Fordham Gabelli vs UVA Darden
Over these past few months I've been absolutely torn between solidifying my decision between Fordham and UVA.
I was accepted into Fordham's Gabelli with intentions of pursuing IB or consulting following my education at Fordham. However, I was proposed with a alternate path that could potentially put me in a better position in regards to breaking into IB.
Here's the catch, I did not get accepted into UVA (lol), and the alternate route that I would take to get INTO UVA, would be to attend a local community college (NOVA) for about a year or two and then receive guaranteed admissions through a transfer. Im not the most intrigued by this route, as I would be missing out on two years worth of connections and networking as I am at a community college as opposed to Fordham... speaks for itself.
I understand that UVA's Darden and Mcintire are stellar and have reputable affiliations with wall street. On the contrary, I hear from various sources that Fordham is a semi target and will potentially help you wiggle your way into a BB job. My issue is this, my neighbor is a retired banker and has worked "26" jobs within his career bouncing from consulting to IB to other micaceous jobs. The other day when I sat down with him to talk about my options in regards to schools he almost immediately dogged on Fordham and went on a rant about if I wanted to break into banking I would have much better chances at UVA.
Im in a uncomfortable spot considering as of now I am set up to attend Fordham as a student athlete. My intentions were to play a sport for Fordham in hopes that it would cover a good chunk of my tuition. I already have my deposit down and tuition paid for... my question to you all is should I consider transferring to a different school AFTER a year at Fordham, should I do the community college route for two years and then attend UVA my junior year, or should I stick with Fordham and see how it rolls out?
Please let me know!
In regards to banking there are chances you can get into IB from fordham let’s say an average of 5-15 kids make it to IB every year out of the class ( this includes diversity and your non BB like mizuho etc ) no one gets into MBB consulting , most will go into PWC or kpmg or delitte
I see. I do have a variety of "connections" as I have family members who live in NYC and actively work and know people who work at BB banks that could potentially nudge me into the industry. what do you recommend I do?
Not true at all. I know people who have gone to BCG. A few years ago, we sent 12 to JPM alone, the number is much higher than "5-15". That being said, I would still recommend UVA.
There is an army of UVA grads across the street in every single consulting/high finance role. If you have a path to guaranteed transfer at a target school, don't take it for granted. Many have done this before you with tremendous success (transferring to a core school)
I have deep knowledge of each school and its recruiting scenes and trust me when I say this, DO NOT GO TO FORDHAM. There are a few sharp kids in each class, but holy shit most of those kids are so fucking dense. UVA, and McIntire specifically, blows Gabelli out of the water. I don't think most Gabelli bros even know what MBB is, save yourself a bunch of pain and headache and take the guaranteed transfer from nova
UVA and not even close
People saying UVA, but I disagree IF money is not an issue. Because, if you go to fordham, you will have some chance of getting internships freshman/soph summer, and if I’m not mistaken many junior intern opportunities take applications soph year anyway. Furthermore, you can apply to transfer at so many schools at Fordham after FRESHMAN year rather than spending soph year, a crucial year, at community college… yes it is not guaranteed, but if you get good grades a few target-friendly transfers should hit.
Just finished my Freshman year at Fordham so I can speak on this - there are really a lot of factors at play here. If you can transfer into UVA after your freshman year that seems like a solid option to me, but anything past that I wouldn't do just because of the fact that IB recruiting for SA positions is solidified basically by the end of spring semester sophomore year. Fordham is great for NYC networking but only a handful get into IB. If you have a nice scholarship at Fordham or have no monetary restrictions, going to Fordham and transferring would be great. I know a ton of people that transferred after freshman year to likes of UVA, Cornell, Vandy, NYU, etc.
I just transferred to Cornell after 1 year at LC. I can attest that this is 100% the move. Plus Fordham is so easy it won't be hard to keep your GPA up and get a 3.9/4.0.
UVA will definitely make it easier to break into those roles but it wouldn't be that much harder to do the same from Fordham. It's not as well respected of a name but there are plenty of Fordham grads at pretty much all the banks. I think you also mentioned you had connections in NY that would help and being in NY it should be fairly easy to network as a student athlete interested in banking/consulting. If for some reason you didn't get into one of those roles from Fordham, it would likely be because you didn't put forth the effort. That being said, that effort might not be required at a UVA but I think you'll still have to do the whole networking thing and play the game. I would mention that where it may make a big difference is later in your career if you want to exit banking/consulting. UVA definitely has more alumni in PE / HF roles than Fordham so that might be something to consider.
The two most recent posters are spot on. Fordham is a solid school, albeit a non-target. On the other hand, anyone who says that going to CC for two years, just to transfer into McIntire during your junior fall, is an idiot.
Aside from the fact that going to a CC for two years would deprive you of the traditional college experience, paid for by an athletic scholarship no less, it is imperative to note that IB junior internship recruiting takes place during the spring of your sophomore year!
There's a reason why people overwhelmingly choose to attend non-targets like Fordham, SMU, IU Kelley, Rutgers, UMiami, USC (Carolina), Florida, etc instead of going to CCs in states like Virginia and California, and having near-guaranteed junior year transfer admission to McIntire, USC Marshall, and Berkeley Haas - which blow non-targets out of the water in terms of prestige.
Moreover, transferring from Fordham is a great option, though not a necessary one. Notably, UVA is one of a few schools that have (1) better reputations than Fordham and (2) are known for being "transfer friendly."
fordham year1. Your only priority for the next 12 months is to get a 4.0 and join a bunch of BS clubs. Take the easiest classes, and maybe do research on if the credits will transfer. Take easy classes that maybe sound difficult or advanced to appease the admissions officers. Spread yourself thin and do the bare minimum in everything you do except academics. Join clubs for the resume, continue your sport but put bare minimum effort (so you can use the student-athlete card in interviews and networking, but also build a coherent story to show why you left your sport in pursuit of a better education and to pursue IB), just get the 4.0. With the 4.0 and a bunch of BS extracurriculars (to show your impact, just pay attention to what "big changes" the executive board members do and say that you did it yourself- nobody cares to check, but just rehearse it so it sounds legit if ever pressed) (also, make sure to join a healthy mix between social activism // passionate clubs and business/finance clubs to appease both the transfer admissions officers (who prefer social activism) and the finance clubs at your soon-to-be-transfer school so you can get into the best student orgs), you will show strong involvement and will best position yourself not only for transfer admissions but also for IB recruiting.
I appreciate everyone for commenting with your advice. I've received a relatively diverse cluster of responses, mainly being either to transfer after year 1, or to wing it through Fordham and really work my ass off to accentuate my networking abilities and to outperform my peers. I will take both into consideration, as of now it is inevitable that I will go to Fordham my first year considering my schedule is locked in, I'm on the swim team roster, and my tuition went through.
However, aside from this while I'm at Fordham I will make judgements as to what the atmosphere is like in regards to the finance scholars program, and how many other people @ Gabelli are in the same boat etc. Hopefully I will have a connection with one of my Gabelli professors in which I will be able to have a unbiased conversation with him about what he thinks is best for me in regards to my endeavors to banking. Again thank you all for your input, should something happen in the near future Ill keep you all updated.
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