<p>basically right now i'd really like to get an MBA, but i would also love to experience a top school like Northwestern or an ivy like harvard, princeton or Yale.</p>
<p>if an MBA program is too competitive for me to get into, what other good degree program alternatives would you suggest? I know it's a kind of ambiguous question but i figured i should give it a shot.</p>
<p>If you take enough mathematics, I think a master's degree in economics would still serve you well. However, many of the top universities don't offer a masters in economics. Cornell and UMich are two notable schools that do.</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to do with your life. Since you were talking about an MBA, I presume that a career in business is of interest to you. Is that correct?</p>
<p>yes that is, but seeing how it requires work experience and i find out that even after that i wont get into some of these schools, i may find something else, not sure what that is though.</p>
<p>I'm interested in the Ivy Leagues and Northwestern, all very tough schools to get into by any means,</p>
<p>Uh, it seems as if all you want is an Ivy (or Northwestern) degree but you don't care what the degree is in. In other words, it just seems that you're a 'trophy-hunter', i.e., all you care about is saying that you came from the Ivy League (or NW). </p>
<p>I recommend actually finding what you like and what you want to do for a career, and then figuring out what you should do from academic standpoint. I don't consider blatant trophy-hunting to be a good long-term solution.</p>
<p>jumping the gun like that on someone is a little unecesary, and a bit rude to ramble on like that.</p>
<p>i'm not a "trophy hunter", i just like those schools, specifically northwestern, it's a very good school, it's close to my home, and i really like it's location, i dont see a "trophy" in there anywhere. (FYI, i dont just want "an ivy" either, there are specificly one or two ivy league schools i'm interested in, but not all of them).</p>
<p>i like them enough where if i couldnt get into their MBA program like i wanted instead of waiting 2-4 years to find that out, i'd consider another program. There's no need to be so quick to judge me.</p>
<p>Well, spincut, what do you expect me to think when you say that you want to consider some programs but you don't know what they would be, except that you are interested in the Ivy league and NW (your words, not mine)? If you don't know what programs you are interested in, then how do you know that you are interested in the Ivy League or NW, unless you are a trophy hunter? It may be that the best program that fits what you want to do is located in some non-Ivy school (and not NW). Again, how would you know? What you have just said, I'm afraid to say, only makes me even more suspicious. You say that you've managed to narrow it down to 1-2 Ivies. Again, if you don't know what program you want, exactly how have you been able to narrow it down to those 1-2 Ivies? </p>
<p>I think you're approaching this question in the wrong way. You should figure out program what you want to do, and then figure out what schools offer such programs. This is especially true for graduate school. This is not like undergrad where you can float around for a couple years and figure out what you want to major in. In grad-school, once you have been admitted to a particular program, you're expected to stay in that program. You can't just switch from the graduate program in Russian literature to the graduate program in applied math. It doesn't work that way. </p>
<p>Look, spincut, I'm trying to help you out here. However, until you give me some specific information about what you want to do, I can't tell you what kinds of programs you want to consider. Nor can I countenance the notion of choosing a school before you've figured out the program. It's like those guys who just say that they want to get a graduate degree from Harvard, but they don't know in what and they don't care, all they care about is getting a degree from Harvard, so they just apply to every Harvard program, hoping to get into at least one, even if it has nothing to do with what they care about. I hope you're not like that.</p>
<p>what i expect is for someone to be able to answer the question without reading so much into it like you are, i have my reasons for feeling how i feel and they are not shallow, but that is all i'm going to say about it.</p>
<p>i visited these schools in the past and i liked them, i would definetly consider going to them and they are very good schools aside, especailly for their business curriculums, but there might be some other fields of study that i would do as well that may have less competitive admissions and i would consider pursuing those as well.</p>
<p>if you're going to take my question and bring it that conclusion fine, i dont really want to have that kind of discussion with you though if thats where it takes you. I asked a question, thats all, not for you to try and analyze what you think about the question.</p>
<p>see, this overanalysis of yours is very unecesary, now you're "evoking your first amendmant right?!" just because i told you to leave me alone?</p>
<p>i never tried to "repress" you, i just said i'm no longer itnerested in talking to you if you're going to be rude like this, and yet you continue to try and label me just because of a simple question i asked. Just get off my case, thats all i'm asking. if you're going to mistake that for me asking you to repress your first amendment right, then you have some issues. All i asked was a question, it was not some beakon for you to give me a hard time because you feel the need to read into it and come to the conclusion i'm something i'm not not. No one's pointing a gun to your head to antogonize me either, so why not just be big about it and stop doing it please.</p>
<p>if you want to look at how a "rational" person acts read harri's first post to my topic, see how he doesnt judge me or be argumentative about everything i say? and he even answered the question! if you cant do that then i encourage you to please give someone else a hard time, elsewhere.</p>
<p>I stand by what I said before. I don't think you're going about things in the best way. I would recommend figuring out what you want to do and then picking schools, not vice versa. That's my advice. You take it any way you want to take it.</p>
