<p>Alright, so I've spent a few weeks at Georgetown and I truly love the campus. I am looking into studying business when I go to college, so I think it's a good choice of a school. However, there are others I am looking at that give a statistical advantage in the early round. On Georgetown's website, it says there's no statistical advantage to applying early. Because of that, is it a better decision to just go for the others in the early round? Would love some advice from people who might have faced this dilemma in the past. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Are you contemplating an uber selective early decision (like say Wharton at UPenn) or SCEA?</p>
<p>Yeah, Penn Wharton is what I had in mind</p>
<p>Deciding where to apply early is probably one of the toughest decisions you’ll have to make (especially with the binding constraints of early decision). </p>
<p>My roommate is in the MSB and believe me, I hear a lot about Wharton vs. MSB. Both are highly competitive, outstanding business schools ranked in the top 10 of Best Undergraduate Business Schools (Bloomberg Businessweek). He’s mentioned in the past that he’d heard the early decision admit rate for Wharton is about 13-15% somewhat lower than their general early admit rate of 26%. </p>
<p>2015 Admit Applied % Early Admit Applied % RD Applied
Penn 3,880 31,659 12.26 1,195 4,557 26.22 2,685 27,102 9.91 </p>
<p>I’d be curious to hear your perspectives on Philly and the UPenn campus now that you’ve spent some time at Georgetown.</p>
<p>Sorry about the jumbled chart…copy and paste didn’t work out so well but you get the idea.</p>
<p>Thanks, that chart is really nice. In terms of location, I loved the Georgetown campus-it was pretty much anything I’d want in a college. So in terms of fit, Georgetown is awesome. And I actually haven’t had the opportunity to experience Penn’s campus. So for me it comes down to whether I really think Penn is that great in order to only apply their during the early round as opposed to Georgetown + other schools that allow early action.</p>
<p>Penn has a beautiful campus in the city. I had been warned that it was not in the best part of town but I didn’t really think it was that bad. Now, it is not nearly as picturesque as Georgetown but it has its charms. The vibe at Penn is very different than GU and after spending some time with students in the Huntsman Program, I realized fairly quickly that the fit wasn’t quite right for what I wanted to do (although on paper it seemed to be perfect). If at all possible, I would try to visit the campus & talk to some students/profs before I committed myself to a binding ED decision. </p>
<p>I remember well the stress of deciding where I was going to apply early. Wouldn’t want to relive those days for anything. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks, that seems really similar to my situation because Wharton does look great on paper but I don’t really have an inside viewpoint yet. I’ll try my best to look into it more but I’m leaning towards MSB because I figure I’ll end up with a great job anyway if I do well. Thanks for all the input!</p>
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<p>Philly residents and Penn students assure me that the campus and surrounding area is a little shady but there are numerous safety precautions. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Penn has a HUGE presence in the area (West Philly) and own a lot of the buildings around there, thus requiring more campus security. </p>
<p>But to help mamba123, what do you look for in an institution? You can easily find out what the curriculum is like at both MSB and Wharton through your plethora of resources (CC, the school’s website, etc.) but there are many other factors, some more important than others, that should be weighed into the decision. </p>
<p>For instance, what do you aspire to do in the business field? Go into IB? Maybe work at an NGO or do consultancy? What other academic fields interest you and do you want to take classes outside of the Econ/Business stuff you will be learning at the B-school? </p>
<p>Basically, give us a rundown of things that you find important (both about the university, academically and socially) and then we can help you out more.</p>
<p>From what I’ve researched, I like consulting and management. However, I’d be incredibly interested in anything international with business because it’s always been a passion of mine to learn about other countries/cultures. So going abroad, both during college and during my working life, is very big for me and I want to get involved on the international front. Obviously, I would also be open to other careers if I saw a good opportunity but from what I’ve seen, if I had to choose a path right now it’d be either consulting or management. </p>
<p>Outside of business, I’m very interested in writing so I’ll definitely take classes dealing with english and literature. I also enjoy history. </p>
<p>In terms of the university, I think it just needs to be a good location with a good enough campus feel. I think both Georgetown and Penn would offer this. However, I do like scenic places and I have to say Georgetown was amazing in that regard. </p>
<p>Socially, I’m someone that does party but my top priority is grades. I think Georgetown might have a social edge over most top caliber B schools in this regard, though.</p>
<p>If you’re looking to do business on an international front, I’d strongly recommend looking into The Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, which is a dual-degree program at Penn. I’m sure you know about it, but if you don’t, you basically graduate with a B.Sc in Economics from Wharton and a B.A. in International Studies from the School of Arts and Sciences. To apply, you need to prove proficiency in a secondary language (through AP scores, subject tests, etc.) and be a competitive applicant (as with any applicant to Penn). The applicants are very self-selective in that there are prerequisites (secondary language) and a personal motivation to enter this program as opposed to just Wharton or SAS.</p>
