Penn State vs UW Madison for IB?
I'm currently, deciding between these two schools,
Penn State: Smeal College of Business
UW Madison: Wisconsin School of Business
I've been directly admitted to both business schools for an intended major in finance, however, I'm conflicted about which to attend. US News has Wisconsin at 33rd and PSU at 77th overall. However, Smeal is ranked higher than the Wisconsin School of Business. I know neither are targets, but which one offers me the best opportunity for IB? PSU has the Nittany Lion Fund and UW Madison has the Investment Banking Club. Placement in NY would be my ultimate goal.
UW Madison is a great school. I feel like if you went to penn, you would be always overshadowed by UPenn
UW Madison will definitely get you looks at Chicago. With that said, there’s a few that end up in NYC but definitely need to network hard, solid grades, etc.
i would take UW. Overall better school and a much nicer campus
+1 SB
UW Madison may not be an elite target but it is a great school and one where you can have a lot of fun and also pursue finance. With respect to finance in Chicago, it should allow you to place well within MM IB. I know a someone who went to U Madison and then on to GS NY, so making a leap to a BB is doable. They then went on to a strong UMM / MF.
UW Madison is not looked at as say a U Chicago comp, but it is very much on par with UIUC and should get you looks at most midwestern banks.
With that said, UW Madison is not a known feeder for NY banks, so networking is going to be pretty key. A quick Google search informed me that there are currently a few UW alumni holding positions at GS as IBD VPs in NYC and also a couple interns in non-mid-western offices. If you can land offers at GS, you probably have a strong enough profile to be considered at all the top banks, even on the east or west coast.
I dont know enough about Penn State to comment but I know that most people who go to UW Madison are extremely happy, as the social atmosphere is top notch and Madison is a cool city. At the end of the day (and most of the nerds on this site often forget this), you want to attend a school that is fun and will set you up for success in your career, and I think UW Madison will do exactly that.
Sure, you may not get the best chances with the top BB / EBs, but I can assure you the same would be said for Penn State. Lastly, I would ignore the hater below saying both schools are bad, I attended a school less recognized than both schools and many alumni went on to land BB offers and MM PE gigs afterward. Congrats on getting into two solid schools and best of luck to you.
UW Madison mostly places in NYC not Chicago.
Most people in the UW investment banking club place in New York. Don’t know much about Penn State.
Neither
Both garbo
No one asked. If you don't have anything to contribute to help the kid out just leave it.
Xxxx
Also interested
Can provide info on Penn State, DM me
Penn States Nittany Lion Fund can almost guarantee you a spot in IB, especially at their targets like Bofa. It’s not that difficult to get into. Tougher than IB interviews, but if you grind it’s not a problem. The harder part is you have to learn everything as a freshman or sophomore, but freshman is better. There are also other financial orgs that have strong pipelines into S&T, wealth etc. easy to network since a lot of people on Wall St are from PSU or know people from PSU. So cold email response rate is good
Also check out Leveraged Lion Capital and Asset Management Group (HY debt and derivatives). Not with actual capital, but place just as well as NLF. Websites available for all 3 orgs with recent internship/ offers received by students.
Still very challenging to get a BB/EB at PSU (in one of three orgs). Both are decent options but would recommend UW.
For UW-Madison, the Investment Banking Club (IBC) is very selective and hard to get into but if you do it will pay off immensely when you start to recruit. Through the club you have access to a database of alumni who are on the street either at banks (sell-side) or PE/HF (buy-side). Coming from a school that isn’t an Ivy you will really need to leverage your network and this club helps you do exactly that while ramping you up on interview processes and what it takes to land the job.
The business school also has a very well-structured finance program that gives you the opportunity to take classes that put you more on the IB path taught by retired professionals in the field e.g., former MD at Morgan Stanley who runs the corporate finance program.
Wisconsin alumni from IBC are very open to talking to new/younger members and have always been willing to give back to those trying to break into the industry. As previously mentioned, the club is very selective since the interview process is structured like a typical IB interview but if you get in and you put in the work you have a good chance at landing an IB job in NYC if you don’t want to be in Chicago.
Cannot speak to Penn State but those are thoughts/experiences regarding UW-Madison undergrad.
If you join UW Madison’s IB club you’ll be in great shape to get a job in NYC. They regularly place at GS
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