I haven't read this whole thread.. but strictly comparing columbia and nyu is like comparing apples to oranges. I am sure NYU is better is some obscure department than any other university, but NYU is not in the same league as Columbia. I know Columbia has a masters in finance program that gs heavily recruits from (a good friend of mine went straight to SAC.) And I would think most banks would rather hire from CU business than Stern, but its not like I have evidence of this.
You're such a d1ck-head Randek!!! I love the way that all IB types and IB hopefuls for that matter try to build I-Banking up to God like status. Just accept this one simple fact, the richest business people on earth did not start off working at IBs and sucking corporate c0ck, hell no. They made their own dream jobs by starting their own companies and those are the people whose balls you IB guys have to kiss daily and beg for their time. Tell me how many Wall Street types are in the top 100 or even 500 on Forbes rich list, if there are then you can bet that they started their own hedge fund or software firm etc having seen a niche or having realized what assholes they worked with. But the common feature will be that they OWN their own enterprise. For a fact over 90% of millionaires are self-employed and over 99% of deca-millionaires (having $10million or more) are also self-employed, with the vast majority of those people owing their own businesses. If you think a Wall-street job is the only way to get loaded then you're a total moron. Fools like you see the I-bankers and corporate lawyers driving Porsches and you think that they are millionaires well let me tell you that most of those guys lifestyles are funded by credit cards and loans in trying to act the part. Most of them own fuck-all, acquire nothing financially and spend all their dough trying to convince their peers that they are hot-shots. Then they get fired or burn-out and have no money so look for another job, just begging for someone to employ them. Same fools go to a bar wearing a rolex and wait for the hot girls to notice them and then wonder why the bar-man is getting more action than they do, because he has the guts to ask for the girls number instead of acting like a pompous and pretentious jerk like Randek. Sure guys like Randek get laid by paying for it, or maybe they get a gold-digger girlfriend in which case a direct financial exchange would perhaps be more economical. The common type of people who are the millionaires in the real world, and statistics and accurate research proves this, are the type of guys who own a shitty little businesses like construction firms and franchises, and drive a Ford pick-up to work. But guess what those are the guys with no mortgage or debts, and who in later life can afford to play golf when they don't have an expense account via their job. Trading is great to try out and if you don't make it then try and start a small business. What you need to remember is that every company from GS to Intel started off as an idea. All the big retailers and banks all started off as one-man bands or small partnerships and grew. The reason why they grew is because supposedly educated morons with tiny yellow spines like Randek will always seek the comfort of being told what to do in exchange for a salary. Traders at least have the balls to fight for their living, they are men and women not born to be told what to do by others, people who will try and take what they can from life even if they fail. IB types are people who want respect and think that ass kissing and networking is enough. That's why so many dating agencies are crammed with IB types in their mid-30's trying to get a girl because they think networking still counts outside of work. Hydro-blunt ignore Randek as he is just a d1ck, maybe he does work for an IB and maybe he will make it to the top only to find his wife banging her tennis coach and then cleaning out his retirement fund. Karma makes us all humble in the end. I also think that the original poster is full of shit, he's a liar as his type of person would have already signed his Goldman offer with his own blood had he received one, if only to feel elation among his circle of friends. Bottom-line from me is GS is a good place to work with a huge social cost, but it is no guaranteed route to the top, nor is trading no matter how hard you try. In the end the way to get really rich is to be self-employed and start your own business, and hopefully build it up which is also hard to do. People look at guys like Buffet and Soros, but forget what do they OWN!!!
It is!!! It's just another example of cheaply padding the firm out with dead-wood. There is no way that this guy dreamed of doing such a mundane job since he was knee-high. Of course his defense mechanism is to get flustered and to spout jargon as if to justify his existence, when all his job really is is a cross between spell-check boy and snitch. But I suppose that for a cosy salary and 2 weeks vacation he can settle for a life of mediocrity and bull-shit to his wife and kids one day that the company would collapse without his expertise. Face facts operations is for people who were not accepted as traders or who lacked the required balls and appetite for risk, such people are often described in life as grey-men. Why does an operations proof-reader hang-around ET? because he hopes to one day day-trade for himself is my best guess!!
Stern is definitely first tier in finance, right behind Chicago and MIT. Keep in mind that they have the largest finance faculty in the United States, and that they produce *lots* of research. They also have very good professors, and have an excellent math department. Columbia is very good though, and would most likely not be far behind Stern. I also know they received loads of cash to revamp their finance & economics department, which could quickly get them at par with Stern.
Amen to that. Many investment bankers are millionaires. But the road to that is quite difficult, and risky, if you consider the fact that many are laid off in route because they are not at par with the expectations. However, that is also true for entrepreneurs. For every forbes listed billionaire, a lot of pretendents simply failed to even pay their bills, and went bankrupt. However, you are still better work your ass off at something you love doing and which you are good at, than being exploited 100 hours a week by some ignorant jerkoff who wants to make you pay for the misery he went through when he was in your position. Investment banking is all about making money. There's nothing challenging, interesting, or entertaining there. Only pain and waste of the best moments of your life.
My point is that if you are going to work 100 hours a week then you may as well do it for yourself. To work for another just means being exploited, it has to as they are paying you less than what they are selling your services for or less than what your time is worth, how else does an employer profit. An employer profits from employing you and in return he takes the business risk of paying you a salary. If you want to make money then show some entrepreneurship and maybe you will become truly rich, because although failure rates are high at least if you make it your financial and personal rewards will be far higher than at any IB; and you will have more respect than being some IB up-start. People like Donald Trump don't respect all these Ivy-league IB types, because they don't see themselves in them people. People like Trump respect hard-working go-getters who make opportunities for themselves, because that is far more impressive than sending in a cv and sitting through some interviews. Just look at the first apprentice show the guy who won had made his own business, as had most of the finalists. Only one Harvard MBA who was a Goldman's Investment Manager go to the finals, and he quit his GS job to take part. If GS was so great then why did he quit just to take part in the show, because working for Trump would piss on Goldman's on paper. The fact is working for an IB is a good move sure but its far from the only route to success, and certainly not the best way to get rich. Trading takes drive and the will to succeed and can be lucrative for the few who make it. You have to weigh up your individual situation and go for what is in your heart or you will always doubt your decision.
my only comparisons were of their Finance departments to that at Wharton. I agree that overall Columbia is a much better school than NYU. the whole argument was that NYU and Columbia have better finance departments than in my opinion overrated Wharton i know two very successful individuals from both schools. both quants, and honestly they could get the same jobs after both schools. at that level NYU vs Columbia its more about pure brainpower than the degree. both schools will get you the same interviews, i'm talking about their quant programs now.
haha...are you for real? You're bringing in a lame reality show in this arguement? I know your types. You tried your best getting into one of the IBs. Couldnt even get into the back office and now you're here on this board saying that the grapes are sour. Please, dont let your failure delusion the young minds who are trying to get into the elite and exclusive IB circle which filters out pikers like you.
pretty harsh for a n00b, especially since in your other posts you state you are a recent grad trying to get into fuggin swifttrade!!