Cornell vs Cambridge vs SMU

Originally Posted by Unregistered

yes IBD front office.

a far more important question: how many % of his analyst class are local grads ?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If you look at the requirements here:

Undergraduate Admissions: Cambridge Admissions Office - Politics, Psychology & Sociology

it seems impossible to finish the PPS in less than 3 years. Could it be that you take all the management courses in parallel with PPS in the 3rd year? If so, do you pay both tuition fees (i.e., tuition fee for PPS and tuition fee for management) and just one college fee?

I can explain. Cambridge University has a "Tripos" system, which is like a honours system. Basically you complete 2 years doing a broad base followed by a year of specialisation. So the TS is basically looking to do 2 years in PPS and then a final year specialisation in management and can graduate with a BA in Management after 3 years. However, usually Tripos is limited to really good students (and you can imagine that at Cambridge, competition is truly difficult) and admission into the program is competitive (like getting into honours in Singapore). What's unusual is that the TS has already been told that he is already admitted into the Management Tripos before he's enrolled as long as he achieves certain grades. He must be an extraordinary applicant.

My daughter is looking at that program and we calculated the total cost for 3 years to be S$150K including housing

Originally Posted by Unregistered

a far more important question: how many % of his analyst class are local grads ?

minority obvsly

but i know for a fact that unlike in the past, that particular BB is not averse to hiring local grads. im referring to their SG office

Originally Posted by Unregistered

$1.5k for a prop trader position? that's pretty low! did they say how much is your cut of the profit?

Prop traders don't really look at the offered base salary -- they look at the profit sharing scheme. Many prop shops don't even pay any base salary, and some even charge their traders training + desk fees + deposits + take losses out of their own accounts on top of that. Prop shops get thousands of applicants for trader positions, so they don't need to have the most attractive base salaries. That said, this one in particular required no fees at all and gave a profit share of 20% after covering desk fees (out of profits, you'll never take home less than $1500 or 'owe' money.. though you will probably get fired). Not the best rates, but not bad considering the company is paying you to trade with THEIR money and you are not responsible for any losses incurred.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I plugged USD100K into one of those "paycheck calculators" on the internet for California and after Federal, Social Security, Medicare, California tax and "CA SDI", I got S$81,506 (using 1.26 conversion) take home pay. That's S$6,792. Your paycheck in Singapore would only be S$4,875 as your CPF isn't disposable income i.e., its not in your paycheck. Social Security is similar to CPF and Medicare is similar to Medisave.

When all is said and done, you are S$1,917 poorer in Singapore. Furthermore, if you grew up in the US and are a US permanent resident, you are subject to US taxes anyway!

I can't comment on the paycheck calculators on the internet, only on what I have seen through my own experiences as well as my friends and family. The tax rate for this income group is roughly 40%. Whether or not one counts CPF as one's own money is up to the individual, but regardless the point is that the overall pay gap between foreign countries and Singapore isn't as high as many people make it out to be. Plus I'm a SG citizen and neither a US citizen nor PR so luckily I only pay SG taxes

Originally Posted by Unregistered

He could have gone to UC Berkeley or one of the other state schools. I doubt a Singapore investment bank would offer a Stanford graduate with a little bit of experience just $4K for an analyst position.

I wouldn't be too doubtful of that - like I mentioned earlier, the brand name of your school only gets you so far. Plus my education (engineering) and experience (engineering) was pretty irrelevant to that specific job, and it wasn't a glamorous front-office post either. For most of the big banks, the graduate trainees (e.g. scholars/fast track/whatever) will be about $4.5k regardless of their school. A friend at JP Morgan said they recently hired a few graduate trainees from schools like Yale, Princeton, etc for $4.5k, and rejected a stellar Harvard applicant as he didn't really 'fit'. The $4k offer mentioned was not a graduate trainee position, hence the pay is really quite fair even if I was from a branded private school (HR straight up said it wouldn't be fair or 'in line with policy' to give the same starting pay to a regular hire as they do to graduate trainees). A cool university name on your resume may get you a second glance or a first round interview, but what you do in the interviews to make the management want/need you will have a much much much higher influence on your starting pay than your alma matter.

I believe choosing a course you are interested in is more important. Since you mentioned you really like economics, go with your heart.

