<p>How would you compare Stern with Ross at Michigan?</p>
<p>@Recharge: It depends on your interests and how you want your college experience to be. If you want to do something more general like management or economics, I would strongly recommend Ross. If you want Finance or Marketing or something more focused in an area, then Stern would be better for you. My answer might be biased because I chose Stern, but I think many would agree with me. I can’t talk much about Ross except about what I’ve heard. In Stern, almost every kid is a finance or marketing major. The main reason for this is New York City. With so many opportunities available for these two majors, it helps drawing a lot to these majors. Other majors will not affect your chances of getting a job (companies consider many majors for one job- you’ll still have great chances because its New York City), but you wouldn’t enjoy it if you aren’t doing these majors. Everything seems so set up for Finance and some few majors. You’ll receive little support from peers and little recognition in the form of club associations and the like (there are people interested in and doing other majors but they’re too few). You’ll have to go through endless questions from losers like "Why did you come to Stern if you don’t want to do Finance? What a waste of money! (trust me, one of my closest friends wants to do marketing and she’s faced quite a bit of ridicule). If I didn’t like Finance that much, I might not have liked it here. I come from an education system more based like the English way of focused learning than the American way of liberal arts learning so finance was appealing while general management or economics was not. This does not mean that Stern is a bad school for other majors - New York City and its history has made it so - you just need to be tough and you’ll still get through great. Doing Finance or Marketing in NYC rather than Ann Arbor can get you great internships, and other opportunities. Stern also focuses a lot on sending students abroad so that might appeal a lot to if you’re the international business type. In more general fields (my use of the term general doesn’t mean anything derogatory - I’m just using it for things like economics which is the backbone and from which everything like finance and accounting evolved), Ross would be great - you’ll get great professors - you won’t be needing to be in a place like New York City (for fields like economics, I strongly believe that the wall street focus of New York City won’t help at all, it’ll just distract you and take you away from the thing you love - you’ll be swept away with the crowd). It’s the more intense academic life at Ann Arbor vs a more practical life in New York each appealing to particular interests. It’s your choice - some people don’t want fast lives during undergrad itself since thats what they would be doing later.I’m pretty sure Rankings would back me - Stern better for Finance, International Business while Ross better in general. Also, it depends on the environment that you want. Stern doesn’t have a campus, you’ll spend your days in one of their million dollar lounges (they collected so much money for lounges thats way) rather than at a park, or watching a football/basketball game. Social life would be totally different. You can’t go wrong either way. Stern Administration is working really hard on becoming less dependent on finance but It’ll take time. This is totally my opinion and other Stern kids might disagree with me. I’m only writing based on my experiences.</p>
<p>Thank you for the answer! I had been planning on going to Ross and can now solidify my decision because of your non-biased post! I am looking to major in management and would prefer to spend my undergraduate years at a classic college campus. So while Stern graduates do make more money initially, I think for me it will be worth it to stay in a place where I can enjoy myself more. Thanks again!</p>
<p>@ Recharge - Trust me, judging by what you said, you will not be happy here at Stern. You not coming here is good for you and good for Stern since I wouldn’t want my college to be full of uninterested people (I mean this in a good way). There are only two groups of students here - one consisting who really wanted finance and the others who are just studying because Stern is a good school and finance is what everybody does and they didn’t get into some other school they really wanted. I wanted finance so I love the place (being an international student, my country’s system makes us decide between business and engineering in high school sophomore year - so I’ve already studied business and finance and now I’m loving it again). Others, tried for engineering and business side by side, got into business since it seems to be a good field and a money-making thing (maybe not so anymore), and now they just study for the sake of doing it. I see everyday that these kids are so confused with their lives and just go around without any particular purpose, just going with the finance crowd talking about strategies like straddles and strangles that never really interests them. If you want management, go to Ross. You might get more money graduating from Stern (maybe not since Ross is a top place too), but you won’t be happy with what you are doing. I love this place - I’ve been telling people to only come here if they really would like it and you won’t - so go to Ross (I hope you get a preferred admit - which is so awesome and painful to turn down). All the best!</p>
<p>How’s campus* life like at Stern/NYU? Does the presence of NYC and its many distractions weaken the general feeling of “community” there?</p>
<p>*insofar that a physical campus exists, of course :D</p>
<p>@ Tappmann - Campus Life is totally unlike most of the other schools (everybody that you talk to about nyu will say that). The main way that lack of a proper campus affects community is that your interaction with people from the other schools at NYU is not that much. Since Stern doesn’t have the normal two year liberal arts program and because NYU is huge, its very unlikely that you would see a lot of the same other school kids in all your classes. Though it exposes you to a lot of different people, its tough to build very close friendships (except at dorms - there school doesn’t matter at all and that is where actual community exists not at school). You’ll start sticking with the Stern kids more and more, and the intra school community is great. I’ve never personally had a problem with that. But I think the whole thing about lack of community and campus at NYU is exaggerated. If you went to a college with a campus (say Cornell), you would still not go to every single building on campus or go to every single lawn on campus everyday. You’ll still stick to your own group of friends and not know everybody. You’ll spend the same time studying - and won’t be able to go out easily as well. Its not like attending Cornell would mean that you have much more nice things to do (college isn’t a holiday at a peaceful resort). It’s not like lack of campus will kill you. Students are the same everywhere. You’re grown up - you should be able to survive everyday. It would be amazing to have a nice beautiful campus like Cornell and be totally immersed in college life, but not everybody can have it, and there isn’t much of a difference after a certain point.
