not my favorite list for this, but I think peak is somewhat better.
Like ranks and everything else - and no one knows the story behind each school and hire - how did someone get the job (know someone) and yes, there’s far more than 4 IBs or whatnot.
If nothing else, they are directional, these lists.
that list gets crushed by finance experts. others are more widely accepted. no dog in fight but wanted you to know because i saw you post it a bunch of times.
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Here’s yet another ranking:
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Love it. Thx.
It shows you many schools place - even if not targets. Interesting that NYU is not a target and IU Kelley was way down on this one. And some can go to a non target with a special program and do fine - if they get in. But it also depends on what they want to do and where they want to be - NY, Dallas or elsewhere.
Everyone’s path may be different.
That’s a very complex topic. Complications include that at the most selective colleges with undegrad business programs, not all the kids competing for the most selective positions in finance and consulting actually go through the undergrad programs; and also that having an undergrad business program likely means attracting a higher percentage of students who will eventually have such interests than otherwise similar colleges without undergrad business programs.
In other words, what we really want to know is the number of entering students who have such ambitions, and how many of those end up getting what they want. And even that is imperfect, like sometimes those people could get what they want, but change their minds about what they want, and that rate of mind-changing could vary by college.
But even just getting that first number isn’t really possible, like there is no common database indicating what career ambitions people have when matriculating at these colleges.
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Keep in mind too (though hard to find a more recent reference article), according to the USDOE, a third of undergrads at 4 year institutions change their major (with 9% changing 2 or more times), so as for students looking at these tables when they think they want to major in finance or target IB or the like, it may be irrelevant for many of those students who redirect once they get into college. And YES its known that one can major in many different areas and still pursue IB or the like, but the point is, its too easy to forget when looking at placement or salary surveys or the like that it may change once the student is enrolled from if/when they looked during the application process.
Beginning College Students Who Change Their Majors Within 3 Years of Enrollment.
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Absolutely.
This is a basic conceptual problem with the whole, “College A is good for Career X” mindset. If you (quite rightly) think of going to a good four-year college as an opportunity to combine exploring new academic interests you knew little or nothing about before starting college, exploring new next-step options you knew little or nothing about before starting college, and general self-discovery and expanding your worldview, then how you pick a college can be quite different from believing you already know X such that you can just pick a college that is “good for X”.
Of course if you think you MIGHT want to do X, it is fine to pick a college that is good ENOUGH for X, meaning if you do continue on that path, it will be among the colleges that can support individuals on such a path.
Which I think is basically the answer to the OP’s question. Is Amherst good ENOUGH if this kid does decide to work in finance or consulting? Absolutely. Is it also a good place to be if they decide to go in a different direction? That too!
So, that’s a good college choice. Not that the others the OP listed are bad, but Amherst is one of the good choices for the kid being described, and I think that is enough to know for now.
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Exactly. Mic drop! 
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