<p>Right now I'm torn between applying for one of these for ED.</p>
<p>I like the Columbia's campus and they have the Financial Economics major which I'm really into. I also want to keep my choices open with the college.</p>
<p>I'm leaning toward business, so Wharton seems really good.</p>
<p>The only thing holding me back are my acceptance chances for the two. The acceptance for Columbia is 7.4% (?) and Wharton seems to be about 10%. Do these numbers really matter alot? I always had the feeling that Wharton was more difficult to get into than Columbia College.</p>
<p>Wharton is probably more self selecting in applicants than Columbia (meaning the overall applicant pool is stronger hence higher acceptance rate).</p>
<p>Don’t let admissions percentages lull you into a false sense of security, as both are really hard to get into and very competitive. So don’t make your decision based upon an assumption that Wharton’s higher admit rate gets you in easier.</p>
<p>Wharton graduates are not as successful as Columbia graduates.
Highest level positions are dominated by Columbia Graduates. For example,</p>
<p>Warren Buffet (Owner of Goldman Sachs)
Vikram Pandi (CEO of citi group)
James Gorman ( Chairman & CEO of Morgan Stanley)
Obama (President)
…etc. </p>
<p>While students may complete the special concentration requirements without applying to the progam, the following benefits are available to students admitted through the application process:
1.Guaranteed enrollment in popular undergraduate business courses (must reserve in advance through program manager)
2.Access to special guest speaker presentations at the Business School, including one or more business leader or faculty presentations exclusively for admitted students
3.Formal and informal networking opportunities with Business School students, faculty, and/or alumni</p>
<p>Either would be excellent choices. However, I would point out that Warren Buffet started out at Wharton and Donald Trump also attended Wharton. I don’t think naming names, though, should influence your decision. Columbia has NYC (a huge plus), but Wharton is the best business school in the country (one of the top in the world), has a really unique structure, and places into amazing companies. Although I am a sophomore of the SAS and not Wharton, as a Penn student, I think Wharton sounds like a slightly better option for undergrad.</p>
<p>The main difference between the two is the Core Curriculum, so that should be the main factor. Are you interested in a humanities education in addition to learning business skills? Either option will offer great placement in finance.</p>
<p>As other posters have pointed out, Wharton is more self-selecting, which means that your chances are not higher there ED. Other differences–most notably, the core curriculum and the other curricular differences between Wharton/Penn and Columbia financial economics–should play more heavily in your decision.</p>
<p>Financial engineering is closer in scope to Penn Fisher, the joint program between Wharton and their engineering school. Fin eng also has a highly competitive application, requiring about a 3.7 GPA in SEAS. If you’re really interested in studying “business” or economics, then go with financial economics. There is also a special concentration in business management.</p>
<p>I meant that if you choose Columbia, you should major in financial economics (or something else with the business concentration), the closest thing to a Wharton business degree. I mentioned Penn’s dual degree business-engineering program since it would give you both a business and technical education like Financial Engineering at Columbia that you expressed interest in, but if you’re just looking at chances though, then there isn’t a significant difference between Wharton ED and Columbia College ED. In addition to what I said before about the core, consider this - what specific areas, if any, of business are you interested in? Wharton would give you a great deal of depth in Accounting, Finance, or Operations Management, while Columbia will make you more well-rounded.</p>
<p>Piepod- Financial Econ is only a Columnia College option. Engineering has Financial Engineering as a subsection of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.</p>
<p>I’m a rising freshman at Columbia Engineering, and hopefully getting into the Financial Engineering program next year. (You apply as a first semester sophomore.) Last summer, I struggled with deciding between Wharton vs Columbia’s FE program as well! First of all, don’t try to compare the two of them based on “prestige.” Columbia’s FE program is ranked top three in the world and is basically regarded as the gold mine for new recruits by the large finance companies on Wall Street. At both of these schools, if you perform well, you’ll get the dream job. So that shouldn’t be a deciding factor either. What you really have to decide upon is what you want to study in college. Columbia would provide a more well-rounded education, since there’s Columbia’s famed “Core Curriculum.” And personally, I don’t really understand why people study business as an undergrad, since I’m assuming you’ll be pursuing an MBA later on anyway. I felt it was better to study something more “technical” as an undergrad and to understand the “why” and “how” behind finance before pursuing a career in it. Research into what appeals to you about the academics behind these two programs and see which school you’d generally just feel like you’d belong more at! And don’t let the acceptance rates affect your choice either. At this level, everything’s unpredictable.</p>
<p>Wharton business recruiting is legendary. If you want a job in finance go to Wharton. If you want a well-rounded academic experience with an emphasis on liberal arts, go to Columbia for the Core Curriculum.</p>