<p>Chicago is in category 2.5. I just realized my mistake.</p>
<p>Chicago is not a wise option is your primary goal is to make it big in business. A lot of undergrads do go on to be financially successful, thanks in no small part to Chicago's economics program, but they still have to pay their dues to the core curriculum, grade non-inflation, and an intense atmosphere.</p>
<p>Curriculum has little to do with recruiting, however. The deflation doesn't help though and Northwestern seems to do better with consulting at least.</p>
<p>Problem with MIT/Chicago and to an extent Wharton is that your GPA will NOT BE HELPED at all, unlike the other Ivies (except Princeton) where there is rampant grade inflation. And apart from the fact that most IBanks want to see your GPA, if one hypothetically wants to explore the avenue of attending Law school, he will be utterly fcked due to his low GPA relative to his Ivy peers. </p>
<p><strong>Law School looks at 2 things: GPA + LSAT</strong> That's it.</p>
<p>GPA luckily isn;t as critical for business, but you're going to need a 3.5+ for elite consulting and a 3.3+ for banking. A 3.6-3.7+ at a top 10 in econ pretty much assures a top job.</p>
<p>Just thought I'd throw a less conventional idea of the path to Wall Street...</p>
<p>I agree with many others that schools such as HYPS, Dartmouth, Columbia, Northwestern, Duke position one well to interview and tap into a strong in-firm vein of prior graduates who can assist you. However, think for a minute about where you are trying to get to from a career standpoint, particularly if finance and Wall Street is your target. You likely aren’t going to do anything that unique in the investment banking analyst job and while you will make a lot of money compared to your fellow college graduates, the (much bigger) money lies a few more years down the road when you become an associate, then VP, and then Partner or MD. If that is your endgame. </p>
<p>The conventional route, maybe even the safe route, is what others have discussed here, ie, try to get a 2-year analyst job at a bulge bracket investment bank working in corporate finance and/or M&A and I would add that you might want to go for a third year in some other part of the bank to get a broader understanding of the firm and the Street. In fact, if you are extremely talented, some firms will promote you to associate and not make you go back for the MBA, but that is a different topic. </p>
<p>This investment banking analyst path is well-worn and certainly results in many acceptances to top MBA schools 2-3-4 years later. From there you will have plenty of businesses and industries and companies to look at in a variety of places and I would say that you will be surprised by how many interesting things are in the non-Wall Street business world and also in more distant locales around the country and especially around the globe.</p>
<p>My suggestion for a less conventional and potentially more rewarding path is NOT to go to Wall Street right out of undergrad. Truth be told, the two-year analysts are a dime a dozen in the application world to top MBA schools and the competition from those jobs to the top MBA schools can be fierce. Still pretty good comparative odds, but certainly not a lock. And frankly, the graduate business schools would LOVE to take a broader cross-section of students as they don’t want an entering class made up of 50% or more coming from the Street. </p>
<p>As for what that non-conventional job might be, the opportunities are truly endless. But I encourage college students (current rising juniors and seniors especially) to consider a more traditional business path. Then, when you get to the new business, work the same hours you would have as an investment banking analyst (80-100 or more per week) and you will have a great chance to achieve at a very high level in your new company. You will be learning about business in a more direct fashion than as an investment banking analyst or consultant and this focused knowledge and experience can often bring helpful perspective years later and it is differentiated knowledge if you are good at this job. Later, when it comes time to apply to MBA school, you are a different flavor and HBS and other places will see you as a differentiated candidate. Couple that with a good GMAT score and you will likely be an attractive candidate to the top MBA schools </p>
<p>Anyway, something of a contrarian approach, but probably merits some consideration. Good luck.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, Wharton Undergrad just launched its new web site (learned about it over on the Penn forum), which includes a page comparing Wharton Undergrad with the alternative of a liberal arts undergrad program and subsequent MBA:</p>
