At the risk of questioning all-knowing USNWR on this site, No. 61 for Villanova is also unrealistic, simply because of its location and Big Four relationships. No. 1? I don’t know. Maybe not. But you have to love Businessweek. They set the criteria, collected the data, knew the result before it was released and then immediately caved when it didn’t spit out Mendoza or Stern or Wharton and there was backlash. So THAT’S my rationale for not giving it credence, while choosing not to Google around to find the lowest published ranking possible.
All companies have limited recruitment budgets and generally have a set school of they recruit at. Even though your list of schools are good academically, I think some of the choices are odd for Wall Street recruitment. I think Lehigh and Colgate are good choices on your list. I would take a look at the following link which shows the top feeder schools for Wall Street:
http://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2015/02/04/the-top-feeder-schools-to-wall-street/2/
Many of them are USNews top 25 schools - however some interesting schools that made the list include: Indiana, Villanova, BC, Maryland, SMU, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and BYU.
Indiana Kelley School of Business is pretty hard to beat since you would be a direct admit and likely qualify for some merit aid - not cheap for OOS but pretty good value for a top tier program.
Is Minerva Schools at KGI something I should consider? Their founding class hasn’t graduated yet so without post grad results, attending can be risky.
Colgate: Did diversity overnight and found a lot of problems with it. I didn’t know that a few years ago, there was a protest/sit in. My host wasn’t happy with her choice either. It’s only one opinion, but coming from a URM student, it mattered a lot to me. I am still going to apply, but not ED II anymore. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/colgate_university_students_protest_racism_days_canyouhearusnow.html
Hamilton: I regret not having visited Hamilton when I visited Colgate during my junior year. I visited recently and like the vibes much better than Colgate’s. They are both great institutions, but Hamilton seems to have more friendly students (for ex. there is no greek housing, although frats/sororities exist). I also like the open curriculum–Colgate’s core includes the Legacies class which I attended, and I didn’t like it at all.
Fordham: I added Fordham because they had a free application that only took 15 minutes for me to apply, so why not? Fordham has an undergrad b-school as well.
Wellesley: I added to the list because pros outweighed the cons
I got accepted to IU-Bloomington to the Hutton Honors College! I don’t know if that means I’m a direct admit for Kelley though… Is it possible to not be a direct admit but part of the honors college?
Thanks
I lost track, have you applied ED1 anywhere, @penngirlpending?
@merc81 I did but got deferred so now I’m putting all my effort into the RD applications
Accepted: IU-Bloomington Honors, Fordham-Gabriella, Villanova-Business
RD:
Wellesley EE, Boston College, Lehigh, Hamilton, Carleton, Davidson, Colgate, (maybe Bates, but haven’t visited…)
Are these schools strong contenders for Wall St placement? Yes, they aren’t the mighty trio (Williams, Amherst, Middlebury).
Thanks!
I would scratch off Davidson. It’s super preppy and isn’t very diverse. When I toured there on a busy afternoon I did’t see one POC. Just my two cents though.
2/3 of Davidson students identify as white. Looks like about a quarter identify as a POC, with some unknown. I’m not entirely sure why diversity or preppiness should be such a dealbreaker. Preppiness is a lot less common nowadays; some people still (incorrectly) call Amherst a preppy school, and it is definitely not. Plus, Davidson has a solid econ department.
Don’t believe everything you read on here.
“I’m not entirely sure that diversity or preppiness should be a deal breaker”
Agreed, especially if OP’s goal is Wall Street where the lack of diversity and the amount of preppiness will be way more prevalent.
Based on everything you have posted, I could see you eventually availing yourself of this program, @penngirlpending :
Btw, the mentioned Middlebury (#45), which apparently appeals to you, may not differ appreciably in terms of selectivity compared to several of your current choices:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9
“Wellesley EE, Boston College, Lehigh, Hamilton, Carleton, Davidson, Colgate, (maybe Bates, but haven’t visited…)”
I am not that up to speed on all these schools, but Wellesley, BC and Lehigh would definitely help you get into Wall Street training programs. You should also look at Lafayette if you like Lehigh.
I think Davidson would also be a good choice. My dd really loved Davidson when we visited and did not find it either preppy or overly Southern. The nice thing about Davidson is that it is a great feeder for Bank of America and Wells Fargo which have huge banking operations in Charlotte (20 minutes’ drive from Davidson). You could easily get internships at BoA or WF which would then make you attractive to get a job with them or other I Banks on Wall St when you graduate.
Good luck.
I’m back with updates! I applied to a lot of schools hoping college admissions will help me wind the list down by rejecting me, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen so far, so now I have to cut the list down. 
Accepted: IU Kelley DA and Honors, Fordham, Villanova BS, Baruch-Macaulay Honors College, Boston College CSOM, Bates, Colgate, Carleton, Davidson, Barnard (!!!)
Waiting: Hamilton, Lehigh
At this point, I’m not too worried about rejections (I’ll take them if it happens), because I’m overwhelmed with the abundance of choices.
The main issue is that I don’t know whether to attend a school solely for it’s academics/atmosphere, or for graduate outcomes/career opportunities. I really want to attend Carleton or Barnard, but my parents want me to consider Colgate and BC because they’re reputable schools for careers in business. In reality, I have to consider career outcomes…is there a huge disparity between Barnard and Colgate?
Thanks in advance
Congrats on all the awesome choices you have. You can get to where you want to go at Carleton and Barnard. I’d go with what is best in terms of fit/community/what academics you like. Also, when you are in college, focus on summer internships especially in your last two years, and you’ll be fine.
Colgate and Carleton, for example, have very different student bodies and vibes. A student who fits at one might not be too happy at the other. However, I’m sure there are students who could be happy at either.
Here is my two-cents’ worth. First of all, pick your top three and try and visit them in April.
However, FWIW, if I were you, I would pick either BC or Barnard. BC has a fabulous business school with strong Wall Street contacts and great alumni network. BC also requires the business majors to take a number of liberal arts electives so you would get at least some of the benefits of an LAC. (At BC as an alternative you could also major in Econ in the A&S school and take up to 8 classes in the B school.) Alternatively, my other choice would be Barnard. That gets you into NYC where you can make contacts, attend taster events at the banks, etc.
Either way you have some great choices. Well done!
Interesting article shows that BC is ranked 19th for employability for US universities.
Well… The guy from MA votes for BC! 
Update: Accepted to Hamilton and Lehigh University w/ Computer Science and Business Program!
I don’t know how selective Lehigh’s CSB program is (or if it’s even considered selective), but I do know it has 100% grad placement. I’ll have to look into it, but this throws me off because I prefer a social scene that’s not overly influenced by greek presence but CSB program is appealing.
@penngirlpending You are right that Lehigh’s placement is very good for both engineering and business. They even seem to do unusually well compared to most peers. I am not sure why, but it seems to be true.
^ I have heard that Lehigh and Lafayette do well with job placement and internships due in part to their close proximity to NYC (only 1.5 hrs via I78).