I’m considering both because I really like both, but I do want to be aware of the rigor. I want to get into finance/banking, and I’ve heard that GPA is important. I know this is a subjective question but I just want to know how econ students perform overall. Is it common to get a 3.5+?
If I do econ, I can also get transfer and AP credits for calc, bio, and some other gen eds (history classes). Will this help me keep my GPA up or should I just redo the classes? Thanks!
If you’re wanting to go into finance/banking, enroll in the AEM school. However, obviously this is a specified college, so you should be pretty certain before choosing to do so. Internal transfers aren’t allowed after you begin your junior year. I am an economics major at Cornell who is looking to go into banking, and I regret not choosing AEM. From what I have heard, the workload is noticeably easier and more flexible. The vast majority of my courses In A&S have have been irrelevant to my desired career path. The hardest classes I have ever taken at Cornell were also economics courses in A&S, beating out subjects like physics. Not to mention I think there is a lot of bureaucratic stuff that is much more fluid in AEM. For example, study abroad is significantly easier. This is obviously just my perspective do with it as you will.
Hi! I applied to colleges this year and want to enter the business field as well. I was strongly debated applying to these two schools as well, but I think I can say with confidence that you should apply to AEM. Ultimately, when you investigate the two programs, AEM beats A&S Econ in almost everything. AEM is a small program…about 200 students per year, so you get much more individualized attention from Dyson and business professors. AEM students get to take classes spanning all areas of business and econ. There is leadership development and some of that is even integrated into AEM courses. There are ample opportunities for international study not just through Dyson’s study abroad programs, but also through the AEM curriculum. Careers and internships are very important for AEM as well, and you get easier access to employers and Dyson alumni. Overall, AEM is an entire undergraduate business program that is still very unique compared to Stern, Ross, and Wharton.
On the other hand, when you look on Cornell Econ’s website, you can see clearly that the econ department is nothing more than a name given to the econ professors and econ classes. The only thing special is a “lounge” for econ majors where you can study together with other econ students. The econ clubs/honor societies are small and for the most part, don’t benefit students much. There seems to be no econ-specific career guidance. You’re basically on your own.
However, the most important thing for me was employment opportunities. I spoke with other Cornell students and recruiting for banking/finance is equal between the schools. Employers have no preference between the schools and they also know about the difference in difficulty between econ/ AEM. You will not be at a disadvantage because of being in econ, but GPA is very important, so that may impact recruitment a lot. One thing’s for certain, however: the experiences are vastly different between the schools.
I ultimately chose to apply to econ sigh, but I realize how much of a mistake it was. Although I appreciate the econ courses, AEM offers everything I really want: a small program, individualized attention, business-specific classes, international opportunities, and really just everything business. It really came down to acceptance rates for me. A&S has a 10% acceptance rate for males while AEM has a 5% acceptance rate for males. I did not have much confidence in my application at the time I applied, and so chose Econ. I regret the decision. I have also come to realize that, since my application is completely business focused, I may have also butchered my chances at Cornell and probably had a better chance applying to AEM.
Anyways, this is just my take, and you should definitely do your due diligence when deciding on which school to apply through. Even with talking to Cornell students and investigating the website, I made the wrong choice based on acceptance rates lol. Please don’t !!!
Hi, in your experience, for IB/networking how is networking and internship opportunities for Dyson AEM? One thing that I was warned about was that Cornell’s huge class size means that there’s a lot of people competing for very few positions when the firms are hiring or seeking interns.