As for Cornell vs SMU, finances aside, I'll definitely recommend Cornell. I'm from SMU btw. SMU's education is good in itself, but studying in a foreign university would greatly expand your world view. And Cornell's Ivy League. I don't know if you have already applied, but LSE has cheaper tuition fees than Ivy League and, to me at least, their programme is more prestigious.

As for finances, if your parents can afford it, albeit minor strains on their finances, you should still pursue the better course. Discuss it with them. Of course I believe one should be self sufficient, so you might want repay them in installments and with interests after you start work so you won't feel that bad about straining their finances.

US universities are very generous with financial aids, although in recent years they are cutting down the amount given to foreigners. You might want to find out more information on this.

Most ppl seem to get their reasonings completely wrong.
No degree from any one university will determine succcess. But what most if not all of us here can agree is that Oxbridge/Ivy Leagues and their equivalent universities will offer better overall quality of education (Better faculties, networking, global exposure etc etc).
Therefore, it is how u make use of the extra opportunities available at these top universities, which is not usually found in local unis, that will help you in the future.
If you spend 3/4 years in university without making use of what is offered, it certainly does not matter which uni u go to.
That said, intelligence/IQ is only part of the equation to success. Therefore, it should not be surprising to see ppl we deem less smart become more successful than us.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Most ppl seem to get their reasonings completely wrong.
No degree from any one university will determine succcess. But what most if not all of us here can agree is that Oxbridge/Ivy Leagues and their equivalent universities will offer better overall quality of education (Better faculties, networking, global exposure etc etc).
Therefore, it is how u make use of the extra opportunities available at these top universities, which is not usually found in local unis, that will help you in the future.
If you spend 3/4 years in university without making use of what is offered, it certainly does not matter which uni u go to.
That said, intelligence/IQ is only part of the equation to success. Therefore, it should not be surprising to see ppl we deem less smart become more successful than us.

Luck is one of the factors.

And where you started working also plays a part. Many entrepreneurs are actually copycats - eg work in an interior decor company, then after a few years strike out with your own interior decor company, apply similar business strategies and improving on them, and perhaps poaching some customers along the way.

For high IQs, they will start work in government, MNCs and banks. Not easy to start another government, MNC or bank...

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Luck is one of the factors.

And where you started working also plays a part. Many entrepreneurs are actually copycats - eg work in an interior decor company, then after a few years strike out with your own interior decor company, apply similar business strategies and improving on them, and perhaps poaching some customers along the way.

For high IQs, they will start work in government, MNCs and banks. Not easy to start another government, MNC or bank...

whatever you do, the first one or two jobs are very important. a branded degree is sometimes required (or at least extremely helpful) in getting your foot in the door in prestigious entry-level roles. even though after that it's up to the individual, the branded degree holder would already be part of an exclusive club that's hard to break into afterwards. only ibanking analysts can eventually be ibanking MDs, only (mostly) scholars will get into the Admin Service, etc. don't underestimate the power of the first job.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

For high IQs, they will start work in government, MNCs and banks. Not easy to start another government, MNC or bank...

That's why they can never be entrepreneurs, unless they go sell nasi lemak haha (I remember reading in ST one trader who quit his 5-figure job to sell nasi lemak and have a laptop at his stall to do trading).

Many tycoons, towkays and small time businessmen (but with net worth more than a typical ibanker or trader) actually started their careers working in SMEs.

Bottom line: There are many ways to be rich. But working for others forever most likely won't take you there.

knowledge fromSMU / Cornell / Cambridge... will be good...

just to share some experience with you on employment after graduation (as i believe you keen on the finance/banking sector) ... i come from a 2nd tier uni (Ozzie) with a Maths degree... 2002- applied for a role in Macquarie Bank (not the best pay master).., but they do pay for 5 digits pay for freshie... I manage to out-perform many of the grads from ivy uni.. to get that first job.... (Of course, you need good results whichever uni you are studying in..). ... the point is, general undergrad degree like (Econs, Maths, Fin, Arts) from the Ivy and less Uni.. are not that different to major corporations unless they are into into re-search..field..

..studying abroad or even working abroad is about experiencing the cultures and understand how people work in different countries. (n pls don't just mixed with Asian only..) ... whatever we can say greatness about our beloved 'SG'.. remember other countries has its merits ....

8 yrs past... i still enjoy meeting people, travelling and doing consultancy...



good luck to your study...i can say it is still best 4 years of my life...




utimately