. Plus the debt could jeopardize your ability to get further education to correct it. That’s a fast track to misery.
My advice is to find the most affordable school and let the chips fall where they fall. You have literally thousands of paths you could take. All you need to do is choose one.
BTW…I started out as a banker. I hated every minute of it. I decided to do IT. I’ve worked for several large companies, and they’re overrated. Just find somewhere you’re happy.
Most will hate it. For a newbie in investment banking hours are truly brutal and the work is unreasonably demanding and demeaning. Things only improve after you’ve survived a couple of years and moved up the ladder. But many will quit and move to something else before that.
So good point raised by @coolguy40 - don’t let getting into an IB role drive your college choice.
How much do you know about investment banking and what attracts you to this field?
Thank you for the advice, this all really helps. You do make a good point, I hear people say IB can be exhausting, and I am leaning towards more IT. I really like business analytics a lot.
I was thankfully offered a lot of aid at each school, which makes the cost of each similar, so it’s been hard to narrow it down lol. I think each school has its pros and cons
The fast paced environment is what I like about investment banking. I think this career would allow me to gain a lot of skills if I decide to venture out and start my own business. my uncle works for Bank of America he’s been informing me with what it’s like.
There are hundreds of career with a fast paced environment (talk to any air traffic controller or cardiac care nurse) and there are dozens of careers which will teach you what you know to start your own career.
Just saying- you haven’t expressed anything unique or compelling about I-banking!!!
Yeah I understand that. I’ve just been very good at numbers and using computer programs, so I’ve gained interest in a career in investment banking. But I don’t only want to do investment banking. If I landed a job at a tech company after college, that would be great. I’m just trying to see which schools I’ve been accepted to have good placement in investment banking, or even large tech companies.
Your interests sound thoughtful — no need to defend them — and highly marketable. A friend’s daughter is a rising senior with similar majors at WashU and she is having great success with summer IB internships last summer and this summer. The position this summer is at one of the top NYC companies that used to target a much smaller pool of schools.
My hunch is that Emory would have the strongest recruiting interest from where you would like to work, but that’s more guess than anything.
Yeah, I’m definitely gonna work on finding an internship for the next year. I’m leaning more towards Emory because they do have a strong reputation in the south(Charlotte abs Atlanta) and I wouldn’t mind staying in the south permanently. I just have to wait till I get my transfer credit report from Emory.
Emory is your best bet here followed by SMU if you’re looking to break into the industry in the south. My only advice would be to go in with your eyes wide open. People get the idea that you learn a lot about business in IB. You really don’t. You learn about how to make an argument that a business is worth more or less than it is to justify a buy or sell side transaction, to capitalize via debt, etc. Most of the work is basically pitchbook/sales. If you’re trying to ultimately start a hedge fund, buy a biz to trim the fat before selling, raise funds to grow a biz, it’s a good gig. Not so much for learning how to operate a business.
It’s a very off color read, but I’d recommend the I-banking account found in the book Monkey Business written by a couple of my former colleagues. Can confirm the stories in the book are true. Some things have changed for the better. The vast majority have not and it’s applicable to all of the large firms
Exactly right! @Logan0793 - please note.
You’ll become really good with PowerPoint and Excel though. So there’s that 
If the SAT went to covering spotting an extra space after a period, 14 vs 14.5 font, the slightest RGB/Hex color differences, And someone getting cute with margins after a section break to squeeze text on a single page, I could sit for it cold and get a 1600.
Edit: this obviously does not translate to proofing message board posts typed with my fat thumbs.
Some of the finance chops are good, but I think people learn more doing transaction advisory in a Big4/consulting setting. The pay is good but not IB, but you can’t put a price on your sanity.
Traditional IB analyst positions have a few target schools only. Typically, the ivys and some other T20 schools (UChicago, JHU), a select few LACs and unis like NYU and Babson, and a few tech heavy schools like MIT, CalTech, CMU.
Emory might be your best bet.
I know a number of very successful Gators on the street. They have a strong network and are very supportive of each other.