Cornell vs Vandy for HF quant role

Hi guys, I am a high school senior from an Asian country, and want to work as a quant. I want to ask that is Cornell better than Vanderbilt with a significant margin?

For context, I have a decent profile; I was in my country's IMO team (didn't win anything tho). I can easily get a full ride at Vanderbilt, since generous aid for internationals, but at Cornell, I will have to pay a lot. So is it worth applying to Cornell in the ed round( committing to Cornell) or should I go for a full ride at Vandy? I am not looking for other factors like social life etc.

 Your suggestions will be hugely appreciated. Thanks.

 

I would go with Cornell, there are definitely some quant funds that are picky about school from my experience.

Cornell's CS program is #6 compared to Vanderbilt's #42.

Cornell's math program is #16 compared to Vanderbilt's #44.

 
Most Helpful

Cornell is significantly above Vanderbilt for reputation, and given your parents are probably going to pay for you anyway, just choose Cornell.

If you actually will be paying tuition yourself, but you are not confident you will be able to land a HF Quant role based solely on your merit, then Cornell will still pay off in the long run with better teaching and connections leading to higher salary positions.

If you are paying but are abnormally smart and hard-working (top 0.1%) so you will prob land the role anyway, then yeah go with Vandy. But I'm guessing this isn't the case.

 

Adding to this because I was accepted to Vandy but went to a different school. Vanderbilt is a fine school, but most of the grads on average end up in ATL and other Southern cities more so than elsewhere. To put it another way, NYC firms will have a heavy bias against you.

For anyone else reading this, Duke is the only school from the South imo that places strongly for NYC/SF/Chicago/etc. regardless of industry. And I say this as someone from ATL/Raleigh/Miami.

 

Cornell by a mile, and if you end up in a good quant seat student loans wont be a problem. The Ivy league name sticks with you for life.

"one for the money two for the better green 3 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine" - M.F. Doom
 

Dolor in natus nulla velit corrupti. Voluptas nihil enim explicabo aut qui ut mollitia. Vero necessitatibus et explicabo. Sed harum minus explicabo maxime libero doloremque facilis molestiae. Officia possimus voluptate mollitia maxime ab.

Velit esse maxime animi earum. Cupiditate molestias est commodi ut magnam aliquid et. Numquam dolorum eum eligendi aut. Velit totam numquam aut maiores eveniet autem.

Voluptas eligendi aperiam aut ad. Sit tenetur maxime sint. Sed beatae ut est expedita ab. Voluptatum blanditiis doloremque voluptatem. Fuga cumque tenetur non qui. Beatae ex amet nesciunt quos sequi eveniet.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

May 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (24) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (225) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (23) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (251) $85
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
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
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...”