Georgetown vs. Notre Dame

<p>Hi everyone, </p>

<p>I had a question because I'm coming down to the final few weeks before making a decision for college, and I'm between Notre Dame and Georgetown. I'm looking to either study finance at the Mendoza School of Business, or economics/ political economy at Georgetown because I applied to the college, not the McDonough School of Business. </p>

<p>I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions/reccomendations on which school is stronger or what you're choice would be and any reasons why. I was wondering especially for getting a job out of college, if recruiting from one school is particularly stronger than another.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>We have the same dilemma in our house would like some input.</p>

<p>IMO, Georgetown offers a lot more in terms of internships and quality of life than Notre Dame. There is a sense of “being where the action is” and excitement in living near the center of power in the nation.
On a practical basis, for business, Georgetown’s salary offers are among the highest in the country(see Business week and other publications) and it is well connected to the “elite” jobs on Wall Street and in the major consulting firms. Georgetown also has a very strong MBA program and a new building.</p>

<p>Your decision would be a little bit easier if you were a prospective diplomat or national security or policy wonk or international orgzanization type, where Georgetown stands without any true peer, but for business, I don’t think you could go wrong at the hilltop. </p>

<p>Good luck in your decision.</p>

<p>How were the aid offers at both schools? Or will you be full pay at both?</p>

<p>Georgetown is great for economics. However, ND has the #1 ranked business undergrad program in the country. It also depends a lot on where you want to work after school. Midwest or East Coast? If it’s East Coast, GU’s probably the way to go. If it’s ND, the alumni network in the Midwest (and elsewhere really) is hard to beat.</p>

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<p>Notre Dame Business is not # 1 in salaries and lags GU. That is the verdict of the marketplace. Also, the facilities at GU are now actually better than UND.</p>

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<p>Both Gtown and ND have excellent ugrad biz programs (don’t worry about exact rankings; both are top-tier schools, and potential employers look beyond the rankings to things like grades, internships, etc.).</p>

<p>But alas, you didn’t apply to Gtown’s biz school. (If you want to work in banking or finance, you shouldn’t have applied to Georgetown College. You probably did that because you assumed that you had a better chance of getting accepted.) Georgetown College’s econ program is good, but not as good as the one in its biz school. So, if you’re looking for a “true” ugrad biz program, go with ND.</p>

<p>AND - since we’re not really comparing apples to apples here, you should think about Gtown and ND overall. Both are great schools - if you work hard and do well, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a solid job after you graduate. But college isn’t just about landing a job after you graduate (although, obviously, that’s very important).</p>

<p>Your decision should be based on where you want to be for the next four years - where you see yourself excelling academically, fitting in, making friends, and becoming an adult (yeah, yeah - you’ll probably drink your face off, too [kidding ha ha]).</p>

<p>Gtown is located in an amazing city with access to a lot of great big-city things (culture, politics, social scene, internships, etc.). But, ND may offer you other things that you find important (large/scenic campus, big football school, possibly it’s closer to home/friends, vending machines that sell Pepsi products - I dunno - whatever it might be).</p>

<p>As far as your apples (Gtown College/econ) to oranges (ND biz/finance) conundrum…well, just be sure also to keep the “big picture” in mind when you make your final decision.</p>

<p>Good luck,
Gtowngrad</p>

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<p>If you contact Gtown in the next month or so, you can ask to transfer to MSB before you even get to campus. They’re likely to accept the request, I’ve heard.</p>

<p>FYI: Admissions will likely deny your request at this stage - reason being, they don’t want applicants using this as a “back door” to get into the school they really want. Yes, transfers happen before freshman year starts - but it’s rare - and they’re evaluated on a case-by-case basis. You’ll likely have to submit a internal transfer request after your first semester - and so you know - only about 25% of requests are granted.</p>

