Wall Street or Bust
MBA Program Spotlight: Investment Banking
While bankers may not have the best reputation at the moment, they are still in high demand and still an important part of what makes the economy work. All institutions – business, government, and non-profits – need investment bankers to manage capital formation, provide financial advisory services, and manage assets. If you can handle the work schedule – long hours spent behind a computer analyzing data, researching industries and world economies, churning out spreadsheets – and if you have the right temperament for the stress that accompanies the risking millions of dollars for your clients, the rewards in this career are great. There is a lot of prestige, of course, but primarily the reward is the paycheck. The money that can be made in banking is astronomical. The salaries and the bonuses can afford extravagant lifestyles that may be hard to come by in other business fields. And the long hours won’t last forever. Paying your dues on Wall Street when you are young, can open up many other opportunities to work in private equity or be the boss of your own firm where you can set the hours and have the opportunities to enjoy all that cash! Here are some great schools that will steer your career in the right direction.
New York University – Stern
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What’s so great about this school? Where better to study investment banking than in the heart of it all – the Big Apple? Students at Stern are well-positioned for internships and networking with the world’s most well-known banks including Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, just to name a few. The mean base salary for graduates is $102,000 with signing bonuses of almost half that amount. After graduating from Stern, it’s a safe bet that you will always be in demand, but just in case you should find yourself in need of help, career services offers professional development and career counseling for life.
School Type: Private
Median GMAT Score: 720
Average Incoming GPA: 3.51
Percent of Applicants Accepted: 32%
Student to Faculty Ratio: 2 to 1
Average Student Age: 27
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What’s so great about this school? While you may not think of New Orleans as a hotbed of investment activity, the real-world experiences available to MBA students ensure that they receive an education that will prepare them to compete with the best bankers around. Students can work in the on-campus trading center – an interactive classroom that mirrors every detail of the trading floors of the world’s major brokerage houses. The Burkenroad Reports credit class gives students extensive training in equity analysis, and sends them to Wall Street for workshops and access to top managers from major investment banks. Finally, top students will be invited to help manage the school’s Fenner Fund, which has 2 million dollars in stock portfolios.
School Type: Private
Median GMAT Score: 664
Average Incoming GPA: 3.33
Percent of Applicants Accepted: 25%
Student to Faculty Ratio: 4 to 1
Average Student Age: 26
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What’s so great about this school? In the competitive business environment of Chicago, DePaul is viewed as one of the top three business schools and its part-time MBA program in particular has received numerous top 10 rankings in nationwide publications. The finance concentration at DePaul offers two distinct tracks for bankers. The Banking track focuses on capital markets and interest rates and the Investment Management track focuses on valuation of investment instruments, portfolio management, and financial analysis. The number of electives offered lets students have a concentration in both, if they wish.
School Type: Private
Median GMAT Score: 560
Average Incoming GPA: 3.55
Percent of Applicants Accepted: 64%
Student to Faculty Ratio: 18 to 1
Average Age: 28
Image Courtesy of David Paul Ohmer with Creative Commons License.
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Tulane – Freeman School of Business
DePaul – Kellstadt Graduate School of Business
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