Haverford in Philadelphia. Students get a top notch economics degree and can take finance courses at UPenn at Wharton Business School. A blend of Economics with Finance and Accounting.
^ seconded. Haverford is a top LAC choice for business. Williams too.
Agree, the top LAC’s have a great and ever increasing track record of sending graduates to the top MBA programs.
IMO, within a peer group of equally selective LACs, they’re all roughly the same, unless you want to go with one of the few LACs that offers a business program (such as URichmond). Not that all LACs (even within a group of similar peers) have equal breadth/depth in every subject. Check the online course catalogs to make sure your interest areas are well covered.
Employers in some sectors (investment banking or maybe top law firms) do seem to care about school prestige, so if you’re aiming for that, it may be an advantage to attend the most selective/prestigious school that admits you, as long as it’s affordable. More generally, internships may matter at least as much as your school “brand” in landing a first job.
If a LAC sends a relatively high percentage of graduates to highly regarded MBA programs, what does that really mean? We may be observing selection effects more than treatment effects. The most selective colleges cherry pick capable, highly motivated students who seek out prestigious colleges; then (surprise!) the same students tend to seek out prestigious graduate/professional schools. However, a liberal education isn’t about training you for that or any other particular professional school or employment outcome.
@tk21769, agree as the pre-professional training of a university business program is very different than the combination of critical thinking and quantitative skills that can be cultivated in a liberal arts program.
Nope. It’s true that Haverford has cross-registration with Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, and the Penn College of Arts & Sciences, through the Quaker Consortium. But the Consortium doesn’t include Penn’s professional schools, like the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, or the Wharton School. So cross-registration at Penn is only possible for “liberal arts” disciplines in the College of Arts & Sciences – not “professional” disciplines in other schools.
A Haverford student could take “economics” classes at Penn, because the Economics Dept. is in the College of Arts & Sciences. But not “business”, “finance”, or “accounting” classes at Wharton.
@Corbett, those business, finance or accounting classes aren’t a precursor to landing a great spot on WS or at a top consulting firm; take at look at the recent outcomes for Swarthmore graduates -https://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/career-services/Post%20Grad%20Plans%20by%20Major%202015-2017.pdf
I suspect Haverford’s, as well as the other top LAC’s, are the same.
@Chembiodad I agree. There are plenty of good reasons to study economics at Haverford, Bryn Mawr, or Swarthmore before beginning a career in business.
All I’m saying is that the opportunity to take business, finance, or accounting classes at Wharton isn’t one of them.
But do you guys believe that Wesleyan Bowdoin Colby and Middlebury are apt at getting their students into top MBA programs?
Look at the top 10 LACs plus Haverford and Wesleyan. I have worked (in finance) with graduates of all these 12 schools. In particular, Williams, Middlebury, Amherst, Wesleyan and Wellesley have great placement for Wall Street. For schools a bit lower down the list, check out Richmond and Trinity (CT). Also, Davidson has great placement for Wells Fargo and BoA in Charlotte. Any of these can get you where you want to go.
@TryHard44, agree with @londondad. Would also add Hamilton’s Economics program as its both a feeder to WS (GS Co-COO is an alum!) as well as to top MBA programs.
@TryHard44, are you seeking suggestions for ED2 and RD? You had previously mentioned that you were applying ED1; have you heard back yet?
Still waiting to hear back from Bowdoin @Chembiodad . I am trying to figure out an ED2 school!
I like Wesleyan the most.
@TryHard44, good luck on Bowdoin!
Wesleyan is a great school and will also be a ED2 reach based on both the stats you previously provided (33 ACT and 3.73 GPA) and that you are a non-hooked applicant, so best to also have a good mix of match and safety schools just in case - matches would likely be LAC’s in the 2018 USNWR #23-36 range.
Here’s an HBS/MBA program class profile:
http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/class-profile/Pages/default.aspx
Notice that students come from 146 “domestic universities” (/ colleges, probably) and another 156 international universities. The average age is 27, which means the typical entering student has been out of college for ~5 years. It appears they come in with a wide variety of college majors and industry experiences.
Given 2 HBS candidates who are nearly indistinguishable in every respect, except that one went to Bowdoin and the other went to Brand X, does the Bowdoin brand provide an edge? My guess is, probably. How much of an edge? I don’t think anyone knows for sure. In reality, the two candidates almost certainly will be distinguishable by some factor other than where they went to college, and it’s very hard to tease out the impact of the school brand alone.
Yale School of Management provides a further breakdown of undergraduate majors, so you’ll see Business, Economics, as well as STEM (also an LAC mainstay) well represented http://som.yale.edu/programs/mba/admissions/class-profile
@Corbett actually that isn’t true. The consortium does include cross-registration at Wharton and Haverford students do take those classes.
Sorry, but you’ll have to show some actual evidence, preferably on the current Haverford or Wharton websites, in order to convince me. Here’s what I see there:
- Haverford refers students to the Penn "Student Guide to the Quaker Consortium Reciprocal Program": https://www.haverford.edu/registrar/quaker-consortium http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/sites/www.sas.upenn.edu.lps/files/2017-2018-Quaker-Consortium-Student-Guide.pdf
The Quaker Consortium Guide makes no mention whatsoever of Wharton. Instead, it consistently refers to the Penn College of Liberal & Professional Studies, which is part of the School of Arts and Sciences, which is separate from the Wharton School.
- Haverford provides this link to the available classes at Penn: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/about/course-guides
The lists of available Penn classes for Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 do not include any classes in “Business”, “Finance”, or “Accounting”. They do include some classes in “Economics”, but that is a traditional liberal arts discipline.
- Wharton itself has a webpage about the Quaker Consortium. https://undergrad-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/quaker-consortium/
It says that Wharton students can take classes at Bryn Mawr, Haverford, or Swarthmore. But – it doesn’t say anything about Bryn Mawr, Haverford, or Swarthmore students taking classes at Wharton.
@Corbett I initially thought the same as you since the website doesn’t explicitly mention Wharton, but I personally know three Haverford students and a Swarthmore student who have taken classes at Wharton. I would say that it isn’t super common since most students don’t want to go all the way to Penn but it is completely possible and for students interested in finance it is an excellent option to have available.