<p>Villanova is ranked higher than both on businessweek's rankings, but I don't want to invest my complete trust into one source. What do you guys think? I know Northeastern coop system creates a ton of job opportunities and SMU's connections and proximity to Dallas creates lots of job opportunities as well. As a Finance major who wants to work for a big bank like a Goldman Sachs, which one do you think is better? I know all 3 are very good, which is why it's making this choice hard. </p>
<p>Also, if you can factor in non-business things like social life, please do. Thanks</p>
<p>Personally I would say Villanova because they have a great business program and a well-respected and recognized name. Nova isn’t far from NYC too so companies like Goldman Sachs may recruit more.</p>
<p>Villanova is probably the top ranked out of all those programs you mentioned, but NEU has the co-op. I’d say Nova, because the name is important in the business world and because of its’ proximity to NYU.</p>
<p>I think ds143 meant “NYC” as opposed to “NYU”. SMU has much less reach outside of Dallas, so I would go with one of the other two. You will have plenty of social life at Villanova. There are lots of parties and other universities around there, plus it’s easy to take the train into Philadelphia.</p>
<p>If your doing finance i would choose between Northeastern and Villanova. NEU has a strong alumni network in New York and Boston and its also a rising star and Boston is amazing.</p>
<p>If you want to work for a big bulge bracket bank like GS, none of these schools will carry much weight when the recruiters start scanning the resumes. If you really want to work at a I-Bank, I suggest you start looking at schools like UT-Austin if you want to stay in Texas, and Wharton if you want to be in Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>SMU doesn’t have much reach outside of Texas… personally, I haven’t even heard of SMU until I read about it in a book about Enron (Jeff Skilling was an SMU graduate, I believe). </p>
<p>Most kids at NEU who major in finance end up working in corporate finance at a number of local firms (which isn’t a bad thing, actually). </p>
<p>Villanova is the highest ranked school of them all, but I don’t know too much about Villanova’s business school, honestly. </p>
<p>If you are itching to be an investment banking analyst, look elsewhere or go to one of these schools, and then go to a target school for your MBA.</p>
<p>Yeah I figured that I would need an MBA from a target school for I-banking. What about u of Miami (fl)? That’s one of my options as well. I figured villanova and neu would be the best choices though.</p>
<p>I also got accepted into Santa Clara but i figured nova, neu, and smu are all better choices. Possibly even Miami. Does anyone have comments on these schools as a whole?</p>
<p>I would probably choose between Villanova and Northeastern. I might give NEU a leg up becuase you will basically have 2 or 3 internships at goldman sachs and merrill lynch and coupled with a strong GPA would make a really really nice resume.</p>
<p>I’m a part-time grad student there, so while I’m not really involved in the social scene, I can at least observe it. It seems pretty active. Plenty of parties, plenty of student activities, several other colleges within half a mile or so, and bordering neighborhoods with tons of students.</p>
<p>XX55XX wrote:
“Villanova is the highest ranked school of them all”</p>
<p>Really? I find Villanova in the USNWR “regional” ranking pool, not the ranking for National Universities. They may very well have been ranked higher than SMU’s #68 or Northeastern’s #80, but how would we know? They are not found in the same ranking.</p>
<p>One point of data that would support that statement is the 25/75 SAT average. Villanova is 1290, SMU is 1230, and Northeastern is 1265.</p>
<p>It’s quite possible that had Villanova been included in the “National University” ranking pool, it would be ranked below Northeastern. I show Northeastern with a 35% admission rate and Villanova with 39%.</p>
<p>Santa Clara has more of a regional reputation… it’s acceptance rate is much higher (66%), and SAT 25/75 ave. lower than NEU or Nova. But it might be better for you – How important is school size to you? Would you want to work in hi tech or Silicon Valley after graduating? Santa Clara is also smaller than Nova and much smaller than NEU.</p>
<p>Ahh yeah I figured. The nova ranking higher I was referring to was it’s business school ranking on businessweek. Nova is #11 while NEU is #27/28 and SMU is #31. All of the schools are definitely quality though. </p>
<p>Villanova and NEU sound the best so far, according to you guys.</p>