Harvard vs. Wharton (for Finance)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Someone just sent me a PM asking about my thoughts on Harvard vs. Wharton for someone who wants to do finance after graduation. This question sort of presumes finance as we know it will exist four years from now... but assuming no radical changes, here's what I think:</p>

<p>Wharton - Probably better for going straight into Private Equity, very technical finance.
Harvard - Probably better for going into Consulting, more "soft skills" finance.
(That said, you can do consulting from UPenn and PE from Harvard!)</p>

<p>Wharton - Lots of business learning in the classroom.
Harvard - Little business learning in the classroom (although you can cross-register at MIT for their finance/business classes). But lots of business activity outside of the classroom (i.e. Crimson Business Board, Harvard Financial Analysts Club, etc)</p>

<p>Wharton - Very intense competition for jobs + internships
Harvard - Very intense competition for jobs + internships, but maybe a slightly smaller pool of interested students.</p>

<p>Wharton - You need to study finance to get a finance job.
Harvard - You can study pretty much anything you want and get a finance job - so long as you take some econ + math classes (I got a great m&a advisory internship offer as a Biology major).</p>

<p>Wharton - You'll be surrounded by business students most of the time.
Harvard - There's a strong group of students interested in business, but most of your friends/classmates will be interested in other things.</p>

<p>My bias is a bit towards Harvard - I think the job opportunities are just as good as Wharton (with a slight exception at the very technical side), but you get a much more well-rounded education + peer group. If you really just want your next four years to be all business <em>all the time</em> then Wharton's probably the place for you.</p>

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<p>I am going to Wharton next year and think that it’s a pretty accurate assessment except for where you will mostly be around Wharton students at Wharton. You still take a bunch of liberal arts classes and Wharton students are involved with everyone else.</p>

<p>It is not business all the time (or even close to that) but there is more business than at Harvard (which is what I like).</p>

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<p>I guess I’ll chime in as well. I am currently at Wharton. </p>

<p>Most of what you said is fairly accurate. I will say that as a Wharton student you are not isolated from the rest of the undergraduate community at Penn unless you choose to do that.</p>

<p>Also, you do not necessarily have to concentrate in finance to land a finance job. That is the norm, but I have seem people with other concentrations do the finance thing. I must admit its hard to judge that well, because Finance is by far the most popular concentration here, so its a moot issue of sorts.</p>