As far as New York City is concerned, it might be a distraction but then it again depends on how you view it. If I’d gone to a “normal” college, I would have spent days watching college football/basketball, walking across campus, house partying, driving around Collegetown, and stuff like that. In NYC, I can’t do all that but I can go to Broadway (stern gets you tickets at great discounts), walk across city, attend tv shows live, intern, party at clubs. It works out the same in terms of time with respect to things to do. I love the experience but wouldn’t plan on grad school here because I strongly believe that undergrad must be used to explore everything (which nyc gives) while grad school must be a bit more laid back. I can get the “normal” college experience at grad school.</p>
<p>On a side note - I can answer certain questions about the BPE program as well. I won’t be able to tell you specific particulars or only-BPE class information, but I can tell you about the social lives that these kids enjoy in Stern (being a small group), do they hang out with the rest?, what kind of kids are they? etc. etc. The area where I can help you the most is by telling you about why people like me and my friends didn’t apply for BPE, when we could have. I can tell you more about a normal Sternie’s opinion of the BPE program (what it could offer and what it can’t - pros and cons that is). I went through the same dilemma of whether to apply for BPE or not, and in the end didn’t. I can also tell you more about the World Studies Track - why people want to do it and why not (I think Stern gives out pre-admits or something - I wasn’t one - but I’m not interested in it too). Same for IBEX and NYU study abroad. Stern is known for its global study opportunities (NYU is famous for its opportunites as a whole - and we in Stern have more than even rest of NYU’s amazing opportunities - thats really big) and you all must try to learn and take advantage of them . My opinion will be as unbiased as possible.</p>
<p>I was admitted to Stern for Finance (ED), and I wanted to know if there is any tips or things I should be careful of starting freshmen year. What do you think would be a reasonable course load? (I was thinking 4 classes)</p>
<p>@raiders20 (your screenname reminds me of warcraft for some reason) - NYU has an 18 credit limit. Even if you take one more than that, you will have to pay them somewhere like $2000 extra. Unless, you’re willing to pay extra or take on too much coursework, you’ll never have to take more than 4-5 classes per semester. in your first year, all classes are four credits (requirements)(electives can be 2,4,6 ) except Statistics (in which you might have to take a 2 credit or a 6 credit depending on a placement exam/AP). So 4 classes means 16 credits, so you should be fine and the workload would be manageable. Almost all of Stern’s freshmen take the majority of their arts (CAS) requirements freshman year (I’ve already done 4 and am doing my last). Unless you have AP credit or the SAT scores for getting out of Writing the Essay, your first semester would be fully CAS - Calculus, WTE (commerce and culture if you have 700+ on SAT writing), World Cultures/Conversations of the West and Natural Science. With AP credit, you might take Microeconomics or Statistics instead of Natural Science or WorldCultures/Conwest and push that to spring. Any combo of these for 4 classes is a good start, so that you can get into college and spend the first few months enjoying the city. </p>
<p>On Individual Course workload : Calculus 1 is horribly easy if you’ve done decently in Calculus at school. Mostly an easy A. My suitemate took Calc 2 and though many say that was difficult, he said it was not bad. You shouldn’t have any problems there.</p>
<p>WTE - The class with probably the most famous reputation in NYU. I took this and not Commerce and Culture so I can’t comment there. This class required you to keep writing and writing and writing. You’ll be needing to turn in progression exercises or rough drafts every bloody class. But if you love writing, it could be great for you. One of my Stern friends enjoyed it and she got an A in WTE. Load is kind of heavy but manageable.</p>
<p>Natural Science - Depends on the course. Some of them are dead easy with lenient grading and are easy As/A-s. Others can be tough especially the higher Nat Science sequence, and thus they could drop your grade. From personal experience and interactions it seems that ‘How Things Work’, ‘Einstein’s Universe’ and ‘Quarks to Cosmos’ are three easy courses that can get you an A (or an A-) if you put in very little but productive effort </p>
<p>Microeconomics - Its tough for some and not tough for others. Goes beyond high school but the professors are good and you’ll get enough practice to not have any problems.</p>
<p>Statistics - Tough course. Required great involvement (at least the 6 credit one). You can’t read through notes on the week of the exam and show up (you’ll get screwed royally). Lot of practice required (and some professors aren’t that great at teaching this particular course).</p>
<p>World Cultures/Con West- Bunch of Courses that have you reading about ideas and thoughts (in one particular country or region in the case of the former and over centuries in the world in the latter). Depending on your professor, it could be tough or easy.My professor made me turn in 2-3 pages for every class. Of the two World Cultures is easier and more interesting but you do have to do both of them.</p>