<p>I'm not trying to push Wharton Undergrad (much :)), but it's probably worth getting the perspective of the nation's leading undergrad business program. I'd highly recommend exploring the rest of the site, also, as there is a lot of informative discussion (including student videos, blogs, etc.) of what the Wharton Undergrad curriculum--including its ability to heavily incorporate courses in Penn's excellent liberal arts departments--has to offer.</p>
<p>3 interesting statistics that caught my attention: (1) Wharton undergrads can--and are encouraged to--take up to 43% of their degree requirements in the arts and sciences; (2) over 30% of Wharton undergrads graduate with dual degrees (e.g., a B.S. from Wharton and a B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences); and (3) last year, 87% of Wharton seniors got the job they wanted before the end of their fall semester. These and more fun facts are available in this David-Letterman-esque list of The Top 10 Reasons To Come To Wharton:</p>
<p>There's no question Wharton is amazing at placing its grads. After Wharton, however, the business programs drop off...Stern, Ross, Haas, McIntire, perhaps K-F hold their own to a lesser extent as well.</p>
<p>Could anyone please post the USN&WR ranking for ** undergraduate ** business programs ?</p>
<p>I don't have the full US News undergrad business rankings (hopefully someone else will post them for you), but don't forget about the Business Week undergrad rankings, also:</p>
<ol>
<li>Wharton</li>
<li>Sloan</li>
<li>Haas</li>
<li>Ross</li>
<li>Stern</li>
</ol>
<p>McIntire and McCombs are also in the top 10 but not sure in what order after those 5.</p>
<p>is it possible to do undergrad liberal arts and still go into business or even get into a business school? I want to go into business but I am interested in learning about political science...not sure what to do, can I major in political science and still go on into the business world?</p>
<p>At Michigan, I knew several English, History, Music, Political Science, Psychology etc... majors who joined manor companies or organizations like Ford, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey or the State Department when they graduated from college. Many of them eventually returned to school for graduate degrees.</p>
<p>Wall Street, the Finance Capital of the world, is dominated by IVY LEAGUE GRADUATES.</p>
<p>Now... only TWO Ivy League schools have undergraduate business programs. These are 1) Wharton, and 2) Cornell A&M. </p>
<p>What does this tell you? That if you attend a very prestigious undergraduate institution, an economics/political science major will serve you just as well if not better than a degree you can get from NYU Stern or Ross or Haas etc. In fact, having gone to an NYUStern admissions session last year, one student flatly told me that the undergraduate business degree is not as prestigious as an Economics degree from Columbia (she made this comparison because I guess Columbia is what NYU usually concerns itself with).</p>
<p>how about a degree from Cornell CAS?</p>
<p>I start geting confused....
so if I want to step into bussiness world in future, liberal arts colleges is better or IVY+big university(except Wharton)?
I kind of worry about there will be too competitive in IVY when we get into junior/senior yr for those internship jobs,is it true?
Thx!</p>
<p>no, its best to go to the most prestigious university possible and get a degree like a liberal arts one rather than doing undergrad business. I.E Econ major, management, pol sci, math. learn to think. don't learn to read numbers on a spreadsheet. That's why wharton is pushing a liberal arts education.</p>
<p>Cornell does not have political science, but it has government, is this basically the same thing?</p>
<p>You want to know the best thing??</p>
<p>Get a 3.8+ in a top engineering program in America and you will have your pick of whatever the heck you want to do. I-banking? No-problemo, Consulting? No-problemo, Management stuff? No Problemo....lol, trust me..a High GPA in Engineering will get you farther than even an econ degree...</p>
<p>and my 2 cents..</p>
<p>Chicago is in category 2.5. I just realized my mistake.</p>
<p>I don't agree with that at all. No Econ program aside from Harvard's and MIT's comes close to it...</p>
<p>Yes. Cornell and Harvard= government.</p>
<p>You can also enter business from the humanities/ social science side of things. Business requires all sorts of skills, the least of which are communication skills and understanding humans socially and behaviorally. Your elite school diploma and your transcript kind of advertises, "Hey, I'm a smart person who likes to work hard! Hire me!"</p>