Hi everyone. We (our son and I) are a bit torn on which is best out of Fordham Gabelli and Penn State Smeal (university park campus) to land a front office finance analyst role in Investment Banking in NYC. He has a sizable scholarship from Fordham and has been put in their Global Business Honors Program where he will be doing a research project in his senior year and traveling during freshman, sophomore and junior years overseas for short trips to gain exposure to global markets in London Asia and Chile. Penn State has requested him to apply to the honors college because he is ranked top 5% of his class which he did, we will find out in the next few weeks if he got in. We have enough money in his 529 plan to cover both colleges so while the scholarship is amazing we are not dependent on it in making his decision. We are just looking for the best college which will land him a job in NYC. My research and gut is saying Fordham but would love to hear everyoneās thoughts on this based on their experience and knowledge.
Paging @Catcherinthetoast as the resident expert in this field.
Congratulations on your sonās achievements and two wonderful opportunities.
I am very familiar with the Global Business Honors program at Fordham. I have been lucky to have participated in several GBH events. The students tend to be some of the most qualified and well prepared undergraduates I have encountered. These kids are highly recruited and are viewed as the best of the best when looking for finance grounded candidates.
In my experience Gabelli kids do well GBH kids do exceptionally well. A major advantage of this program is that students often are able to maintain internships throughout the year leading to full time opportunities and valuable experience. These students are also given direct access to senior members of the finance community and welcomed to in-house events that serve the dual purpose of educating and providing networking.
Penn State is also a strong school and program but does not offer the same proximity and alumni network as Fordham. The school is certainly well represented but I would put Fordham at a different level.
I have no personal connection to either school beyond what I have described.
If this is the ambition I would go with Fordham all other things being equal. Please note that rather than front office/back office the current preferred terms are client facing/support roles. If and when you have specific questions please let me know.
Thank you so much! Iām blown away on how thoughtful and detailed your response is especially on the global business honors program, your insight is invaluable and extremely appreciated. I needed this to solidify our initial thought that Fordham is the right direction for my him. On a side note, i had my son read your thread on working in an investment bank and all the roles and responsibilities with the various types of jobs. Tremendous thanks to you for helping us.
Congrats to your son.
One thing I might look at is - do I want big time sports, etc. going to Penn State would be incredible - watching football in Happy Valley if thatās your thing.
On the other hand, the included trips abroad is an awesome feature that is likely hard to replicate. My daughter had one included in her program and talks glowingly of it til this day, the memory created.
I imagine a stud like your son will do fantastic in life ā¦periodā¦whether he stays with this goal or changes his ambitions.
But he will be somewhere for four years, day after day.
Which environment/experience fit his desires best?
Thank you for your input. Yes I totally see where you are coming from as far as Penn State being a great campus life with lots of memorable activities. This is the trade off he will have to decide on. But for him the primary goal is internships and ultimately a job.
Sports: Penn State has 7 home Football games a year vs Fordham 81 Yankees home games a subway stop away and a very loyal fan base that tailgates throughout the football season. If looking for better college level football locally you always have the Jets and Giantsš
Food: Penn State college food ranked #8 in Pennsylvania by Niche vs Fordham Arthur Avenue.
Culture: Penn State rural vs Fordham NYC
Most importantly Fordham via the GBH offers the opportunity to be part of a group of 25 to 30 carefully selected individuals who will be highly sought after, challenge one another and elevating their performance throughout college and serve as a support network going forward.
For those unfamiliar with this particular opportunity it is worth learning about it as it offers a unique experience and opportunity for those looking to land I banking jobs.
Two very different schools - one large and somewhat remote, one mid-size at the front door of everything. Both are very good programsāless competition (in numbers )at Fordham to access internships and jobs. But the question you should be asking yourself is, where will he be the happiest and have the best level of support? He needs to find āhis placeā and āhis peopleā. You can go to some of the best schools and be miserable, and then you will not succeed. The goal is to succeed and be happy. So āFitā is a big part of picking a school. One of my kids picked the ābetterā school, but culturally it was not a great fit. He plowed through and did fine but lacked the college experience he should have had. Itās what you do when you are there, what opportunities you take advantage of, and what you do after that counts. Pick the place he will be happy, get involved, take advantage of all the opportunities, find friends and ultimately succeed.
