The program at Penn sounds phenomenal. One of a kind, I would think, so probably very hard to get in.
Here are my thoughts on the Babson suggestion. Located in a nice Boston suburb, it is adjacent to the small Olin College of Engineering with whom it shares facilities. The 2 of them are in a consortium with Wellesley College, a short shuttle trip or a bike ride about 2 miles across town. There is cross registration at all 3 colleges. The 3 colleges have a combined enrollment of about 5600 students.
Babson it is typically identified as a business college, but I think of it more as a liberal arts college with a business focus. It shares many characteristics with New England’s small liberal arts colleges, beginning with its small enrollment (2700), small classes with easy access to professors, a collaborative & supportive community of learners, and a strong advising program. Their attitude is that if you want something to happen, they want to make it happen for you.
It was founded a little over 100 years ago for the purpose of bringing innovation to business education. In that respect, they grounded their program in both liberal arts and business. So, in this respect it brings the combination of your 2 areas of learning. They have a heavy core curriculum which is divided almost evenly between the liberal arts and business courses.
The other ways in which they brought innovation to business education are their focus on experiential learning with real world, hands on projects and their commitment to collaboration and team engagement. One example of this is the freshman year project in which you start up and run your own business with a team of other students. They even give you a few thousand dollars of venture capital to get you started. Their mission is to change the world by educating the next generation of leaders with an entrepreneurial attitude and to prepare them to bring that attitude with them whether it’s to a small start up or a large corporation.
Babson does not have traditional majors. After completing the core curriculum, students are free to take whatever courses they want to supplement the core. That can mean a random selection of a student’s own choosing or one of Babson’s 24 “concentrations”. Two of the concentrations in which you might be interested are International Business or Global & Regiinal Studies. Students in these concentrations are encouraged to spend at least one semester abroad. Currently Babson lis limited to 5 foreign languages: French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese. But Wellesley College offers 15 foreign languages and cross registration is both easy and encouraged.
Another option in the Northeast is Fordham University in New York City. Their Gabelli School of Business is very strong and has excellent connections with in the NYC business community for internships and placements. A friend’s son followed that career path into his first job.
A good option for you at Fordham is the Global Business Honors Program, which shares some characteristics with the Huntsman Program at Penn. you don’t live with your cohort but you do take 2 honors courses per semester with them for all 4 years. And you do travel with them as international travel is part of the program.
Another interesting option is at Columbia University, also in New York City, where you could combine your interest in Liberal Arrs & Business. Columbia’s Business School is a graduate school only, so you would be a liberal arts student at Columbia College where their are numerous foreign language options, BUT the Business School does offer a business management special concentration to exceptional undergraduate students, I.e. hard to get into. The purpose of the program is “to connect academic theory with real world practice, providing undergraduate students with the opportunity to develop key leadership skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, and the ability to innovate.” (Sound like Babson?)
While all of these programs are competitive, Penn and Columbia are exceptionally so. Babson and Fordham are both competitive as well, but chances of acceptance are more reasonable, so they serve as good alternatives and one or the other may be more preferable than either of the 2 Ivies. Babson is my personal favorite, but to each his own. Best of luck with the process.