Best Investment Banking Schools
The best investment banking institutions are those that consistently enroll numerous students to top investment banks, have impressive graduation rates for students in the undergrad category and offer special programs or student groups to help prepare you for a career in finance. Cornell, MIT and Columbia all fit this criteria and also have prominent alumni from the industry and extracurricular activities such as Booth’s finance society and Stern’s famous finance program that provide opportunities to gain exposure to real world investment banking challenges.
They also tend to have a large alumni base in the industry which can be beneficial for networking. They are usually close to the financial hub of regional or smaller investment banks. They also have top-ranked accounting and finance programs.
Other important aspects to consider when choosing a school are your personal interests and what type of career you want to pursue, along with the kind of positions you’re looking to work for at an investment banking. Unlike some industries, where hiring is more based on merit through technical interviews, the recruitment process for investment banks is largely dependent on the school’s reputation and the number of top-performing students that the university can produce every year.
Think about universities like NYU or UMich for students in the undergrad level. They have a good reputation in the business world and are known to have impressive results in placement and alumni networks. In Europe take a look at HEC Paris and Oxford Said Business School. In Asia you should think about HKUST and CUHK, and Chinese universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua and Fudan.