Hi, I’m a Senior who was recently accepted to UT Austin, UIUC, and U of Wisconsin - Madison and waiting for other answers from other colleges in Boston.
So, my goal is to become a Hedge Fund manager and I really do not care about where I work. I read that a lot of banks from Houston recruit first-year analyst from UT McCombs. However, I am currently in Math major and will pursue Mathematical science path like statistics, probability, and Data analysis.
My question is, should I try to internally transfer to McCombs during my college year or should I stay with my math major and care more about internship. Also, if I get into any colleges in Boston, like BU, Babson, Northeastern, or Brandeis, should I go to college at Boston for better job opportunities?
Stay with the math/science path.Your best bet may be a strong math major from Babson.
But will it be affordable - what’s in-state for you and what’s your budget? Have you run the NPC on these colleges?
None of them are targets, so your goal should be to leverage an exceptional college resume for an MBB position leading to a top MBA and then IB.
I know this can be done from UT and UWisconsin, not sure about UIUC (emphaisizng “not sure” in that I don’t know but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.)
Another issue with UIUC is the current state of Illinois’ finances. But UWIsc is suffering from major budget cuts too.
You will maximize your probability of success by enrolling in a program that :
Develops strong communication skills
Develops strong quantitative skills ideally applied in the context of finance and economics
Develops a global perspective by understanding cultures other than your own
Develops strong networking skills
Is close to major global financial centers
Here is a list of major global financial centers. - Note that Chicago is a major center for commodities/derivatives - which may or may not be of interest for you.
You can probably achieve this anywhere, but at the large universities, I would be concerned about the extent to which you can straddle the boundary between the liberal arts domain and the business domain.
Babson is pretty unique. It is like a “Business LAC”. It has a liberal arts core, (which includes two semesters of Rhetoric), a business core and some interdisciplinary concentrations such as Computational and Mathematical Finance
Babson has traditionally been known for entrepreneurship, but more recently, Babson alums have been building a more of a bridge to Finance careers and Wall St.
On the cost side, Babson is an interesting combination because it is need blind, meets almost full need (95%+), is pretty good on the amount of loans included in the package and also offers merit scholarships.
If you are comfortable with a small school environment, and you can get in and afford it, then I would lean toward Babson.
@MYOS1634 I am pretty sure MBB positions are harder than most IB positions to get (except for some top bulge brackets and boutiques, in which case they are probably about just as hard in most cases).
@cckrie Hedge Funds are completely different from Investment Banking, although Investment Banking is a popular route to go before getting into Hedge Funds.
^it does have computational & quantitative finance, which is very math-heavy, although it IS applied math, and is complemented with courses at Olin (you can walk there in a few minutes) and Wellesley (2-3 miles away on the shuttle?)
@yikesyikesyikes : aren’t MBB (consulting) positions slightly less prestige-conscious than “pure”/strict IB positions? I know students from UWisc or UT who got positions in MBB but wouldn’t have been considered for IB, they used that as leverage to get into a target for their MBA, but they may well be outliers, so your answer interests me a lot.
What made you pick the schools on your list? There are big differences in types of schools and geographic locations here.
If you really want to enter consulting or IB after undergrad, the easiest way to do so is to go from a target school. UT would be a better pick than Brandeis, northeastern etc.
I’d either transfer into McCombs or, consider transferring to a target after getting great grades at UT
Babson is not considered a target, but the last time I looked (class of 2011) they placed undergrads at Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Goldman, JP Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Wells Fargo. They also placed undergrads at McKinsey and Bain, but no BCG (at least in the list that I saw). Top base salary that year was $150K
There is no “easy” way into these jobs - that includes “target” schools- where the competition can be cutthroat.
So, are banks in Houston recruit a lot of college graduates from UT Austin and Rice University regardless of business degree? I prefer anyone who live in Texas answer this. Thank you
@MYOS1634 Well MBB and IB are two different industries: Consulting and Investment Banking. MBB are the top firms in consulting. Banks of “equivalent prestige” would be Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan- and some top boutiques like Lazard. Analyst positions at other investment banks would probably be considered less prestigious than a Business Analyst gig at MBB (save for special positions and things along the lines of that). This is what I have heard from family and friends who work in financial services and consultanting-oriented students at my university. The general advice I have heard for MBB is 3.5+ GPA from a target school with good experiences in order to secure a first-round interview.
A lot of the colleges in the Boston area have deals where u can take classes at nearby colleges…wouldnt be surprised if Babson has such a deal, so maybe u could take higher math classes elsewhere.