<p>My recommendation for you would be to take things slowly and not load too many things. Many of my friends had bad first semester GPAs because of that. Choose CAS courses in such a way that you are guaranteed an A or an A- (you’ll be needing it to bolster your GPA- Stern is much tougher and getting As there isn’t that simple). Try choosing a lower sequence Nat Sci course and a thing in World Cultures/Con west that you know something about or have an interest in. This could help you do better. And my personal opinion on combinations of courses is - Take Calc, WTE/C&C, Nat Sci/Micro and Con West first semester. This is because Calc and Nat Sci would be easy. Or If you take Micro and have a 700+ on SAT writing, then C&C can be your easy subject along with CAlc (my friends who took it say its pretty easy). Conwest and WTE/Micro need work but you’ll have time. If you take World Cultures in Fall, you might make things too tough for you in Spring when you take Statistics. World Cultures can be your easy subject in Spring along with Financial Accounting (this is a tough course for some, and horribly easy for others). This would give you more time to spend on Business and Its Publics and Statistics. But even if you do otherwise, it won’t make a great difference. Freshman year isn’t that tough.</p>
<p>I hope I made sense. It was just a bunch of course names thrown in here and there and might make you confused but everything will make sense once you get to know more about the courses. As for other basic things, come to Stern with an open mind. You are doing Finance but don’t limit yourself by saying that you want to go into I-Banking or Securities from day 1. Enjoy all that Stern has to offer. Also, come in looking to explore and get the best out of NYC. Go everywhere and do everything in freshman year. Don’t worry too much about college. Finally, be proud that you’re going to one of the best schools for finance (FT ranked us best for finance worldwide in one of their rankings). That pride will help you but don’t let that pride turn into arrogance. At a place like Stern, where everybody is good, you’ll get owned.</p>
<p>Wow thanks for such a detailed and thorough answer. Thanks for the advice on not limiting myself on one field, because I have been considering i-banking as of late.
I have a few more questions, thank you again for your time.
So I should probably brush up on my statistics so I don’t have to take the 6-credit right? Also would a flat 700 writing score exempt me from WTE?
Its good to hear that freshmen year isn’t too hard, because I have heard that Stern can be very tough so I don’t want my confidence destroyed too soon haha.
Also while I know this is too early, what can I do to put myself in a position for the best internships besides simply having a high G.P.A.?</p>
<p>Its no problem at all. Least I can do.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the benefits of placing out of the 4 credit Statistics course. But unless you’re REALLY confident with you’re statistics, I wouldn’t think its a great idea to place out. I think you can only take it if you have a 4 or 5 on the AP. The reason why I think it isn’t a great idea is because the statistics taught at Stern is a bit different in terms of applications - so going through the course might be helpful and it can be important for the future. I learned Statistics to a reasonable level in my home country so I’m finding it a bit easier but my American friends even though they took AP Statistics are finding it difficult. Our midterm was really tough and every single girl was almost in tears that day and every single guy was ashen-faced. But If you’re really confident, I think you can go ahead because it isn’t too tough. It also frees up some electives but I think they can only be used for non-stern courses. Some of my friends also did that and have managed pretty well.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure a flat 700 would exempt you from WTE (you’re among the more lucky ones and you can feel proud for having done better in your SAT writing) As far as I know 700-740 is the range for C&C so you should be okay. </p>
<p>Stern Freshman year hasn’t been so tough so far at least not for me so you should be okay. I found the liberal arts courses more tough (since we have nothing like that back home and I hardly did any writing in high school, things important for WTE and ConWest). My Spring semester so far is much better in GPA terms though I didn’t do that badly in Fall. In the end, it depends on you. If you can manage your courses and score the As in certain courses, they will help you when you don’t get a so good grade because of the curve and you should come out okay.</p>
<p>In terms of internships, I might not be the best person to ask because I’m not currently eligible for internships (international kids can’t take on off-campus jobs during first academic year by US laws). However, a few of my friends have got internships. But none of them are at bulge brackets or huge banks. Maybe one freshman in whole of Stern got something like that. It is too early (almost every company that comes on campus says that they only have internships for rising seniors) but you could get something if you’re really good. GPA is not that important freshman year since you haven’t don much. It gets important as you go through more and more courses. In the beginning, any special thing that you might have could set you apart (like a previous experience or some special knowledge). In the words of a senior, “Companies don’t expect you to know anything freshman year so if you could show that you know something and have done something in their field, then your chances are multiplied like 25 times”. But then, don’t be discouraged if you can’t find any even if you’re really good. Good ones can be rare at times.</p>
