Child is currently committed to Amherst College. They are very excited, but I am wondering how career opportunities stack up there compared to schools they turned down (Tufts, BU, UNC, Northeastern) that are more urban or well-known. They are interested in working in finance or consulting. Thank you.
So there have been studies, like this one for IB placement:
Per capita, Amherst ranked #13. Tufts and Northeastern didn’t make the charts in this study, BU was #48, UNC #37.
Similar study for consulting:
Per capita, Amherst was #16, none of the others made the list (they only did top 30 this time).
I think these studies have some issues, including lack of proper controls for self-selection. But the fact is lots of kids from LACs like Amherst go into highly selective next-step positions in finance and consulting.
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Your kid will have a very strong alumni network to tap into. In my experience and that of my family members, alums of a school like Amherst will be very responsive to students (and alums) and are also very well placed in those industries. There is very much a feeling of connection that comes from a smaller school. Bigger is not necessarily better when it’s the strength of the network that matters.
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There are so many target lists. Amherst is definitely better known than Tufts btw.
They made a choice. It’s great. There are many more schools on feeder list than the rank - top 30 or 50 because there are multiple sources. And there are many schools not on feeder lists that place kids.
Amherst is #10 on college transitions per capita None of the others you mentioned are. 2nd table.
Congrats to your student. They will have to bust tail, network etc but it’ll be up to them And luck.
But it’s certainly the worthy school of those you just listed for the career.
Best of luck.
Ps the link won’t work on this site Google college transitions top feeder Wall Street Here’s a pic.
Yeah, not enough people account for the fact that bigger school = more alums, but also = more recent graduates looking for a hand.
What you would really want is a measure of how inclined well-placed alums are to actually providing meaningful help when that is the primary connection (that you attended the same undergrad). And I think many prominent LACs would do quite well by such a measure.
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Your child will be attending one of the top LACs in the country. No college guarantees students a finance or consulting job post-graduation – that will come down to what the student achieves during their college years.
At this point you and your child would be best served by looking forward rather than backwards. Amherst is an extraordinary outcome. I hope the student makes the most of this opportunity and has a wonderful four years there.
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Honestly, the only reason outside of environment to choose BU, NU and UNC would be if the student wanted to study finance, a major Amherst doesn’t offer. Finance is not econ but obviously the banks hire Econ and a lot more.
I don’t know the desired major but for econ, Amherst top 2 employers are JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs of course not all jobs are IB but they have great names throughout as will the others.
Your student chose Amherst for a reason and I don’t think the desired career goal is reason to change it. Statistically they’re in the right place but the career will be hard from anywhere.
Besides May 1 has come and gone. So it doesn’t matter anyway.
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Finance and consulting weight prestige, and Amherst is the most prestigious of those schools, in some cases by a very great deal. Your son is fine.
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More well known than Amherst? Amherst is one of the top LACs in this country. Very strong alum network. Students have great opportunities after graduation…if they seek them.
Plenty of Amherst students do internships in urban locations. And plenty go on to terrific careers.
Plus, time to look forward and embrace this wonderful Amherst acceptance!
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The OP can see this information in context through this link:
Amherst seems like a largely self-evident choice for this student.
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I have to agree with everyone else who is commenting. Amherst College is an excellent school. While drunks in a bar in middle America might not have heard of it, drunks in a bar in Harvard Square Cambridge probably have heard of it (particularly if they are affiliated with Harvard), and will know how excellent it is. The people who need to know (including hiring managers in many cases, and definitely including graduate admissions such as for MBA programs) will have heard of it, and will know how excellent it is.
I really think that the best reaction here is: CONGRATULATIONS!
You child appears to have done several things very well, and deciding to attend Amherst College is one of them.
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Please read this again. The student is very excited. It sounds like the parent is having buyer remorse. But really, the student is the one attending college, and that student is excited about their choice.
It’s fine to sort of vent here…but I hope you are celebrating your student’s excitement over their Amherst matriculation!
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OP - taking the data provided, please consider an equal combination of “total placements” and “per capita.” Amherst is decent but the small # of placements (even though they are a small school), does hold some meaning as you think through an objective answer to your question.
Similarly, some large schools with diverse offerings show misleadingly low rankings using “per capita.”
I would put Amherst in the in the mix according to most data sources, but please do not be mislead either.
I do think it is a huge accomplishment to be admitted to Amherst, so congratulations.
I note this is part of what I meant when I wrote:
To calculate something like a batting average, you need information on both at-bats and hits. What we typically do not know is how many “at-bats” there were at any given undergrad program in any given study period for any given competitive next-step. Indeed, it can be hard to even define such a thing uncontroversially. Like, what defines an at-bat for med school? Actually applying? What about people who started off premed, but were discouraged for some reason. Does the reason matter? And so on.
That being said, an undergrad with a relatively high per capita hit rate at least is demonstrably doing a good job supporting relatively well-qualifed graduates who want whatever position it is you are looking at. Not necessarily better than all schools with somewhat lower per capita hit rates, not necessarily worse than all schools with a somewhat higher per capita hit rate, but at least good in some broad sense.
And I personally think that is often the limit of reasonable expectations anyway. I can understand not wanting to choose a college where that choice might actually limit what you as an individual could effectively compete for in terms of next steps. You might also want to choose a college with a decent number of other people doing what you want to do, if only because they may end up being valuable mentors and part of future networks.
But a reasonably long list of colleges may satisfy those standards, and I am skeptical this sort of data really can be used to detect any important value-added effects beyond that.
Former Capital Markets Guy and Management Consultant. Coming from Amherst is not an issue in those industries. I would rate it a plus relative to the other choices, but that’s one guys opinion.
Relax. Congrats to your kid.
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They will have lots of company at Amherst.