UCLA, Haas or Ross for Investment Management

See the following placement stats at the three schools.

Graduating students who accepted jobs in the following functional areas:Finance/Accounting:
UCLA: 36%
Ross: 26%
Haas: 17%

Graduating students who accepted jobs in the following industries: Financial Services:
UCLA: 22%
Ross: 5%
Haas : 15%

Business Week has published the best bschools by specialty. See the following list for Finance:

University of Chicago
Columbia University
Duke University
Harvard University
University of Michigan
New York University
Northwestern University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas-Austin
University of Virginia

As per the rankings, Ross seems to be better. However, the placement stats show a different picture. The discrepancy can be answered by the broad spectrum of areas covered in 'Finance/Accounting' and 'Financial services' categories.

If I were you, I would speak to the students and alumni of these schools before finalizing them. Good luck!

Hope this helps!

@interviewbay:
Thanks for the post. Interesting Stats !
Yup its probably best to get the perspectives of current students / alums to help me decide.

@lawgonebusiness:
This list seem to be in Alphabetical order more than anything else - hence Penn, Texas & Virginia being at the end.

Yes, the list is in alphabetical order. I just checked it.

Finance is not as popular a career path at Ross as some other fields. The placement stats are also driven by interest and frankly just not very many people wanted jobs in that field. For example, probably less than 10% of my class even tried to land IB jobs which I expect is a lot smaller than at other schools. However, I do know a couple people who successfully landed IM jobs so it's definately possible. No idea how this compares to UCLA, and/or Haas although I have heard UCLA is extremely focused on LA so if you don't want to land there it might not make sense.

It is always good to know a current student's perspective. It gives the latest picture. Thanks.

Completely agree with interviewbay.

@skaballet: Thanks for sharing ur views ...

I'd choose UCLA if I were in your situation. Although it's the least well-rounded of the three, it tends to have the best placement in West Coast finance.

@Avernusaur : Thanks, yes so I've been hearing as well ... Still researching but getting more inclined towards UCLA ..

I like Berkeley out of the 3 because its in San Fran. For investing purposes, I think your other schools are pretty solid finance picks, and out of the 3 schools I would say it would matter more what track or concentration you took.

With only IT experience, it will be kind of hard to go right into buyside without prior experience.

True. It's not going to be easy to get into buy-side. I just cleared CFA L2 this june, and am planning to take L3 next year. Hopefully that will help a little bit. And then tailor my courses at b-school accordingly.

Ofcourse, at the end of the day, I've heard you have to demonstrate a passion for the markets, and that's the only thing that can get you through.