Do you have any insight into how Tulsa compares to Alabama, overall and in terms of finance? My top candidate right now for NMF is Bama, Oklahoma also looked decent.
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Neither school has meaningful I banking representation or cache. They are perceived to be largely regional in terms of placement. You would have to find an unconventional way of getting your internship. While tough not impossible with early prep and networking but certainly an uphill battle.
Overall both schools offer a great financial opportunity for talented kids. Tulsaâs president recently posted on CC that approximately 25% of the incoming class will be NMF and in absolute terms they will matriculate the most NMFs nationally this year (previously a record Bama used to advertise). Bama being a much larger school has less then 3% of their students designated NMF. So bright kids at both schools but a much greater concentration at Tulsa at a smaller school.
It is also worth noting that the Ivies and other elites donât care about NMF so in practical terms the concentrations of NMF eligible students is even much great than Tulsaâs 25%. These schools donât keep track.
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Have you examined the courses and clubs/student organizations that are of interest to you at UNC ?
Compare UNC offerings with those at NC State:
https://Poole.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/student-life/student-organizations/
Several masterâs degree programs at various universities have 100% employment rates including NC Stateâs Masterâs in Financial Mathematics.
The top masterâs programs are at Baruch-CUNY, Princeton, UC-Berkeley, NYU, Columbia, & CMU among others.
Check the course offerings in the masterâs degree programs to generate ideas regarding specific areas of interest.
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Culverhouse is known name - not sure about OU although OU is a beautiful school and no doubt a fine school. It will be less geographically diverse - a ton of Dallas kids vs. Bama that has over 1k from many states - CA, TX, IL, GA and over 550 from NC.
I donât think OU meets what you are looking for. They used to be big in NMF but backed off. Bama is 5 years tuition and four housing. OU is waving OOS and a bit more. Tulsa - will give you the small school experience and is full coverage and says 1/4 or more of students are NMF - so obviously a talented cohort to interact with.
Tulsa, like many schools, has a student investment fund.
âYouâll also gain hands-on experience managing the student investment fund â a $8 million real-money portfolio. Our risk management center features a lifelike financial laboratory with stock ticker boards, extensive financial databases, computers, and Bloomberg terminals, allowing you to practice your new skills in a real-life setting.â
You might talk to each and every school - make an appointment with the department chair - and share your goals and ask for examples of students who have made it and what their paths were. As a bonus, you might even be able to talk to those students.
Itâs a tradeoff right - youâre asking for a full ride or close to it âŠbut that doesnât necessarily match up with your goals. And Iâm not sure if being home schooled might impact your ability to attract these already hard to get full rides - as opposed to the auto scholarships like Bama and Tulsa you are looking at. Check UTD too - if you go the CS route after further discussing, itâs strong there.
Only you can decide where on the risk/reward scale of saving money you want to be.
But I do think there is also merit in - is finance even the right major for what you want to accomplish? A lot of that comes into question where prospective students donât even know what certain jobs entail as far as a day to day.
Good luck.
A little unclear whether you would or would not qualify for financial aid when you are seeking a full ride. As @Catcherinthetoast notes, the types of jobs you aspire to are most easily obtained through feeder schools. While those schools for the most part have no or super competitive merit aid available, they also generally have the most generous financial aid. For families making less than $150k/year, the net cost is often lower than their in state publics. Your stats make you competitive for those schools. Run some NPCâs to see what your COA is likely to be.
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Iâm not certain but I thought Keenan-Flagler wasnât direct admission? Something to consider.
South Carolina and Fordham could be nice options.
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This AMA may be of interest.
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If you want a full ride, maybe alabama, work 2 yrs, then prestigious school mba.
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How about University of Richmond? The Richmond Scholars get a full ride, hard to get but a quality Business School (top 20 in Poets&Quants) for free is not badâŠ
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Unfortunately, I donât. However, if you are looking to visit the schools or connect with someone for more information, I would reach out to @PresCarsonTulsa. He has helped answer questions for other potential candidates.
If a full-ride is what you are looking for, Tulsaâs package is extremely generous.
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Thanks for the insight! Iâm definitely going to apply for Robertson and to Fordham. I know that Kelley and Geis are great options but it looked like they would be very difficult for me as an OOS, do you think itâs worthwhile to try? Also, is there some reason you recommend Holy Cross specifically, is there anything that puts it above one of the big auto merit schools like Bama or Tulsa?
Where would you say that USC (California) falls on the âfeederâ continuum? They certainly have a strong alumni network and strength in business, but I donât know whether that extends to the more exclusive banking pathways.
At any rate, full-tuition merit is a possibility there for NMF.
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HC offers a variety of merit scholarships and places well into IB. They have a relatively strong alumni network and while not a classic target school they punch well above their weight. They also have proximity to Boston and a lot of major money managers as another alternative.
Alabama or Tulsa arenât nearly as well represented or thought of as producing bankers in my experience. Fine schools, and great financial option but less than ideal for someone seeking the more prestige aware finance careers.
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USC certainly has a strong national brand and does place reasonably well from what I have seen. The former head of my fixed income sales team was actually an Olympic caliber swimmer at USC and makes a point of going back on campus annually to interview. He would bend over backwards to support fellow Trojans.
While not a traditional target, I know several banks that do recruit on campus. In my opinion a very solid option but will take some incremental effort on the part of the student.
Hope this helps.
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The NMF award at USC is for half-tuition. Is there another award level youâre referring to?
The half-tuition NMF award is, I believe, guaranteed for Finalists who are admitted; but they can also be selected for the full-tuition Trustee Scholarship, which is awarded to about 100 students each year.
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Full-tuition is a possibility there for anyone. It is not exclusive for NMF. It is also extremely competitive.
In 2023, USC received 80K applications. 8K were admitted and 3633 enrolled. 96 of the 3633 received the full-tuition scholarship.
If a NMF does not receive a scholarship from NMSC or a corporate entity, USC will award the NMF an additional scholarship on top of either the half-tuition Presidential scholarship or full-tuition Trustee scholarship. In the past, the additional scholarship was 1K/yr.
Full-tuition at USC is far from a full-ride. Housing, dining, required fees, travel, etc. add up quickly.
There was a very informative thread a couple months ago about feeder schools and different paths to IB, PE, and other lucrative finance related jobs. I agree with @Catcherinthetoast on USC. I would add that USC will be stronger for west coast opportunities than say the top institutions on the east coast or Chicago. The first echelon of feeder schools are truly national brands for these placements.
Yes, I understood that USC isnât in the âfirst echelon of feeder schools.â But I donât think any of those schools gives merit that would get the OPâs net price to †Chapel Hill in-state (excepting the exceptionally-reachy Robertson). I was more asking how @Catcherinthetoast felt USC compared to other schools under discussion here that do give large merit awards, like Fordham, BC, HC⊠and to UNC itself which is the baseline in this discussion. Basically just wondering whether USC would be worth adding to OPâs list based both on odds of full-tuition merit (low, but not as low as the Robertson) and on the payoff in terms of opportunities if the merit did happen. Not trying to challenge which schools belong in the canonical first echelon; it just seems that most of those are already ruled out based on cost.
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Would you be interested in working in the Dallas Fort Worth area, or region? If so, perhaps you could look into Southern Methodist University. Very highly regarded in their region.