UC Berkeley (Non-haas), Vanderbilt, or Columbia

Hey everyone. I was just admitted to UC Berkeley as a stats major, Vanderbilt econ, and Columbia econ. My goal is to get a BB/EB job after graduation and dont care about location. Berkeley is 150k cheaper than the others over the course of 4 years so Im leaning Berkeley but Im posting here just to make sure Im making the right decision.


I know for Berkeley, haas status doesnt matter too too much. Its mainly the finance clubs that would make the biggest difference for me. But I also know that vandy and especially columbia are easier to recruit from. Can someone give me insight on whether this would be the right decision to choose Berkeley over Columbia? And how difficult would Berkeley be for recruiting with non-haas status

 
Most Helpful

I probably won’t consider Vandy with having the other two options because it’s not even a semi-target for many banks and offices and their placements are not as good as UCB & Columbia. In terms of UCB and Columbia, both schools are great and will definitely not shut doors for you in ib recruiting. But Columbia will definitely give you a lot more advantages. Not only because it’s a target school(I believe UCB is semi/non-target for East Coast) for most banks but also because there’s fewer people so it’s easier to get resources and network for IB recruiting. I’m personally from another similar tier public school, and mostly all the resources are allocated to people in finance clubs or programs. This is specifically true when you are not in their business school. But the finance clubs themselves are hard to break into; there’s always more than three rounds of interviews and 2% acceptance rate. It also depends on where you want to work (East/west coast). More alums from UCB are in west coast so while it’s easy to do networking in west coast offices, it could be a bit more difficult for east coast recruiting. But again, both are great schools with great placements and won’t shut any doors for you as long as you put efforts.

 

Adding on to this I would suggest: if you want to work in NYC specifically, do Columbia. If you have no preference over locations as you mentioned, you can also consider Berkeley since the tuition seems a lot more attractive.

 

Fuga repellat dicta sunt soluta. Voluptates ex voluptas mollitia debitis ut facere ea. Ut molestiae cumque accusamus sit. Inventore amet vero amet maxime eius iste necessitatibus.

 

Minima sunt tenetur consequatur qui recusandae est. Eum aut ab cum placeat aut. Omnis asperiores distinctio ut ut reiciendis facilis alias.

Illum ex est vitae eos. Quia omnis doloremque deleniti doloribus suscipit vitae porro ut.

Voluptatum dolores a eum ut minima eum. Rerum placeat quis officiis rerum. Assumenda assumenda facilis aperiam quos eius rerum. Eos et delectus est et est deleniti. Architecto dignissimos et et excepturi. Asperiores maxime ea eos quas.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Lazard Freres No 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 18 98.3%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 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 98.8%
  • 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 (20) $385
  • 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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
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...”