<p>Over the past year my wife, daughter, and I have made campus tours of all the Ivy League schools as well as Georgetown. My daughter is an accomplished golfer and wishes to play college golf. Academically, she wishes to study business and ultimately work on Wall Street. </p>
<p>Her college search has been limited to the east coast as she really loves that part of the U.S. We presently live in Texas. She received offical visit invitations from Georgetown, Yale, and Penn to meet the coach and golf team. Academically she has already been accepted into Georgetown, Yale, and Penn's Arts & Sciences college. She did not take calculus in high school (only pre-cal) and Wharton requires calculus. Even the Penn golf coach tried to talk to Wharton into accepting our daughter but they said no. </p>
<p>She had her two day visit with the Georgetown and Yale coach/golf teams (back to back two day visits) this week and Penn is in three weeks. Georgetown absolutely rolled the red carpet out for my wife and daughter. Yale not so much. </p>
<p>Here is my question: Without consideration of what city my daughter wishes to live in, what would be the better undergradute experience: a business degree from Penn's Arts & Sciences college or a business degree from Georgetown's MSB school. I will add that one of the girls on the Georgetown golf team (a senior this year) did an internship at Goldman in her junior year and they just extended her an offer once she graduates.</p>
<p>This is our first rodeo with universities so appreciate any and all insight.</p>
<p>I’m confused. I thought that Penn’s A&S school doesn’t offer a business major; that only Wharton has that major. Am i wrong, or did you state the alternatives incorrectly?</p>
<p>When the WS firms go to Penn they’re expecting to see Wharton kids, she would face a bit of an uphill battle coming from CAS. Not saying it would be impossible, but she wouldn’t be in the best spot.</p>
<p>As an MSB student I can tell you that a good deal of the firms come here to recruit.</p>
<p>If your daughter is truly interested in pursuing a career in the business world, MSB is where she needs to be. The flexibility in the curriculum of attending an entire school dedicated to the study of business is reason ALONE to attend. </p>
<p>As parents we cannot forget that our kids are still young and although she may want to study business, she may not be ready to commit to Econ. The best gift she could receive would be the opportunity to delve into different courses and get her feet wet with the business core courses at MSB. Taking the time to find her niche would make her a much happier and more successful student. She would be able to choose from one of the six majors offered: Accounting, Finance, International Business, Marketing, Management, and Operations & Information Management. Many students also decide to double major at the MSB, usually taking a yin and yang (quantitative and qualitative) approach to their double major. </p>
<p>College is a time for exploration and investigation. Why limit her to an Econ major when she could have a whole school of business majors to choose from?</p>
<p>Responding to post #3, an economics major is not the same as a business major. Most schools have econ majors, while few have business majors.
Both universities are superb, with Penn arguably being more prestigious. But it’s most important to be at the school at which you think you would be happiest overall, because that is usually also where you’ll perform the best.</p>
<p>Thank you, Buegie, for your comments. It is always good to get the perspective of a current student. As I stated previously, my daughter spent two days at Gtown last week(the NCAA rules limit official visits to two days). She spent two nights in the dorm room with a current girl on the team. She attended a physics class with another. She spent quite a bit of time on the golf course with the team as they qualified for the traveling team to the Yale Invitational this week) and had several meetings with college officers (the most enjoyable being the meeting with Father O’Brien) that the coach arranged. All the students she met - - golf team and otherwise - - were very kind and engaging.</p>
<p>You are correct, WCASParent. As a econ major myself (25 years ago!), I should know that. But being in the business world myself I suppose I just lump them in all together (which is probably not correct as they are certainly different disciplines). I do appreciate your comments and thoughts. As a parent you are clearly further down the road than my wife and I.</p>
<p>Very insightful comments, Tejana13. You are certainly spot on. I could not agree with you more. Just curious, do you have a child attending Gtown? Thank you again!</p>
<p>I am very proud to say that I am a Hoya Mom!!! My son is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service. He was very lucky to have some great schools to choose from last year. His college counselors told him (and us) to pay special attention to the way you are treated during the “wooing” process post admission. They said, “It is the very best you’ll get treated the entire four years.” He was not a recruited athlete but nonetheless Georgetown was very attentive and truthfully it was one of the main reasons he chose to attend the SFS. He could not be happier and absolutely loves it!</p>
<p>That is super, Tejana13, about your son! I am so happy that he is enjoying his time thus far on the Hilltop. Probably a dumb question here, but what are the Gtown traditions for new freshman post-admisision. You mentioned “wooing” period. I know other schools have formal things for the incoming freshman but am not clear on Gtown.</p>
<p>There should be an accepted students weekend in spring 2012. There may also be some sending off events in Texas hosted by the Georgetown Alumni Association in Texas. The only other wooing may be mail from the university. Of course everything will be in compliance with NCAA rules.</p>
<p>FWIW. Georgetown is the most prestigious school in the Big East and known for the focus on undergraduate eduation. Georgetown also has a distinctive philosophy of educating the whole person.</p>
