Jerome Fisher or Harvard?

<p>anyone else? this is really a hard decision. i want to get an idea before i visit penn and harvard... anyone else who got into dual degree and other top schools?</p>

<p>so i wish i could find the amazing post that my friend wrote a while back, but basically she had to choose between m&t and harvard and she chose m&t for a number of reasons. i can't think of them all, but here are a couple conveyed not quite as well as the original and others that i've just added from my observations:</p>

<ol>
<li>life is about selectivity, were you able to beat out others and get that position. m&t has about 50 people each year, there are very few of us out there. this is a strong differentiating factor. and when it comes to recruiting, how will you differentiate yourself at harvard apart from your gpa? at wharton, you'll get the SAME firms, AND you'll stand out because they know about m&t.</li>
<li>if you're interested in going into the business world in some way (venture capital, private equity, etc.) nothing beats wharton and the connections you develop through wharton on the undergraduate level. also, the m&t community is pretty tight knit since therey's only like 1400 of them out there. i've emailed a number of alumni in the past and have almost always gotten responses and advice.</li>
<li>m&t draws together a group of amazing people! think about it, to want to do such a rigorous program in engineering and business - you got to be ambitious. ALSO, from talking to other m&ts, everyone is extremely well rounded. that's one of the really cool things about the program. they didn't just look for the dork in HS who got the best grades. they looked for the dork in HS who got the best grades AND was captain of their high school sports team AND was concert master of their orchestra. i can't stress how amazing the people are - i've definitely met some of my best friends here. as a side note, if you're into the whole myers-briggs personality test, i'm convinced that the majority of M&Ts are NTJs or NTPs ...</li>
<li>you do have time to do things. m&ts are masters at juggling and balancing stuff. i know this one guy that's president of the sailing team, doing electical engineering and finance and management, in a frat, parties like an idiot and is probably drunk 5 nights of the week now ... AND he has a gpa upwards of 3.8 (not to mention an amazing job next year). so you can definitely still be social ... most of the m&ts are.</li>
</ol>

<p>if you're really on the fence, you should def email back the current student that emailed you. these people expect you to email questions, so def take advantage of it. and it's a pretty big decision - i disagree with what someone said before about how you'll be the same person regardless of what college you choose. i've definitely grown a lot from my experience at penn and in particular m&t and i am certain that this experience has changed the course of life ... okay that got kinda sappy, i'm a senior and about the graduate so doing a lot of reflection ...</p>

<p>That was a beautiful post. ;)</p>

<p>PW, definitely don't choose Harvard because its Harvard. If you are interested in business, investment, venture capitalism, etc. then definitely go with M&T. Also, if you are remotely into engineering then pick M&T because Harvard is ridiculously bad in this respect. </p>

<p>M&T will give you a large advantage if you select the career path that it provides you with.</p>

<p>yeah.. i see what you mean... the only reason i'm doubting MT is that i was told to never pick a school because of a single program.. and i am not THAT passionate about business... i am 80 - 90% confident that my major will be business related... and also, people have been telling me that harvard will offer a better undergraduate experience..</p>

<p>i visited penn for 4 days.. i didn't really like the campus but i thought the ppl were really cool... it was during the spring fling so it was basically a party time...</p>

<p>Ya, PW, I made the same decision with UChicago and Stanford. I was 95% sure that I was going to major in Economics, for which UChicago is undoubtedly the best, but people kept telling me that undergrad is more than your major and its all about the "experience." So, I decided on Stanford. </p>

<p>But your case is slightly different because I can still do Economics at Stanford and the difference is not very significant but M&T is a very unique program and a very unique opportunity, so I think that you can choose your school based on your major.</p>

<p>I agree that prestige should be the last reason you choose a school especially when debating these two. In reality, people will not say "oh, well you only went to Penn" it just doesn't happen. You have to find the school that will serve as the best fit. </p>

<p>My own personal experience, M&T kids are by far the most well-rounded students I know and further, they are <em>sincerely</em> interested in their field of study. Additionally, if you don't like the program (which is doubtful because it is extremely successful and the students are by and large happy with it) then coming from M&T is definitely a plus. </p>

<p>FIT, FIT, FIT.</p>

<p>Hey I'm in a similar position. I got into M&T, Harvard, MIT and the Robertson Scholarship at Duke. Completely lost here since I could def. see myself at any one of those places. Help?</p>

<p>PW: if you liked the people that you met at Penn more than the people you met at the other schools, then you should def choose penn. as for the better undergrad experience at harvard, i don't think anyone can really say what's better and what's worse because you only get one undergrad experience (how are you going to compare) and people look for different things in terms of the college experience. for example, a large part of my decision for college was getting a job upon graduation. i didn't like how fluffy liberal arts was, but i wasn't definite on engineering, so i chose m&t. that choice made me feel much more comfortable during college and allowed me to enjoy the time i had with my friends (e.g. no guilt about wasting my tuition money, no worries about leaving school and entering the real world, etc). this certainty/security played a larger role in my college experience than say being able to get thrashed 5 nights a week and partying my ass off because i had a bunch of free time. </p>

<p>i applied to m&t early decision, so i can't relate directly to the college indecision. but what i learned through job choice indecision was that when the time comes to make a decision, you'll make one. and chances are, you're going to love whatever decision you make because that's how the human mind works. so fret, but don't fret too much. as a side note though, in the case of m&t, it really is a very distinct program ... so there shouldn't be so much uncertainty about whether you want to do it or not. but some pointers:</p>

<ol>
<li>it's always about the people because they're going to be more valuable than the education </li>
<li>it's about what really matters to you out of the college experience and not what matters to others</li>
<li>it's about which opportunity will give you the best spring board after college and open the most options for you (optionality is key in life)</li>
</ol>

<p>okay, good luck!</p>

<p>I ended up choosing harvard... well... i'll never know if it was the right choice. but i did have my reasons.</p>

<p>I'm thinking of doing a joint Econ/Math concentration here...</p>

<p>at times here, i do think what my life would've been like had i gone to MT... esp when things are not going well here... which has been most of the time as it is very competitive and the classes i'm taking are quite demanding.. but oh well, it's too late now.. i'm still happy with the decision I made... i didn't want to limit my options to investment, business, etc. here, i can do theoreitical economics and maybe get an econ PhD.</p>

<p>what did the rest of you guys choose between MT and other schools and what were your reasons?</p>

<p>Too bad economics is not real business. Perhaps a little harsh, but that's just my opinion. Economics doesn't help with running a business. Economics is used for trying to determine the state and future of the economy, not one person's business. I could see arguments otherwise, but I just think it's good to start your business degree early and not dilly dally with the economic undergrad degree if you aren't going to use it.</p>

<p>You say you are happy but your post doesn't really come through that way...</p>

<p>If you are considering doing a PhD in Economics and consider yourself more of an academic than a practitioner, then I think that Econ at Harvard is a great choice for you. Business is great, but it's not for everyone (although I do have classmates getting PhDs in economics..)</p>

<p>But still, you don't really sound happy.</p>