<p>The title really says it all. As of now, I was admitted to Wharton and its where I really want to go. The financial aid office says that I hear back from them regarding my EFC then. However, I am not optimistic about my aid at Penn so I kinda wanna prepare myself now. If one plans to enter consulting/Ibanking, how does much debt is worth the "Wharton" brand name (along with the LSM program) when one pursues a job in these fields?</p>
<p>LSM is a nail in your coffin since it’ll probably sodomize your GPA. Wharton is worth its price tag if you have no one in the finance field who can help you build your resume (get you internships behind the scenes). Discount the price by number of connections (why bother pay 200k if your dad runs Goldman/McKinsey and you’ll have the job regardless of where you finish).</p>
<p>Does Penn normally match financial aid offers from other ivies. For example, Dartmouth is only charging me 20k a year. Is it likely they’d reduce their offer to match that if contacted?</p>
<p>Would you mind disclosing how much other Ivies are charging you? I’m just curious.</p>
<p>Depends on the level you want to get to. If you want to be a PMD at Goldman or something then I’d pay a million for Wharton. If you just want to do a 2 year analyst stint then of course its not worth nearly as much and you should consider what your next best choice is and whether the difference in price is worth it. That said, Wharton, and particularly LSM will give you a recruiting advantage. Yes, your gpa will be lower in LSM but the strong alum network and added prestige make up for that.</p>
<p>Why is everyone assuming being an LSM students = a lower GPA. I’ve spoken with several LSM students and haven’t heard that. Are any of you who are making that claim an LSM student?</p>
<p>
Yes.</p>
<p>Besides, you have nothing to lose by asking them to do that.</p>
<p>LSM: You have to take a lot of hard science courses…which are pretty hard. :)</p>
<p>theres no comparison btwn orgo and any wharton course</p>
<p>I saw a LSM resume and it was impressive (gpa was ridiculously high) but generally speaking, it’s difficult to do well in the hard sciences.</p>
<p>LSM is easier than M&T imo. Also, if you’re smart enough to get in to either, you should be able to graduate with a good GPA</p>
<p>It’s not like Dartmouth is bad name to have on your resume, but you simply can’t beat Wharton. If you are planning on going into any business based field (and are fairly set on this path), then the Wharton name is worth quite a bit. Plenty of firms, especially in PE, only recruit out of Wharton. . .also, the wharton name will give you a fairly impressive momentum straight out of college. I’d say that Wharton is probably worth around at least 15-25k more than Dartmouth on a yearly basis. Would anybody else like to put an actual range? I’d be curious to see what other kids think the specific difference in value is</p>
<p>drno:</p>
<p>I don’t believe LSM kids have to take orgo. However, I do love the sciences. The only thing I am not as fond of are the labs I have to do. I suck at labs (over think everything I do) and it takes a ton of time.</p>
<p>Honestly I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to put a price value on how much “better” you think Wharton is than Dartmouth, or any school for that matter. Just have a serious talk with your family and decide if you can handle the burden or not.</p>
<p>@arzachel: economics says otherwise</p>
<p>Dartmouth will pretty much get you the same job Wharton will so I don’t see how Wharton is more valuable.</p>
<p>@slipper: if you really wanted to, you could go to a bb ibank from community college. Its just that it is MUCH harder. I’m not saying dartmouth is much inferior but Wharton does have an edge.</p>
<p>That said, consider other factors as well. A business school is VERY different from taking econ. Many people going to ibanks are not really interested in business at all, they just have an opportunity to get a high-paying and very prestigious job. Wharton will give you a better education on fundamentals in Finance but you need to decide whether that is a fit for you. If you see yourself being the next Warren Buffett, do go to Wharton since it will teach you the Finance know-how. If you just want to make alot of money etc but wouldn’t be interested in the field if it didn’t pay as much then it doesn’t matter between the two. </p>
<p>Remember that there are two flavors of business - relationship heavy industries (like ibanking) and technicals heavy industries (think quant trading and some hedge funds). Most schools are about equal in the first one but not the second.</p>
<p>How do you figure that it’s “MUCH” harder?</p>
<p>Wharton= World class prestigious undergrad investment banker factory/ business school</p>
<p>u got into Wharton Undergrad, i can guarantee you an investment banking internship somewhere Morgan Stanely/ Merrill/ Goldman. A management internship is a given if that is your field of choice.</p>
<p>Yeah, nvm. I though thought he was talking about from dartmouth. From a community college it would be near impossible.</p>