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<p>These are two great schools, and if there is something about ND in particular that you are absolutely in love with, then I guess I could understand picking ND over GU.
But all other things being equal, I would always recommend GU over ND. It is even more well respected and the name has more juice among most prospective employers on the east and west coasts.</p>

<p>How can students be using it as a “back door”? All the acceptance rates for each of Georgetown’s schools are very comparable - this year, for the EA pool, I think they ranged from about 16% to 19% (and the 19% was for the SFS).</p>

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<p>How can students be using it as a “back door”? All the acceptance rates for each of Georgetown’s schools are very comparable - this year, for the EA pool, I think they ranged from about 16% to 19% (and the 19% was for the SFS).</p>

<p>Short answer: different applicant pools.</p>

<p>Here is a great article about internal transfers: </p>

<p>[</a>" + artTitle.replace(“-”,“”) + " - " + “The Hoya” + " - " + “News” + "](<a href=“http://www.thehoya.com/news/rethinking-best-fit-gu-school-1.2137255]”>http://www.thehoya.com/news/rethinking-best-fit-gu-school-1.2137255)</p>

<p>No surprise, this being the Georgetown board, but my choice would be Georgetown. I think a Georgetown education prepares students better for life in the global economy. First, it is located in the nation’s capital and attracts students, professors, and speakers from around the world. Second, even though Georgetown is the oldest Catholic University in America, it also attracts students from other faiths. No matter what your faith GU encourages you to explore it and interact with students of different backgrounds. Third, students get exposed to careers not only on Wall Street and accounting/consulting firms, but also with international organizations located in DC such as the IMF, World Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank. There are also unique opportunities to intern during the academic year with US government agencies like treasury or on Capitol Hill with a Congressman or Senator. Fourth, DC provides exposure to the arts, that ND can not compete with. DC has myriad museums and arts venues. If you take a fine arts class, assignments include visits to the National Gallery or attending a symphony at the Kennedy Center. A lot of learning a Georgetown takes place outside of the class room. Fifth, like ND, G’town also competes in the Big East Conference (except for football), but is a charter member. Finally, G’town’s alumni networking isn’t too shabby either, and I would argue more global than ND’s which albeit very strong in the states, is less so globally. G’town has very strong ties with Wall Street, and is a target school and it doesn’t matter if you study in the business school, sfs, or in the college of arts and sciences as long as you show an interest in business through your activities or internships. </p>

<p>Ultimately, these are two very different places. And the best thing to do is to visit. You have to compare the strengths and weaknesses of both places and to decide what is most important to you and your education.</p>

<p>Also keep in mind that ND is very catholic whereas Georgetown (yes it is Jesuit) does not emphasize this point. There are no contraceptives on campus, but they do not go as far as keeping single-sex dorm rooms etc. I have a friend who transferred from Gtown to ND and came back in a semester because she did not enjoy it.
I know people who are majoring in economics who are very heavily involved in the investment clubs on campus, so do not let that deter you. If you want it is possible to transfer after 1 year. DC is also a great place to hold internships at smaller firms (the bf has a year long internship at a botique ibanking firm) as well as explore other areas if you want.</p>

<p>I would go visit both schools. My brother goes to ND and is in the Mendoza School of Business and already has a REALLY good internship set up this summer because of alumni connections (in boston). Georgetown is also, really good and their campuses are polar opposites. ND is HUGE and is in a very small town, whereas Georgetown’s campus is not as big (it actually felt kind of small when i toured their recently), but is right in the center of such an action packed city.
either way- both awesome schools, just WICKED different.</p>

<p>I feel that the job opportunities are better at Georgetown with its central east coast location. You’re close to a lot of major business areas: DC, New York, Philly. I know ND has the #1 ranked business school but those rankings seem rather useless considering how easily/often schools jump around in the rankings. Frankly its all about prestige and location (assuming you have good grades) and while the two schools are about equal in prestige I like Georgetown’s location better for possible internships and job opportunities.</p>

<p>Notre Dame.</p>