<p>Oh, Just wanted to say that there is one way to mess up and get stuck with WTE even with a 700 or above. You could still be only in WTE if you miss out on registration day and the commerce and culture classes get closed( they become full). That happened to some kids this year and they had to go through the torture called Writing the Essay and lose grades even though they had 730s and 740s on SAT writing (because they were late or they were unlucky). So be careful on registration day and try to get there first.</p>
<p>i feel like there is a lot of misinformation on this thread, particularly since most of the people answering are freshmen and feshman year you only take 1 stern class. not to say they haven’t been doing a great job at anwering questions but just wanted to add my input (i graduated last december)</p>
<p>first off, stern is not nearly as difficult as some pple on this thread make it out to be. someone pointed this out before, but finance is not rocket science. yes it’s competitive and yes u will have some long nights, but you will have ample nights to party as well. the people who end up doing well in stern are not the brightest but the most motivated. while many are smart, many pple also get distracted by living in nyc, partying on weekdays, etc., my SAT scores were below the median for stern, but i graduated top 3%. i didn’t go out 5 nights a week, but i also never studied fri or sat night. so while stern is hard work, if you’re truly willing to make the sacrifices you will do well. just be careful because many people say they are willing to, but once they get a taste of freedom they dont want to anymore.</p>
<p>in terms of getting into banking or getting any prestigious job, the key is to stat getting internships early. dont expect to work anywhere freshman yr or freshman summer, but apply to all the unpaid banking gigs at boutiques. that will really good when applying to BB’s for internships. hell, anything finance related is good. sophmore year, try to get an internship during the school year. it is these pple who get a head start on building their resume that do well in recruiting junior year. also try to get leadership position in one club, and a real leadership position not the social chair of soccer club. these are so much better than having a 3.9 and an empty resume. a 3.7 + work experiecen + one leadership thing will get you a lot of interviews. if you’re scared about getting a 3.7 (which you really shouldn’t be), you can always take BS electives at CAS to bump up your gpa) many pple do finance + econ double major and take all the econ classes in CAS, which are known to be easy. </p>
<p>and dont bother taking the stats placement test. it is for like phds or something. i got a 5 on the AP and got a 55% on the nyu exam. if you’ve taken stats before i would recommend retaking the class and getting the A as the class should be easier for you.</p>
<p>Do you guys know if any ACT score is considered for exemption from WTE?</p>
<p>I always run into Stern kids when I’m out at bars on Thursday nights. I feel like they play hard AND they work hard. Or they have better time management than I do.</p>
<p>thanks england i feel like i owe you a lunch or something haha</p>
<p>thanks for the advice mitssu, i guess i’ll have to take stats then. my parents expect me to be top 5% at stern which sounds so tough, but I guess they have a right to expect that because their paying like 160k for my education, so I hope to be as balanced between work/play as you were.</p>
<p>@raiders- Many (almost 90% of the class maybe considering that most of Stern was high school top 10%) come here expecting to be top 5% (though half of them lose that dream after some time) but only the ones who get the balance between work and play right actually end up there. </p>
<p>@ everybody in general - You will have time to party and watch movies and sports and all those other things that you’ll want to do. For me, generally I spend my Fridays and Saturdays enjoying the city life (party and otherwise) or on watching 3-4 movies one after the other. I spend my Sundays lazing around and catching up on some homework and sleep. Weekdays are spent in classes and other school activities, tv shows (if time permits-an episode of something a day - but that doesn’t happen more than 1-2 days a week), studying and just hanging out with old friends. However, I have spent at least one weekend and many weekdays averaging 4-6 hours of sleep in order to do my work perfectly (because of the Stern curve, anything less than perfect might only get a B or a B+). But those are one in five time things. And I’m not doing so badly either. My midterm grades are around As/A-s. You’ll get your ample time to enjoy (at least in freshman year). It was very difficult in the beginning, but as I got used to it, its manageable. (guess thats what mitssu meant - it is difficult but not overwhelmingly so)</p>
<p>hey, I was wondering what makes IBEX better than anything other college have to offer in terms of study abroad. Obviously it’s Stern but what really makes it special?</p>
<p>do you live on campus with a roommate? if so, what is it like? how did you react when you initially met for the first time?</p>