I’m wondering how the business program sizes up when compared to Wharton and Cornell’s business program as well as their international relations/ government when compared to other ivy leagues. Obviously Wharton is one of if not the best business program in the country but how far off is the program at Georgetown from these? Also what sort of job opportunities come from Georgetown and when compared to say Cornell or Brown. Any thoughts are appreciated thanks.
Georgetown SFS is perhaps the best international program in the country. Their undergrad business is very good, but probably a step below Wharton. I believe Cornell doesn’t have undergraduate business – Penn is the only Ivy with it. But several Ivys (such as Brown and perhaps Cornell idk) have business certificates or something similar at the undergrad level.
If u want int’l affairs & gov’t, then why wouldn’t u want to be in DC? That’s were the action is. That’s were u could get year-round access to relevant internships.
I think between two schools like Penn and Georgetown, it’s really tough to go wrong. Both have outstanding programs across the board that will position you well for any career, regardless of the discipline you pursue.
That being said, Penn’s business school is world renowned and SFS is probably the most famous school of foreign service. Though, if you are interested in an integrated approach to business and international relations, you should consider Penn’s Huntsman Program (http://huntsman.upenn.edu/). This dual degree program allows you to pursue a BS in Econ from Wharton and a BA in International Relations from the College, seamlessly combining both academic experiences to ensure that you are well versed In both fields and exposed to the disciplines that are tangential to each. Furthermore, Penn’s One University Policy makes it possible to pursue study in any of Penn’s four undergrad schools and almost all of its graduate and professional schools, adding to the interdisciplinary nature of a well rounded undergrad education. Finally, you can always pick up a dual degree between your homeschool (lets say Wharton in this case) and another school in which you would like to study (example: the college’s international relations dept). You will have advisors in both schools helping you to plan your curriculum to ensure that earning both degrees is as administratively simple as possible. All of those approaches are very common among students interested in engaging deeply across school boundaries.
For more information on professional opportunities pursued by Penn grads-- check out these surveys of recent graduating classes:
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/reports.php
as you can see, professional opportunities from the IR department are vast and varied. There are students working in government and NGOS and those who take their degrees to banks and consulting firms. The opportunities from Wharton are similarly endless.
Additionally, the Penn in Washington program also does an awesome job of connecting students to the most highly regarded opportunities DC has too offer while connecting Penn students and alumni in the area for networking and socializing. For a summer internship, I was placed in the public policy arm of an Executive Department of the Obama Administration and some of my friends found themselves with me and at other executive departments including State, Treasury, Justice, and within the White House as well. Even though Penn is not in DC, its presence is well established.
I would check out the information available for each program online and do some digging to see what specific opportunities are available as there are simply too many to list. But both schools will position you well for the careers you’re interested in pursuing.
For IR purposes, Georgetown cannot be beat. You have year round access to internships and powerful figures in the city basically live on campus. For business, its a little interesting, because Wharton will get recruited much harder and the real difference in recruitment is that a place like Blackstone might have 20 spots for Wharton grads and 5 spots for Georgetown grads, all of whom are officers in the investment fund or the credit union. If at Georgetown, you will have access to the best firms, and loads of people are hired by investment banks every year, but there are not as many spots and they will cherry pick from the top of the class.