Undecided - 04-01-2025 | Clear Admit DecisionWire

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April 1, 2025 1:48pm ET

Enrolled: Undecided

Admitted: UCLA Anderson $

$60000

, UVA / Darden $

$30000

Applied: U. Chicago Booth, Cornell / Johnson, Duke / Fuqua, NYU Stern, UCLA Anderson, UVA / Darden

Entering Year: 2025

Post MBA Career: Investment Banking

GMAT: 750

Location: India

Notes:

I want to:
- get into NYC IB
- shift to London/Zurich after 3-5 years of working in the US

Is the following correct?

Darden: stronger presence/brand in the US finance space

Anderson: stronger presence/brand in Europe but that'll be less relevant once I've done a few years in the US (?)

(scholarship isn't important to me)

Thanks!

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Show Comments (2) Last: April 3, 2025

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1754 If you’re planning to work in the US for a little while, then do you have any preference, geographically? Darden would likely provide more flexibility, Anderson is more concentrated on the west coast. (0)

anon10646 Likes Earned: 823 Short answer for your goals - Darden. A few points; UVA/UCLA finance prestige is splitting hairs and won't be a meaningful impact. At undergrad UVA is a bit more 'core' than UCLA, but UCLA is a bigger school, so similar alumni presence at banks. MBA level, they're mainly same tier so there is no real prestige delineation. Anderson having a smaller pipeline to IB than Darden has a lot to do with probably more people looking to stay West Coast and specifically LA, where there is less IB and more diverse industry options, than perception gap at banks in recruiting. A stronger pipeline will help a bit with MBA connections during recruiting, but you're recruiting from the same tier. In Europe? Maybe someone has heard of UCLA over UVA, that's it. Same tier of school at undergrad or MBA, if a European hiring manager is even aware of their ranks. Low chance they've worked with people from either. Asia maybe would be a different story with UCLA. To get NYC IB? Darden. Anderson will place into NYC because everyone recruits there since that's where most of the seats are and some banks will start most, if not all their juniors from NYC. But SF/Menlo Park/LA will still have a decent amount of placements. NYC will be a more dominant placement option from Darden. Switching to Europe? Switching internationally as an Aso/VP is not really common unless it's driven by something like an employee repatriating . More of a senior ranks deal where a bank has a banker on a leadership path and is finding open slots or trying to get them exposure managing another region on way heading globally. Not impossible, but without existing work authorization in Europe or proficiency in a Euro language, you're likely either going to need a niche group that would also apply in European markets or a supportive bank allowing a lateral in order to secure a move. I'd suggest to understand what kind of finance market Zurich is (or Amsterdam / Frankfurt / Paris / Geneva etc). A large banking presence doesn't mean it's the same roles as you'd get in US MBA recruiting. (0)