Hey, I’m putting together a list of colleges to apply to with the intent of studying business related fields, particularly finance with a possible minor in Global Studies to learn another language, preferably Mandarin because I would love to do business in China and Hong Kong
-Babson College
-Bentley University
-Boston College
-Bryant University
-Cornell University
-Dartmouth College
-Harvard College
-Northestern University
-Umass Amherst
-Villanova University
Some quick stats are:
SAT: 1440 (720 EBRW, 720 Math), 8/8 essay
SAT II: 780 US History, taking Math 2 in the fall
APs: US History (5), Biology (3), Psych, Econ, Calc AB, US Gov
4 years of Spanish Language
3.9+ UW GPA / 4.49 W GPA
Rank: 4/280
Some EC’s:
Merrimack Tutors: Created a program to be implemented in the fall that will offer free tutoring and advising services to entire town and 5 schools within town school district
DECA: Financial Analysis state qualifier, International Conference leadership academy, fundraising coordinator
Socioeconomics research with local community college
NHS: Vice President - organize student tutoring
Cross Country, Winter Track, Spring Track from freshman year on, missing one season to launch pilot tutoring program in spring
Thanks for your advice if you can offer any! If you’re a to-be grad in 2017, I wish you the best of luck this application season!
Interesting that you aren’t considering Penn since it has Wharton which is known for finance. Is there any particular reason? Penn also requires that students study a foreign language and the typical Wharton student will take almost half of their classes across Penn’s other undergrad/graduate/professional schools which makes for a highly interdisciplinary business education that you can use to focus on studying China. Penn also has the Penn-Wharton China center, plenty of study abroad opportunities, and the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, among other outstanding resources available to undergrads interested in this region of the world. Even if you were to study econ in the College, you could still take advantage of as many Wharton courses you can fit into your schedule or you can do a dual degree between Wharton and the College, engineering, or Nursing if you want to broaden your b-school education even more. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Penn or studying business at wharton specifically, i’m happy to answer them
Second the comment that Harvard and Dartmouth don’t have undergraduate business schools so may not be as good of a fit. And also agree that you were thinking of Harvard that an application to Wharton might be a better option for your interests. BC might be a good option in the Boston area as well.
I have looked into Fordham as well and am considering adding it to my list. The reason I had Dartmouth and Harvard on my list is I liked their flexibility and closeness to home (I live in MA). If you apply to Penn undergrad, do you apply directly to their Wharton program? I am worried my SATs disqualify me. @Chardo@PennCAS2014@happy1
@mclaughlinm34 – yes, if you apply to Penn undergrad you can apply to one (and only one) of Penn’s undergrad schools: The College, Engineering, Nursing, and Wharton. And if your SAT scores don’t disqualify you from Harvard and Dartmouth then they wouldn’t disqualify you from Penn either. Penn, like Harvard and Dartmouth, partake in a holistic admissions process. I know students with lower SAT scores than yours who went Wharton. I know MANY kids with much higher sat scores than yours who were rejected from all of Penn’s schools. If your interests are truly in business, then I definitely recommend at least submitting an application and seeing where the chips fall. Penn is a reach for anyone who is applying-- there’s no point in not giving it a go if you think you might be a good fit! There are also application fee waivers if the cost of applying to an additional school is too burdensome. So really, there’s no downside to applying-- the worst that could happen is that you don’t go to Wharton, which, if you don’t apply, would be the case anyway
Look at schools in the top 25 of the BW student survey - that’s feedback from seniors who have gone through the b-school program. Bryant has a mandatory liberal arts minor and its IB program requires a language so you won’t have to do any course juggling. I think Bentley has a dual program with global studies. Finance - ask how helpful the school is in CFA or CFP type preparation.
If you are really serious about China, ask each school if they promote top students for the (relatively) new Schwarzman Scholars (kind of like the Rhodes/Marshall except with China) – good next step to go from your UG to a GR program in China and make some serous connections.
Also you don’t talk about other items - urban versus rural will help you weed out schools either way. Small versus big - I always think how easy will it be to become one of the school’s finance investment fund (I can’t say for all, but I would think each of those schools with actual b-schools have a student run portfolio club with real money at stake) gurus, etc. NYU, Bryant, and Duke have schools in China beyond just the ‘study abroad’ programs.
Although Harvard and Darthmouth do not offer finance, they do better in placing students in financial services than almost any business school - the only business school on the OP’s list that can match/beat them is Wharton.
Job/internship placements are what matter the most by far for someone with a pre-professional leaning like the OP (since he/she wants to major in finance, a pre-professional major at the undergraduate level).
@yikesyikesyikes Nobody is arguing that Harvard, Dartmouth as well as well as other top tier schools put a number of students into business jobs. My comment was based solely on the OP’s statement that he/she has the “intent of studying business related fields, particularly finance.” The OP can certainly study a path such as economics at schools without business programs, but it is a different course of study (liberal arts v business). One path is not better or worse than the other, but they are different. I only mentioned that Harvard and Dartmouth do not have undergraduate b-school to be certain that the OP is aware of this because not everyone who is intent on studying finance in a b-school would be happy shifting to a different course of study
I agree not everyone would be happy in both business and econ settings, but I assume that the job placements/network are what is most important for OP (as is the case for most people who wish to major in finance).
@yikesyikesyikes That might well be true for many, but I know for my S the curriculum itself was a deciding factor – -- he looked through the coursework required to be an economics major as well as the coursework required at undergraduate business programs and found that he had a strong preference for a b-school curriculum. He recognized that economics gets very theoretical at the upper levels and felt a b-school curriculum was more suited to his particular interests and strengths.
I think we basically are in agreement – I just wanted to point out to the OP the schools that don’t have undergraduate b-school programs in case that was a factor for him/her (as it turned out to be for my S).
You have very good stats and your list reflects that. I would suggest looking into University of South Carolina International Business program. While your stats suggest it would be an uber safety for the overall U, the IB program is extremely selective, ranked #1 for international business (both Bloomberg and US News) and only admits ~165 students.
It has extensive study abroad (including China) and foreign language study.
There is also merit $$ for high stats students.
Check it out! http://moore.sc.edu/academicprograms/undergraduate/majorsoffered/internationalbusiness/optionsoverviews.aspx#IBCE
@happy1 Yup I think we are, and good for your son - I would say he is a pretty rare exception in the Machiavellian dynamic that defines the financial services career landscape.,
I would also urge the OP to look into Ross and, if he/she can afford it, Haas/Stern.
Your list is well-balanced, with UMass a safety (apply to Commonwealth Honors) as well as Bryant. Run the NPC and bring the results to your parents to make sure they’re both affordable.
I second Wharton, especially if you can increase your math score and will have completed calculus with an A by the end of senior year.
