Here’s another one from a couple of years ago that orders them Middlebury→Williams→Amherst
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I would be skeptical of any analysis that relies on scraping LinkedIn data/profiles. A lot of the hires being counted will be back office/support jobs and and not 6 figure frontline jobs. That is why you see such high volumes coming from larger schools. On the other hand, the schools at the top of the lists are generally consistent with the schools we targeted for IB analysts. So these list are fine for gauging which schools are targets, semi targets, not targeted but next to useless for ranking bragging rights. If IB, PE, consulting etc… are a defining factor, the question you should ask is how many and which firms make on-campus networking visits to the schools your kid is interested in. You might also ask the placement office if they have data on call backs. IMO actual hires are less important because that will be driven by the strength of individuals vs any institutional advantage of coming from a particular school.
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Agreed. Some posters just like College Transitions. What can you say?
Here’s an even more scientific cut at it with AI:
If I’m being honest and not a favorite school homer, this is how I typically see it discussed and written sans Pomona and more Claremont heavy.
Most frequently, you’ll see the lists with the big names and then a begrudging and passing comment like “… and some LACs like Williams and Amherst.” When you get to a discussion that goes a little deeper than a passing comment on the LACs then Middlebury is almost always mentioned. I see the other NESCACs mentioned much less frequently. With a gun to my head, I’d say you see Williams mentioned the most, then one or both of Amherst and Middlebury, and Claremont. Wes comes up sometimes, Hamilton comes up sometimes, Bowdoin comes up sometimes, but not as frequently as the others I listed.
I’ll note that we at CC are cited by AI as a place to get more info on this. We are creating our own buzz. How about that? Lol.
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However, the College Transitions analysis posted above considered only positions as “entry-level Investment Banking Analysts across 16 of the most reputable banking firms.”
That’s what they say but their definition of IB analyst is broad and is based on how the person describes their position. For example, my S works at one of the top bulge brackets. When I look at other people who are connected to him through LinkedIn, there are a lot of “analysts” who I know to be back office personnel.
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Agreed. LinkedIn is an imprecise tool. I personally know of a few offspring of peers who are listing themselves as “analysts” at various firms who are in fact on the HNW private wealth management side. Nothing wrong with that at all but as you know there are a very different set of barriers to get to a wealth management job as compared to a slot as a traditional IB analyst. I know of some smart kids who started out in IB and shifted to wealth management and I expect the reasons for those moves are varied but probably all have to do with work/life balance to some degree. I don’t know anyone who has gone the other direction. The folly in posting your position on LinkedIn in a confusing way when you’re in sales is that you’re likely missing on some potential client development opportunities. Nobody from your broader network is going to reach out or recommend you to manage personal assets if they think you’re a real banker.
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In terms of selectivity, NESCACs compose half of the Most Selective LACs appearing in this analysis:
In total, 7 NESCACs appear in the Most Selective category: Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts and Williams. And Wesleyan appears in the Extremely Selective category.
Adam Grant says you should go to a LAC, and preferably a NESCAC. Ok, that’s a liberal interpretation but I found his latest post interesting and relevant for this group and related to @circuitrider ‘s reintroduction of CC’s favorite topic:
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Further to the above, should someone reach out to Adam Grant and let him know that you get all the well rounded stuff you need in high school?
I can do it but don’t want to hog up all of the opportunities to advocate here.
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Maybe @CC_Sorin should approach Adam Grant and ask him to do a CC Q&A/ask me anything!
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Isn’t Bates more selective than Wesleyan?
Without commenting on these two schools, or even on any particular analysis, I’ll say that the more thorough selectivity analyses consider multiple aspects, such as acceptance rates, high school class standings and standardized scoring profiles. Even more advanced analyses may adjust for the percent of students who submitted standardized scores. Based on the range of these potential aspects, some results may appear counterintuitive. Also, flawed data entry can invalidate some individual ratings entirely, and holistic aspects may be impossible to evaluate from an outside perspective.
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Do people really feel as though Bates and Wesleyan are overlap schools?
The Bates data is wrong in that selectivity doc. Here’s where they put Bates:
VERY SELECTIVE colleges accept fewer than 50% of all applicants AND possess an average composite ACT (25%tile) score of at least 27 or an average combined SAT (25%tile) score of at least 1280.
Bates 2024-25 CDS
- Acceptance: 13%
- 25th pctl SAT: 1410
- 25th pctl ACT: 30
That would put Bates in the MOST SELECTIVE bucket, along with Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury, Tufts, Williams.
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This separate analysis placed Wesleyan 47th by selectivity nationally and Bates 64th:
Using CDS data, Bates at 13% acceptance, Wesleyan at 16%. Both are crazy competitive.
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Both Wesleyan and Bates’ overall admissions rates are greatly affected by the fact that they accept about two-thirds of their first-year classes in ED. Bates’ data is further affected by the fact that it only accepts about 3 percent of international applicants (who make up more than 50 percent of its total application pool).
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Let me tease that out….therefore….?
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Bates for the WIN. May we go home now?
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I will say with certainty that they are overlap schools based on the number of students who apply to both. Academic rigor may be higher at Wesleyan (where I went), but I am confident that any student admitted to Bates would be a successful student academically at Wesleyan.
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