<p>Honestly, I must agree with Sakky here. Graduate school has more to do with individual programs and departments than anything else. Once you get into a specific field, your peers know what programs are great. This is true even if the school is not considered the incredible but the department is. </p>
<p>That said, I will recommend degrees in finance, accounting, and economics. One caveat I must give is that although these degrees are substitutes for MBA's in many cases (i.e. for many jobs and positions) they are still degrees that differ tremendously. They are sometimes close but NOT perfect substitutes. Many firms do not want an MBA for a financial engineering position or whatever. Aside from this, none of them are any "easier" to get into than the others. They are just different. Their curriculums may be even harder than an MBA curriculum. </p>
<p>Here is my recommendation to you. First try to find out what you want to do in life. Then pick a degree that can help you achieve that goal. Finally, pick a school that has that degree. If you really want to go to a specific school, check that schools website and see what degrees they offer. I just want to warn you that after you graduate, where you went to school means less and less each year. You may not be happy with your choice of career just because you wanted to go to a specific school. Think about it: the rest of your life is a long time to be doing something you dont like to be doing!</p>
<p>i never really thought of Finance and Accounting as having their own degree tract seperate from an MBA, but if they do i imagine they are most definetly not easier to get into anyhow.</p>
<p>and lets keep in mind here that i'm never going to know EXACTLY what i want to do, just as i wont get a degree in something i have no interest in. At the same time some people seem to have the misconception that making a suggestion means i'll blindly follow it, even though i clearly will not. It wouldnt kill a person to assume i may be asking this question with what you say already in mind.</p>
<p>i'm just open to hearing some suggestions of other degree focuses that may be easier to get into in comparison to an MBA, it doesnt even have to be a subsitute, just throw something out there, trust me when i say i'm not going to go right out and do it because it was an answer of yours nor am i even that close to making such a decision, this is a preliminary thing and just one of the ways i am getting information for something i've already put alot of thought into. Sometimes it just helps for others to throw out some ideas, thus me making the post in the first place. </p>
<p>Finance and Accounting in my mind arent easier fields of study and usually are not even offered seperately anyhow. Economics is definetly something to consider though, albeit i've always found it a little boring personally. But again that was my goal in the first place, for some people to just put some suggestions in regards to answering my question, thats all, not to lecture me assuming they know exactly what i intend to do with that information and why.</p>
<p>Other similar degrees are Accounting-Taxation, Mathematical Finance, Financial Economics, Financial Engineering, Business Economics, Applied Economics & Finance, Applied Mathematics-Finance, and Managerial Science. I'm sure there are plenty of others. Just go to different schools' websites and look for different graduate programs they may have. I hope this helps. Just remember that each degree will give you training for different types of jobs and I dont think any are easier than the other. Good luck!</p>
<p>i did mention easier because if they were harder to get into than a regular MBA then it kind of defeats the purpose. It also doesnt need to be a finance, accounting or economics related degree, or even MBA related.</p>
<p>but thank you for your input all the same.</p>
<p>I've said it before, I'll say it again, it seems to me that you are more worried about finding something that is relatively easy to get into than finding something that is actually interesting to you. Again, as shyboy13 has said, when you're talking about graduate school, it's individual programs that count. If you give us some specific information about what actually interests you, then we can give you information about programs that you may want to consider. If you refuse to give us this information, then we can only resort to shooting in the dark.</p>
<p>and again i dont care about your presumptions, they're innacurate anyhow. if i wasnt interested in finding something interesting to me this is all i would be doing and i wouldnt actually think about the answers that people like shyboy actually gave.</p>
<p>shoot it in the dark all you want, as long as its in regards to my question, otherwise dont bother critcizing the question, i'm just asking for information.</p>
<p>It seems to me that if you really wanted us to help you find programs that are interesting to you, you would tell us what you are actually interested in. Shall we just list every possible program in the world? </p>
<p>However, as stated, I gave my answers a while ago. So has shyboy13. What more do you want?</p>
<p>"However, as stated, I gave my answers a while ago. So has shyboy13. What more do you want?"</p>
<p>nothing, i've tried to make that as clear as possible to you. I never said i wanted more from you, because that's all i wanted out of the question i asked. I wanted that specific information, thats all, no more and no less. The only help i really asked was the answers of programs, thats all, i'm getting more personal help elsewhere, i just wanted people to toss some ideas out there.</p>
<p>The above mentioned Russian literature program might be not very competitive , since relatively few people study Russian. So I would imagine other foreign language programs would be. Also, something like classics.....</p>
<p>As stupid as it sounds - it seems like this is what spincut wants to hear:)))))))))</p>
<p>Spincut - the only question - you cannot choose just any incompetitive program, right? Since looking at the same Russian one - do you know Russian? Highly doubtful. So you cannot do it. The same with many, many, many others.......</p>
<p>just my 2cents</p>
<p>well yeah, i do not know russian and would definetly not choose it as it does not pique my interest, but i still appreciate your two cents. It's worth the risk and labor of having a post where people kick around a few those types of ideas to me that i can take or leave over doing nothing.</p>
<p>but again thank you for your input.</p>