As the title states, I’m currently committed for baseball to a Division 3 school that is a complete non-target for investment banking and consulting. I looked on LinkedIn and it has sent no one to either industry. With that being said, it is a strong school for a specific industry which is a lucrative one, so a technology oriented school.
That said, I have been admitted to a super-target for investment banking in a specific part of the country already, and a semi-target otherwise.
I love baseball and I feel like I will regret not playing at the NCAA level. Can someone give me some advice? Thanks.
EDIT: This school isn’t a bad school. It’s a Top-100 in the country and sub 50% acceptance rate. It is the fact that it would make more sense to even go to my flagship state school to get a higher chance at breaking into high-finance.
I don’t know much about investment banking or baseball, but I have been a high school teacher for close to 30 years. What I always advise students is that unless you’re at the “Yo yo Ma” level of talent in a sport/art, you always should choose your college based on your long-range career/life plans.
You say you are “committed” - did you actually commit? (In which case, it’s binding, I assume.)
But if you’re not committed, I think you should choose academics over athletics. You will still be able to play baseball in a lot of less formal ways in your new college.
This is not a great way to make this decision. You can get into these industries if you have the right network and connections, regardless of your undergraduate alma mater. You can get an MBA later and your tech-focused undergrad degree could be seen as an asset.
Athletic committment to a D3 school is non-binding. D3 schools do not give any athletic scholarships. If OP gained admission via an ED application, then the decision is binding per the ED agreement.
Did you commit via ED? If so, then this is part of growing up. You made a decision knowing there were other possibilities and now you need to handle the repercussions. If you go to this school and end up hating it, then you can transfer after a bit but if it is an ED commitment, you are bound to go there for at least a semester and there is nothing you can do besides make the best of it.
If you did not commit via ED, then I suggest you email the coach now thanking them for their time, energy, etc.
You say the school hasn’t sent any grad to professional baseball or to IB/consulting (or at least an alum who reported that back to the school). If it is a small school, that doesn’t surprise me. Maybe alums went into IB after grad school, maybe a baseball player continued on thru coaching youth baseball.
You have to make the choice if you want a small school with baseball or a large state school. Two different environments. My daughter went to a smaller D2 school with a pretty strong baseball team. I don’t know how many players went on to professional level play, but maybe 1 or 2 every 5-10 years. Tim Wakefield did go to this school about 40 years ago? but I don’t remember any other names. I do know the student athletes have a great experience and academically are more likely to be an engineer than in IB, but my daughter’s boyfriend went on to get an MBA (from this school) and is very successful in the finance group of his employer.
YOU can make anything happen. Sure, it’s easier to get into IB from Williams or Yale, but other schools are successful in launching IB careers.
Go to the fit - your odds of playing baseball next year are far greater than your odds of ever being an investment banker - and you likely don’t know what that even entails.
Going to another school precludes you from playing baseball. Going to the non target does not preclude you from being a banker.
OP do you have an idea of specifically what type of I banking you want to do? Do you have an informed appreciation for what the career involves?
I am trying to gauge if it is just the image of I banking you are drawn to or if it is a thought through career interest. Most people don’t realize what the career is all about beyond media images. I know it’s hard to know as a 17 year old.
I was fortunate to be a college athlete and am a career I banker so I may be able to provide some perspective but don’t want to make presumptive suggestions. Any insight into the why’s and what’s of I banking may help me respond.
You are being responsible and thoughtful in this consideration before possibly shutting the door on an eventual career choice.
Congratulations regardless
Here is a thread that might be of interest…
One last question…
If you get injured early on and can no longer play sport, do you regret not going to the IB target school?
I’ll just give you feedback from my kid who fell in love with a school that didn’t have a baseball team.
Mom, I can play d3, even if I’m a starter all four years and win every conference award there is, I’m still not going to make the MLB. I know the commitment it takes (played in boarding school and had to travel) and why would I put myself through that if it’s just going to end anyway.
While I was afraid he might miss it, he never failed to mention on our phone calls all of the amazing things he was doing with his time (hiking, skiing, camping, trying new clubs and activities, taking on leadership roles in his field of study, getting a research job with a professor) that he wouldn’t have been able to do if he were still playing. He doesn’t regret his decision one bit. He looks at his friends that have sat on the bench all year at schools they went to just so they could make the rooster and is kind of sad for them. Baseball was the only draw and they aren’t even getting to play.
Definitely a tough decision. I always lean towards the academic side of things when it comes to college choice but I also do understand one wanting to live out their dream of playing ball for another four years. You won’t get another opportunity to do that.
Here’s how I look at it - if you can do really well at this school academically while playing ball, there is no reason you can’t get your MBA afterward at a very good business school and become an investment banker at that point (obviously finances come into play here). My BIL received his bachelor’s in nuclear engineering and several years later went back and received his MBA from Columbia and is now an investment banker. He got recruited by several top banks near the end of his program.
It can absolutely work out for you to still play ball; your path to IB though may take a few years longer.
So if I understand your suggestion correctly, even if OP is committed to an IB career they could or should…
1- Go to a non IB target Div 3 school and play baseball. Hoping not to get hurt.
2-Get great grades, graduate and work for a few years (top Business schools require work experience).
3-Get accepted at a top business school. (Assuming their work experience was adequate).
4-Leave the work force for 2 years and pay B school tuition (approx combined cost $400k+).
5- Apply to investment banks who are hiring significantly fewer MBAs these days.
6- Become an Investment Banker
Versus going to a target school and competing for an analyst role in 4 years like the vast majority of those pursuing IB careers.
Am I misunderstanding your seeming suggestion that these two options offer comparable likelihoods of successful outcomes? If so I would have to disagree.
If you definitely want to go into IB, I would strongly suggest going to a target school. Unfortunately this would not be the last time you would have to sacrifice something to be an investment banker. It is part of the job description. I would not however take the decision lightly.
I hear old guys say that all the time, but really, I’ve never heard kids that are actually in college that decided not to play ever say “Hey, I really wish I was playing right now”.
My advice would be to prioritize academic fit. For the overwhelming majority of students, that aligns more with career path than does their favorite sport. But I would also encourage you to reach out to the baseball coach of the school with the preferred academic program to discuss their walk-on process. This can vary a lot from one team to the next, but I’ve known a number of students that enjoyed their walk-on experience.
Didn’t miss a thing. I did note your comment that you “lean towards” academics but you then proceeded to offer a counter narrative supporting playing the sport, followed by business school and then hopefully an IB job. In your scenario this was possible as evidenced by your BIL having followed this path.
You actually suggested the following the dream of playing a sport can be an equivalent in desirability versus career optionality .
I can understand your predisposition to steer kids to playing given your former role as a “recruiting coordinator”
I will be transparent that my suggestion if the student is committed to IB would be to attend a target school. I base this on my experience of having enjoyed playing 4 years of division 3 sports, completing a top 7 MBA program and having a 30 year plus IB career.
Specifically I would avoid spending the direct tuition cost and losing the opportunity cost of lost wages for an MBA if possible. I also don’t think anyone can be assured of MBA acceptances and or IB jobs post B school. That’s a lot of relative execution risk and upfront costs when a more direct route of applying from an undergraduate target school exists.