Is Cornell Econ or Northwestern Econ more prestigious? I know US News Northwestern is #7, Cornell is #21. But sometimes you cannot only look at the rank.
I would like to work at the east coast investment bank or consulting company after graduation, I like both schools, so I would like to choose one to ED based on its academic prestige and career opportunities.
Thank you very much!
I worked for one of the major consultancies. They send recruiters to these schools and don’t view one as better than the other. There are qualities that distinguish these schools, but career opportunities in consulting isn’t one of them.
Agree completely with @Metawampe. Outside of college admissions nobody parses USNWR. Colleges are seen in broad tiers and Cornell & NU are peers in that framing. What will matter is how you maximize the opportunities you have (and either will give you more than you can take advantage of), how you do relative to your peers in your school, and ultimately your own drive and ability.
While you may “like” both of them there are some material differences between them. It would be a good use of time for you to figure out what they are, and which ones are relevant to you. Work flow (quarter vs semester) and campus culture are two places to start.
Thank you!
Note that U.S. News does not rank undergraduate economics programs.
If you would like to consider faculty scholarship in your decision, this analysis may be helpful: Economics rankings: US Economics Departments | IDEAS/RePEc.
For colleges with an exclusive focus on undergraduates, this complementary analysis may be of interest: Economics rankings: US Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges | IDEAS/RePEc.
One thing about Econ programs is that there can be a lot of variability within the programs. This is especially true with the amount of Math/Stats/Econometrics that you take.
Thank you!
No recruiter is going to look at Cornell or NU and say “your school is not good enough for us.”
Have you visited the campuses or at least spoken with current students or recent alums?
What did you like about each school? What did you NOT like? If you go through the exercise, you should have an answer.