The most reputable investment banking schools will be ones that can send a large amount of students to top investment banks. They should also have a high student retention rate, and offer student groups or programs designed to help you prepare for the field of finance. Cornell, MIT and Columbia all fit this criteria along with having prominent alumni in the business and extracurricular activities such as Booth’s finance society, and Stern’s famous finance program that provide the chance to experience the real-world problems of investment banking.
They also tend to have a large alumni base within the field which is useful for networking. They are usually close to the financial hub of smaller or regional investment banks. They also have top-ranked accounting and finance programs.
When selecting a school, you must consider your personal interests, the kind of career you’d like to pursue and what positions you’re interested in working at an investment banking company. Investment banking hiring is strongly influenced by the institution’s reputation and the number of top-performing students that the school produces each year.
Consider universities like NYU or UMich for students in the undergraduate level. They have a strong reputation in the business world and are known for their outstanding success rates and alumni networks. In Europe take a look at HEC Paris and Oxford Said Business School. In Asia, consider HKUST and CUHK as well as Chinese universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua and Fudan.
