Top 15 Best Colleges to Prepare You for a Finance Career
Students aiming for a career in finance should have strong foundations in economics and math, great interpersonal skills, and a keen ability for problem-solving. The following 15 colleges on this list are some of the very best places to develop these necessary skills. These schools don’t necessarily have undergraduate finance programs, but they graduate a significant number of students who go on to careers in finance. This is largely due to their quality of education in related majors, such as Economics, and their ability to train students in critical thinking. The prestige, recruiting partners, and alumni network of these colleges also give students a big leg up in the competitive field of finance. See the complete list of top schools to prepare you for finance careers. Click on the school to jump to a link where you can learn more about the college and what it takes to get in. Location: Cambridge, MA Acceptance Rate: 4.5% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 6,788 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1460-1580 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about Harvard and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Cambridge, MA Acceptance Rate: 6.7% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 4,602 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1520-1580 SAT, 34-36 ACT Learn more about MIT and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Princeton, NJ Acceptance Rate: 5.8% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 5,267 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1460-1570 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about Princeton and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Philadelphia, PA Acceptance Rate: 7.7% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 10,183 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1460-1550 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about UPenn and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Stanford, CA Acceptance Rate: 4.3% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 7,087 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1440-1550 SAT, 32-35 ACT Learn more about Stanford and what it takes to get accepted. Location: New York, NY Acceptance Rate: 5.3% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 6,202 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1480-1560 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about Columbia and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Chicago, IL Acceptance Rate: 6.2% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 6,552 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1500-1560 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about UChicago and what it takes to get accepted. Location: New Haven, CT Acceptance Rate: 6.1% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 5,964 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1470-1560 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about Yale and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Durham, NC Acceptance Rate: 7.8% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 6,682 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1500-1560 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about Duke and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Ithaca, NY Acceptance Rate: 10.6% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 15,182 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1400-1560 SAT, 32-35 ACT Learn more about Cornell and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Pasadena, CA Acceptance Rate: 6.4% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 948 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1530-1570 SAT, 35-36 ACT Learn more about Caltech and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Berkeley, CA Acceptance Rate: 16.8% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 30,853 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1350-1540 SAT, 30-35 ACT Learn more about UC Berkeley and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Newton, MA Acceptance Rate: 27% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 9,927 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1340-1480 SAT, 31-34 ACT (2018) Learn more about Boston College and what it takes to get accepted. Location: New York, NY Acceptance Rate: 15% (2020) Total Undergrad Enrollment: 26,733 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1350-1530 SAT, 30-34 ACT Learn more about NYU and what it takes to get accepted. Location: Evanston, IL Acceptance Rate: 9.1% Total Undergrad Enrollment: 8,231 Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1450-1540 SAT, 33-35 ACT Learn more about Northwestern and what it takes to get accepted. There are many more colleges that will prepare you well for a career in finance. See the complete list of top schools for finance. Curious about your chances of acceptance to your dream school? Our free chancing engine takes into account your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and other data to predict your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the U.S. We’ll also let you know how you stack up against other applicants and how you can improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to get started!Top 15 Best Colleges to Prepare You for a Finance Career
School Name
Location
Acceptance Rate (2019)
Middle 50% SAT Scores
Middle 50% ACT Scores
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
4.5%
1460-1580
33-35
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
6.7%
1520-1580
34-36
3. Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
5.8%
1460-1570
33-35
4. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
7.7%
1460-1550
33-35
5. Stanford University
Stanford, CA
4.3%
1440-1550
32-35
6. Columbia University
New York, NY
5.3%
1460-1550
33-35
7. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
6.2%
1500-1560
33-35
8. Yale University
New Haven, CT
6.1%
1470-1560
33-35
9. Duke University
Durham, NC
7.8%
1500-1560
33-35
10. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
10.6%
1400-1560
32-35
11. California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
6.4%
1530-1570
35-36
12. UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
16.8%
1350-1540
30-35
13. Boston College
Newton, MA
27%
1340-1480 (2018)
31-34 (2018)
14. New York University
New York, NY
15% (2020)
1350-1530
30-34
15. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
9.1%
1450-1540
33-35
1. Harvard University
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
3. Princeton University
4. University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)
5. Stanford University
6. Columbia University
7. University of Chicago
8. Yale University
9. Duke University
10. Cornell University
11. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
12. UC Berkeley
13. Boston College
14. New York University (NYU)
15. Northwestern University