<p>Another program if you’re interested in “international business” would be NYU Stern’s BPE (Business, Politics and Economics), where you would spend your first year at NYU’s campus in NYC (their main campus), your second year at NYU’s London campus and the first semester of your Junior year at NYU’s Shanghai campus. Apparently this program is extremely selective because these kids are provided with both a business and liberal arts education (as opposed to all other Stern kids who only study business) and get to spend a year and a half abroad, living in two of the most important business (and cultural) cities in the world (and then back to NYC, obviously, another important city). If you’'re looking for a good campus, then BPE probably isn’t for you, but I hear it opens up a world of connections.</p>
<p>In terms of social scene, Penn is known as the “social Ivy” and NYU is in New York, which needs no further explanation. Not sure about the scene at Georgetown, but I’m sure there are bars in the area and parties at the frats. Perhaps MacHoban can enlighten us.</p>
<p>Yeah, those are both great programs. I’d already heard of Huntsman but the NYU program isn’t something I’ve read too much about. It seems great, but I might be turned off by the lack of a true campus feel. And with Penn, the Huntsman program is great but I don’t think I would be able to prove complete proficiency in another language. Also, I’d be curious to hear why Machoban didn’t really like the feel of Huntsman. </p>
<p>Also, is there anything about Georgetown that makes you think it might not be as great international business wise?</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know enough about GTown to point out anything that is “not so great” for a student wanting to go into international business. The school is prestigious, which, frankly, matters a lot in the business world (but then again, MSB is noit as prestigious as Wharton. A lot of business is the connections you make, so if you want to work internationally for some sort of business, connections with people there who can get you a job or interning at a company that can give you a full-time job once you graduate is important.</p>
<p>I suppose if one were exclusively looking for the prestige of attending of the best ranked undergraduate business school, they should apply to either Mendoza at Notre Dame or McIntire at UVA. These schools have been ranked #1 & #2 best undergraduate business schools two years in a row by Bloomberg Businessweek. </p>
<p>In the 2011 survey by BW, Wharton was ranked #4 & MSB #10 best undergraduate business schools.</p>
<p>Job Recruiter Survey: MSB #18 & Wharton #21</p>
<p>Feeders in to the top MBA programs: MSB #7 & Wharton #11</p>
<p>I can only imagine that MSB rankings are going to continue to rise with the opening of the brand new facility and the new Dean, David Thomas, former Associate Dean from Harvard Business School.</p>
<p>mamba123 I’d be glad to share my experiences of my brief time at UPenn and what I learned about the Huntsman program from current Huntsman students. I did the standard overnight visit and went to some classes. It is a phenomenal program, for the right person, just was not right for me. Feel free to PM me with your questions.</p>
<p>MacHoban – I’m kinda questioning that ranking, because in the full list, they put down the name of the university’s business school. Many of those listed business schools are graduate school only (Haas, Sloan), so I don’t know if this is just a slapdash list they put together or a well-revised and researched one. The gold standard (for some odd reason) for college rankings is the US News and World Report, which pegs Wharton as the #1 undergraduate B-School. That being said, the US News one isn’t great either. Frankly, the most important factor in undergraduate business schools is networking, which I believe you’ll best get at an accredited business school like Wharton or McDonough.</p>
<p>^ Here is the link from Businessweek with the compiled data… It is a list of the top 50 Undergraduate Business schools and link to the detailed description of their methodology for ranking (student surveys, corporate recruiting surveys, surveys from the top 35 MBA programs, peer surveys, etc.). </p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools 2011 - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>[How</a> We Ranked the Schools - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>On the other hand, the U.S. News & World Report Rankings (for Best Undergraduate Business School) state upfront that they are based solely on a peer assessment survey. </p>
<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools | Top Undergraduate Business Programs | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/business)</p>
<p>Admittedly, I’m not a business major and know precious little about business schools but it seems to me that from a purely statistical perspective the applied survey methods Businessweek employed to determine “Best Undergraduate Business School” were more thorough than those employed by U.S. News & World Report. </p>
<p>Now I’m curious about Haas b/c I was pretty sure they had an undergrad program, I’ll have to check into it. I do agree wholeheartedly with your opinion about the importance of networking!</p>
<p>I thought so…</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Program - Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/Undergrad/]Undergraduate”>Undergraduate Program - Berkeley Haas)</p>
<p>MIT’s Sloan undergrad business management is interesting…</p>
<p>[SB</a> in Management Science - MIT Sloan School of Management Undergraduate Program](<a href=“http://mitsloan.mit.edu/undergrad/sb-managesci.php]SB”>http://mitsloan.mit.edu/undergrad/sb-managesci.php)</p>
<p>Here are couple more options (at great schools) to look into, if business is your passion.</p>
<p>Yeah, the thing with the rankings is that they’re both ranked high enough and have good enough statistics with job placement and salary that I think I’d be safe at either one. So with that said it’s just a matter of where I would happen to get in-I feel like I have a greater chance of Georgetown for various personal reasons connected to extracurriculars.</p>
<p>MacHoban-- I stand corrected. I was under the assumption that undergrad business schools were only ones that you applied to directly, which is why I questioned Sloan and Haas’ rankings(at least I think you don’t apply directly to those schools).</p>