<p>Thanks for the very informative data, 1789. Speaks volumes. At the end of the day, my daughter would be well served attending either Penn, Yale, or Georgetown. All top academic and prestigious institutions. Since she is a student-athlete which brings another dimension to the college decision, it will come down to what school does she feel the best connection with the coach and team (since they spend so much time together 6 days a week for 4 years) and also what city does she wish to live in for 4 years. We had a long chat last night and I believe she has made her decision and will be contacting the coach early next week. Thanks again for all your help, 1789!</p>
<p>Sounds like a plan. I trust she has all of the information she needs to make an informed decision regarding academics/ graduation opportunities, as well as New Haven, Georgetown and Philly etc. Best of Luck! She will make the right choice for her.</p>
<p>Also, for a student athlete one should never down play the relationship with coaches and teamates. This can make or break a student’s experience and lead to transfers etc. My best friend played hoops in the ACC (his dream) and had an abusive coach that caused him to transfer. He’s still picking up the pieces. The right fit is key. </p>
<p>As you know, you are very blessed to have a daughter with such a bright future and so many amazing options! You deserve a lot of credit for helping her get to a point in life where she can make a decision like this and also for getting her the information to make an informed decision. Hopefully, her interests align with what Georgetown has to offer, but if not, Godspeed and we’ll see you on the links.</p>
<p>Congrats! Making the decision where to spend her next four years is a huge step in your daughter’s future. I truly believe that that undergraduate program, intern/research opportunites for undergrads and the city/campus vibe need to be in just the right combination to create that ideal fit for each student. Believe me, if she’s happy – you’ll be happy!</p>
<p>I remember reading a funny demotivator poster (which my son found rings very true at Georgetown) Good grades, active social life, adequate sleep – you can only pick two. Welcome to college! </p>
<p>Throw athletics into the mix and she’ll definitely need a strong advising/support network to help ease her transition from the rigor of HS to the academic rigors of a university such as Gtown, UPenn or Yale, plus manage the time/travel commitments of playing a sport. Best of luck!!!</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s thoughtful replies and feedback. After carefully considering her offers (two Ivy Leagues and Georgetown), my daughter called the Georgetown coach last week and made a verbal committment to play golf for the Hoyas. The coach and team just “felt right”. Plus, she really wanted a business school and MSB fits the fill. She will be signing in November. Hoya Saxa!</p>
<p>Yay!!! Yay!!! Yay!!! to our future Hoya family…</p>
<p>Admittedly biased… Your daughter made a fantastic choice. I think she will be in awe at the number of phenomenal opportunities from courses to EC’s available – it is almost overwhelming. My son often tell us that when Georgetown advertises how incredible the opportunities are on campus, they aren’t exaggerating at all. As he says, it is completely over the top.</p>
<p>He has a tough time choosing each day what EC meetings/guest lectures/society functions he will go to. He called this weekend to talk about testing out of a course and he told us his schedule for today. Here it goes…2 morning classes, attend an address given by the Indian Ambassador on Trends in India’s Foreign Policy (he was very interested in this lecture b/c he is taking a History of S.Asia class), dinner/lecture about cyber-warfare strategy given (hosted?) by the Pentagon, and then the SFS offered students an opportunity to test out of a class they are required to take next semester (Map of the World) this evening. He is probably just finishing up as I’m typing this. </p>
<p>His roommate is in the MSB and is just as busy with the many fantastic business related functions available. Forty people from their dorm were invited to have lunch in early Oct. by the Ambassador of the UAE to talk US/UAE relations (business & politics). My son and his roommate are both attending. Your daughter is going to have a wealth of opportunities to take advantage of, if she wants them (…and time permitting w/her golf schedule).</p>
<p>If she has any questions about MSB, I’m sure we can put her in touch with my son’s roommate.</p>
<p>Thank you, Tejana13 for your well wishes! We are truly excited and feel very blessed that our daughter has worked hard to earn the priviledge to attend a fine school like Georgetown. Your son certainly seems to be enjoying a rich experience at Georgetown and your stories about all he has to choose from only makes us even more excited. Most importantly is that your son is clearly taking advantage of all that Georgetown and our nation’s capital has to offer. Good for him! I can’t think of a better location to attend college than Washington, D.C. for all the reasons you already cited. My daughter will be proudly reporting for duty September 2012, golf bag in hand. Hopefully my daughter and your son’s paths will cross during their journey at Georgetown. Thank you again!</p>
<p>Tough decision. But at this level “fit” is what really matters</p>
<p>As the GU fight song says</p>
<p>We’ve heard those loyal fellows up at Yale
Brag and boast about their ‘Boola-Boola’
…
But the yell of all the yells,
The yell that wins the day
Is the ‘HOYA, HOYA SAXA!’ of the dear old Blue and Gray. </p>
<p>Thank you, 1789! And thanks again for your replies and encouragement. And especially the links to the MSB and Penn graduate information. This information was incredibly helpful as it was important that MSB was a target school for the Wall Street BB IB’s and this information proved that was the case. Hoya Saxa! P.S. Guess I will have to learn the fight song. Too bad we can’t sing it at Hoya golf tournaments. Something about the golfers insisting on total silence… :)</p>