<p>I am applying to Penn State next year, specifically the business school. I wanted to know how it is in terms of job placement for undergraduate finance majors, and how Penn State grads are looked upon in comparison to grads from top schools such as Ivies, NYU Stern, etc. Thanks.</p>
<p>Similar questions have been asked recently, so check the forum post history for other responses.</p>
<p>Smeal College of Business has very good programs, I think it is highly rated in the industry. They hold several career and internship fairs targeted just toward their own majors, so job placement is good. Due to the economy though, the recent fairs had less than average turn-outs and people are swtiching out of the business majors to more marketable ones in the college of info, sci, and techn for instance. </p>
<p>Your education is going to be on par with ivy leaguers, although they will have the “name” to back them up. Nevertheless, the PSU alumni network is HUGE so you’re bound to have a leg-up somewhere you apply due to those connections.</p>
<p>You might want to consider majoring in actuarial science at Smeal. It’s one of the best actuarial science programs there is (only few schools even have the major). It’s the highest paying major out of all Smeal majors, and maybe all of Penn State. The advisor for actuarial science, who also teaches classes in the major, says his A and B students are easily getting jobs after graduation and making like 70k+ on average starting salary</p>
<p>Research the actuary career if you haven’t already. Just like you, I wanted to major in finance at first when I applied last year (applied to NYU Stern early decision and got rejected, maybe that was a blessing in disguise). Then I heard about the actuary career (after I already applied to like 10 business schools) and became really interested after researching it. Luckily for me, I applied to Smeal which had the act. sci. major. I also got accepted into BC, Villanova, and Lehigh biz schools, in which I would have majored in finance had I gone to each, but chose act. sci. at Smeal over all 3.</p>