Fordham Gabelli because of location (both Lincoln Center & Rose Hill) in NYC.
Penn State-may depend upon who is in your sonās fraternity regarding connections.
Yes 
agree on the program on what it has to offer. My son just read through your comments and heās completely on board with Fordham. He didnāt realize the cohort was so small or the magnitude of what the Global Business Honors Program offered as far as networking and how it is viewed by others.
Yes the campus on Rose hill is very nice and the Lincoln center location in NYC is perfect for exposure to finance opportunities.
For those curiousā¦
In the past, I recommended this program to one whose alternate choice was Georgetown University. (The student ultimately could not resist the prestige of Georgetown, but Fordhamās Honors Program was enticing.)
Will your son be housed at Lincoln Center or at Rose Hill. Can make a significant difference in oneās college experience.
P.S. Should be an easy choice as one either wants massive Penn State/football/fraternities or wants NYC.
These students typically are housed at Rose Hill and often move to adjacent areas like Arthur Avenue as upperclassmen.
Thank you I agree itās all about fit. The one thing I can say about my son is he makes friends no matter where he goes. Heās been blessed with this type of personality since he was a toddler. Heās also highly adaptable to situations, making the best if situations which might not be ideal, like rooming with someone during a college summer program that had tendencies to punch the wall when he was upset and listen to loud music to fall and stay asleep. Lol I begged him to let me ask for a room change but he was insistent on not making the kid feel bad or isolated. He instead purchased a pair of noise canceling headphones and suggested his roommate come to the gym with him if seemed upset or irritated. He even saved the kid from getting into fights with other kids.
Yes Rose Hill but several of his classes will be in NYC. The shuttle bus takes them between the two campuses.
Since your son will be in honors at either school, he will be getting to know highly intelligent, hard-working, motivated classmates at either school. Without PSU honors, Fordham Global Business Honors would be the better choice career-wise, but with PSU Honors it becomes more of a matter of personal choice.
Is cost-of-attendance (COA) a major consideration ? If yes, then compare costs.
Thank you. We still donāt know if heās actually in the honors program at Penn State, that I believe gets announced in early March. They just requested him to apply because of his academic standing on the guidance counselor school report they reviewed.
I posted above the specifics of Fordhamās program. Here is PSUās.
https://undergrad.smeal.psu.edu/educational-experience/honors
What are the advantages of PSU in your opinion @Publisher? I am not as familiar with this program so anxious to gain your insight.
Would you recommend PSU honors over Georgetown?
Schreyer is very prestigious and admits very few students, often Ivy contenders. But it wonāt add anything wrt what heās interested in (based on what you said).
For what he wants, Global Honors at Gabelli/Fordham, hands down. Being part of a select group will provide many opportunities not just within the Fordham community but also with NYC āpeople who matterā knowledgeable about what that means + externships in addition to internships + the short trips abroad (* ) + a ready-made peer group (and the Jesuit curriculum will ensure excellent general knowledge, writing skills, etc.)
(* if heās going to be in Global business Honors, he will have a broad view of various forces beyond the technical - for instance, Brexit has been deleterious for the UK though London is still huge - but Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands have all become major players in Europe. Ireland is a go-to as a bridgehead and essential in terms of logistics with Cork/Dublin becoming bigger transportation hubs. So he should pay close attention to those in addition to London, Asia, and the rise of Kenya etc. Geopolitics should have a huge impact on markets in 2024 and being able to follow local news in the local language and/or compare national news channels in English with their US counterparts is going to be a skill thet needs to be grown over the next years. Obviously how much that matters v ability to modelize using math will become clear as he finds what field he likes best etc. )