So my absolute dream school was Stanford (though I knew I had a very slight chance of getting in) - and I was rejected. Fortunately, I was accepted to Cornell, Berkeley and Northwestern!! Financial Aid aside (already taken care of), which school do you think is the best for me?
I’m looking to major in Business - hopefully entrepreneurship, where I can start my own innovation company. Until then, I’ll probably be in business administration.
Dream location: California (So I love Berkeley)
When stating which school for me, please think about these questions (though you don’t have to answer them on here):
But it’s about the education… which school provides the best business recognition and which school provides the best education?
If you were to hire me, which school would you be “wowed” by most?
How nice is the atmosphere, social life, and campus of the school?
According to the rankings… Northwestern comes at #6 best business school in the country, Berkeley #7 and Cornell #16.
I’m going to be visiting all of them this month… but until then, I just need some input.
I would personally choose Cornell! It’s located close to NYC (for internships and recruitment) and probably has a much stronger alumni network in the business world.
Only Berkeley has an undergrad business degree. NU has two business certificate options, but not a major for undergrads. Not that you can’t get to the same place from any of the three.
At Northwestern and Cornell, you’ll most likely be majoring the econ because there’s no business major. Personally, I would choose NU, but if you really want to study business, go with Berkeley. All 3 schools are excellent and will get you roughly the same post-graduate opportunities, so it just comes down to which atmosphere you like better.
I would say that one problem with Berkeley for undergraduate is that you won’t actually know if you will be accepted to the pre-haas program until your last sophomore year/ junior year of college, which can be a major downside if you don’t end up getting in - in addition, I found out through my UC Berkeley Entrepreneurship camp over the summer that it’s usually really hard to get the classes you want and it’s why a lot of people I know don’t end up graduating in 4 years
BUT if you do end up succeeding at Berkeley with your business degree, you will definitely be in line to create a start-up. With Silicon Valley in your backyard, you’re in the right place.
Though, if you don’t want to risk it (I personally didn’t want to) - I would suggest Northwestern
Even though Northwestern doesn’t have a business degree, they do have a business minor and a certicificate program for entrepreneurship through the Mccormick school of engineering, which seems very appropriate considering that you’re planning to create a startup in the technological fields. In addition, the graduate business school, Kellogg, offers 2 certificate programs that are highly prestigious and would greatly appeal to potential employers as well. Northwestern is right outside of downtown Chicago, which is a great place for internships and recruitment.
I don’t know much info about Cornell nor how prestigious their business program is, but all I know is that they do offer a concentration in entrepreneurship through the school of applied economics and management and that it’s over an hour away to NYC (which is not that close compared to Northwestern to Chicago)
Yes and it is extremely difficult and expensive to go to NYC without a car. There is a Cornell bus which takes 5 hours and costs I think around $175 round trip (I was looking to get up awhile ago) or you can take a public bus for less but it takes longer I think. Not sure if there are any other big cities around other than Ithaca where Cornell is located. The medical school is in NYC and probably some graduate programs which is why they have a special bus. It is also possible to fly to Ithaca but it is expensive
@SaphireNY You make very good points! At the same time, I have family in NYC and compared to Berkeley, a roundtrip $175 does sound a lot better than a probably $400+ ticket to NY or FL (my hometown). Do you have any information on how much it could cost roundtrip for a train or if that is available? Thanks!
@wayneandgarth That is true…Berkeley is known for having a great business undergrad program, but the only thing that concerns me is that roughly only half of the student applicants are selected into that program junior year and that leads me to feel like there will be nothing but stress and competitiveness throughout college experience.
There is the School of Hotel Admin at Cornell, isn’t that technically where I can major in business? :o that is slightly confusing to me.
If I got accepted to the School of Hotel Admin, then can’t I technically get a business major from that? Will I have to apply again to the Dyson school afterwards?
@snowbells- on the Haas admission percentage, I will bet you will find the transfer app acceptance is close to zero. Subtract that out and the acceptance rate is higher. Be determined, seek out what makes the best candidates and work for it. You’ll then be successful.
@Snowbells If you google “Cornell Dyson Undergraduate” you will find the answers. And the hotel management school is different from Dyson which is the business school. You would have to research the probability of being able to do an internal transfer.
As I understand it, the program of studies at the School of Hotel Administration is similar to an undergraduate business degree, except that it is slanted towards the hospitality industry. (and real estate, interestingly).
There are people on the Cornell subforum who know more about it.
Dyson is currently the most selective program at Cornell. Transfer into Dyson is not guaranteed.
Dyson seems to be a really good program. I don’t know what #16 refers to: is that the Johnson graduate business school MBA ranking? (which would not be relevant). The undergraduate rankings seem to vary quite a bit. A year or so ago Dyson was top 3, now it looks like #10. But when you look into it, you find out those rankings are based on nothing but student surveys.
The Hotel School is the best of its type in the country, Whether its curriculum is what you want I can’t say.
Historically hotel students did very well with getting job offers. I don’t know about now, one way or the other. I hear Dyson grads do very well now. A friend’s kid graduated last year with 4+ job offers.
Ithaca is 4-5 hours from NYC. The cheapest way to get there is to get a ride from a fellow student who is going there. There are a zilion students who live in the NYC metro area. Ithaca is not a big city but it is routinely rated among the best college towns and is a fun place to go to school IMO.
To the OP: Hotel is essentially a service-industry-oriented b-school. I wouldn’t see a pressing need to try to transfer to AEM if you go to Cornell.
If you are dead-set on a business education, I would choose between Cornell-Hotel and Northwestern. Northwestern doesn’t have an undergraduate business major, per se, but with the Kellogg certificates, Integrated Marketing Communications certificate, Business Institutions minor, Entrepreneurship certificate, classes in IE, and potentially the Russell Fellows program (where you can get an MS in Management Studies from Kellogg, though you’d have to apply for it), so long as you’re not looking to become an accountant, you can essentially get as much training as any undergraduate b-school would give you.
“…train was not a great way to go to Cornell not sure why .”
Because no trains stop there. That’s why.
Amtrak goes to Syracuse, but that’s over an hour away.