Investment Banking schools for bad students

Hello I am a senior in high school and to be frank I am not the best student, I have a 3.5 gpa and a 27 act and I have read enough on here to know that that just won’t cut it for top target schools. I have also read that lower tier schools generally have a more regional effect in ib. I am a cheap guy and would rather not go to nyc but would not hesitate to take an offer!! I know that banking in Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, and Charlotte is a lot cheaper and will allow me to save more. So what schools could I get into that would give me a chance at ib in the south or Chicago. I was thinking Texas a&m for Houston, uiuc for Chicago (would say Indiana but I heard the ibw is extremely competitive), uga for Atlanta and I don’t know for Charlotte haha. Getting into unc out of state is tough let alone with my stats. Do you guys have any suggestions for schools/advice on which schools perform the best regionally? Thanks a ton in advance!!!

 
Most Helpful

I commented on your southern IB one, and after this, I'm gonna confirm SMU and add TCU, Tulane, Baylor, and other private schools. Get better at school, that isn't easy, but you have time to improve. I would probably say stay away from public schools simply because the competition of the sheer numbers there will be 10-20+ kids with close to perfect grades competing against you. Stick to private schools, preferably with very tight alumni networks, and start networking early.

 

isnt it easier to get accepted out of state because you pay more? if you have the money you might be able to get into USC which is an IB powerhouse on the west coast. my friends at USC that wanted IB ended up at Lazard HC, JPM MA, and HL RX

What concert costs 45 cents? 50 Cent feat. Nickelback.
 

Out of State schools are probably harder to get into, since many states have laws limiting the number of out of state students the schools can accept. That said, you're probably right that schools want to maximize the number of out of state students they recruit given the restraints.

USC Marshall/Viterbi is great for IB; when I visited for scholarship weekend, upperclassmen were telling me about how a bunch of people place into Tech Banking up in SF (Most notably GS/MS TMT). USC as a school, however, is pretty difficult to get into nowadays. Acceptance rate for the whole undergrad program is something like 13% , and acceptance rates for Business and Engineering undergrad programs are below 10%.

 

USC is private and selective, UCLA is public and potentially easier to get into out of state. They also don’t consider freshman year of high school which could help or hurt you. Placement has been good from UCLA this year, obviously LA and SF and some Houston/NYC.

Pick what city you’d eventually want to live in (your other thread said Houston, so UT, TCU, SMU, Baylor would all set you up well) and go from there.

Array
 

I am considering going to my state school for a year and trying to transfer to Cornell ilr, uva and then Mcintire, or Vanderbilt. I have read that those have relatively high acceptance rates (30 percent) and would give me the best shot at ib any thoughts?

 

Cornell transfer rate is misleading. Most of those transfers come from a "guaranteed transfer plan" from another school (mostly Fordham I believe).

Increase the ACT score and take a look at transferring to Villanova. I would consider Nova to be one of the more transfer-friendly schools.

 

I transferred in Vanderbilt after my first year at a non target private school with 1340 SAT and 3.9 GPA. Get a high GPA and u have a good chance

 

Did transferring kind of suck, with regard to making friends and living situation? idk if Vandy kids mostly live on campus 2nd 3rd 4th years? also, Vandy is Greek Life heavy...maybe you rushed?

 

@stay.hungry and everyone else I have one last question because I think I have pretty much decided on staying in Texas how would u rank smu tcu and Baylor in landing ib gigs in Houston I have heard that most people from smu are in some alternative assets program or something and some other programs. Do banks only recruit from those programs? And how do Baylor and tcu fair in Houston ib?

 

UK universities will only look at APs as it is akin to their A Levels. If you have three or four 5/5 on AP tests and/or can get your teachers to predict 5/5 on more of them, you can get into U.K. targets (Oxbridge/LSE/UCL/Imperial/Warwick Econ) or semi targets (Durham/Bristol/Exeter/Kings)

Additionally, Canadian schools only look at your senior year grades + ECs. So apply for their good schools (Western Ivey, Queen’s Commerce, UToronto, UBC, etc)

I wish you the best of luck and don’t think about it too hard, still enjoy your youth!

 

This is only true if you attend a community college in California. Transfering from anywhere else is just as competitive, if not more competitive, than high school applications.

The benefit of USC is after 30 college credits, they no longer look at your high school record, which can be beneficial to those that did not do the best in high school.

 

Cupiditate odio dicta quam est vitae soluta maxime. Non nobis sunt hic in nemo. Officiis nemo quo magnam sequi nulla nam. Eos eius aut rerum sunt expedita molestiae. Distinctio ea quis molestiae aspernatur. Laboriosam aut ut placeat suscipit magni reprehenderit vel.

 

Est doloribus incidunt illum aut soluta placeat similique. Voluptates perferendis et et dolores distinctio aut ullam. Enim consectetur ducimus saepe fugiat dolor laboriosam saepe nobis. Libero non rerum minus consequuntur. Quam similique voluptatem quae architecto.

Voluptate aut et eveniet consectetur. Est nulla et saepe cum dolorem. Rerum laudantium est est facilis assumenda reiciendis. Rerum qui animi voluptatibus quaerat ut aut consequatur.

Quo dolores dolorem mollitia recusandae fugiat cupiditate. Dolore est accusamus reprehenderit maiores quisquam. Vitae nisi non rerum repudiandae. Ipsa doloremque quae earum dignissimos et cumque qui. Rerum ipsum ad et autem. Non a totam commodi eius dolores iste.

In provident ut odit. Nulla sint voluptatem sed iste ut. Consequatur tempora similique nihil.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Lazard Freres No 98.9%
  • Harris Williams & Co. 25 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 04 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.9%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (21) $373
  • Associates (91) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (68) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”