Which option opens more doors for jobs?
Depends on which LACS and which jobs.
Wharton grads are well liked by pretty much all the finance firms (IB, PE, banks, etc…) If that’s your path, you can’t go wrong. But if you’re interested in something that might involve the intersection of finance and something else (public policy, health care, education, publishing ), the breadth implied by a degree from a LAC might be preferable to a pre-professional degree. And of course, preference is in the eye of the beholder/interviewer. The strength of the alumni network can come into play here as well.
My advice is to pick the school that offers the experience in that 4 years that appeals most to you. No guarantees about what happens at the other end. In other words, it’s not 4 years out of your life with the hope of xyz job, but 4 years of your life during which you can refine your thoughts about what comes next.
Wharton. Easy choice. In terms of career connections, you cannot beat Wharton.
@gardenstategal Top LAC’s like William, Pomona and Amherst etc and well paid careers in economics related fields.
If you were to approach your inquire technically, you could compare salary data through U.S. News. Penn graduates in general do earn more in their early careers than, say, the NESCAC LAC with the highest reported earnings, Hamilton:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-pennsylvania-3378
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/hamilton-college-2728
However, for a more meaningful comparison, it would be informative to compare by major, which seems to be data available through subscription.
A few comments:
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It is important to understand that economics and finance are very different majors. Economics is a liberal arts course of study and gets very theoretical at the upper levels. In contrast if you go to an undergraduate business school you will take a business core with introductory classes in subjects such as accounting, finance, IT, marketing etc. and then you will major in one of those disciplines. I’m not saying that one path is better than the other, but they are different. I would take the time to look at the coursework (can be found online) for both a finance and an economics major and see if one path is preferable to you.
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I’m a Wharton alum and I can’t imagine a better place to start a career in business.
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Wharton and the top LACs are all incredibly competitive admissions-wise. Until you get in and actually have a chance to make a choice between them, it is a moot point.
@happy1 You are right but I asked because he wants to make his ED pick. You can’t ED to both.
The environment (urban large university v LAC) as well as the course of study (economics v business) will be quite different between Penn and a top LAC. Hopefully he/she will visit and determine a preference.
It’s probably Wharton. However, assuming that you are considering some elite liberal arts college as your comparison, you’re comparing colleges that are in the top 1-5%. They’re all going to have excellent employment outcomes, and at that point it might be splitting hairs - probably with the exception of a few fields (if I knew I wanted Wall Street finance, investment banking, or management consulting, then Wharton might give you better choices - but the top liberal arts college send students to those careers all the time).
Consider also that college is about so much more than employment outcomes. If you went to Pomona, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, etc., over Wharton, you’d still have excellent post-college outcomes - but you’d also have a very different college experience. Those four years are super integral to the formation of your adult self, so think about them from a more holistic standpoint than simply what kind of job you’ll get.
Students at certain LACs can expand their studies through a Harvard Business School certificate program while still undergraduates: http://blogs.wgbh.org/on-campus/2015/5/5/harvard-business-school-expands-online-initiative-liberal-arts-colleges/. This could enhance the immediate employment prospects for liberal arts college graduates who’ve added an HBS credential.
@merc81 Its only an online program, not a true HBS experience.
@CupCakeMuffins: Well, Yes, but the HBS program – online, but interactive, with classroom-like cold calling – broadens the curricula of these LACs beyond their own excellent, undergraduate-focused economics programs. The combination to me is what’s of interest. As I understand it, this is the same program, in the same form, that’s available to Harvard undergraduates, btw.
Economics graduate students earn significantly less than accounting major. That being said, I suggest Wharton.
@merc81 Its the same for any college, only difference is HBS providing Amherst students financial aid to cover the cost, which is useless for ones who aren’t eligible for need based aid.
The HBS program aside, Wharton grads and top-LAC grads with similar ambitions tend to arrive at comparable graduate business schools. College Transitions lists these schools as producing the highest percentages of graduates who go on to “top-ranked” MBA programs:
Amherst
Bates
Claremont McKenna
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Duke
Georgetown
Hamilton
Harvard
Middlebury
Northwestern
Pomona
Stanford
UChicago
UMichigan
UPennsylvania
U Southern California
Yale
Yeshiva
@merc81 Wharton grads generally don’t need or want MBAs.
A top LAC provides a vastly different experience than what you would get at Wharton. Deciding which environment you want should help you decide where to apply for ED. That said, Wharton opens more doors, especially in finance.
I would go to Wharton in a heartbeat. Not even a question in my opinion.
I’m the biggest fan boy of LACs, but Wharton is definitely a notch ahead when it comes to jobs. That said, it’s a vastly different experience from a small LAC, and you can end up at Wall Street or another similarly lucrative/prestigious domestic job through the top LACs as well. Wharton/Penn has international acclaim that top LACs do not.
Actually, no, they don’t. Not necessarily.
Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce finds (using Census data) that recent grad accounting majors make about $45K to $47K, on average, and about $70K to $75K after 5+ years of experience. Recent grad economics majors make around $47K to $52K, and about $80K to $85K after 5+ years of experience.
However, this is likely to vary a lot - depending on what kind of post-college career options students are looking for.
https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/HardTimes2015-Report.pdf
Isn’t it ironic that after paying $76k per year for these colleges, a graduate earns $45k?