Michigan (Ross BBA Undergrad) vs NYU (Stern Undergrad)

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Just wondering which school would be better in the LONG RUN in terms of getting good job fresh out of college, networking/connections, getting into a top MBA program (Ivys, Sloan, Booth, Kellogg etc..)</p>

<p>Background:
-Male
-NYC Resident
-Don't need Financial Aid at all (though scholarships cant hurt)
-Did an okay job in HS, 93 GPA, 1540/1600 SAT (M+CR), many EC's
-Intended Major: Finance or maybe real estate but leaning towards the former
-Future Job Aspirations: (Investment) Banking, Private Equity, Hedge Funds ...
-Accepted to Michigan EA a few days ago
-Applying to Stern (trying to decide whether to do ED II or RD)
-Also applying to WashU, Northwestern, CMU, USC, UCB, UCLA etc.. but I think Stern and Ross are probably the better schools for undergrad business</p>

<p>Current gathered input:</p>

<p>-Stern is very cutthroat and competitive, and it has the "stern curve" which gives only maybe 25% of the class an A, while the majority get B's and Cs
-Ross is less competitive in that manner, and people generally do better than kids at Stern in terms of GPA
-Stern is in the middle of the city so it has better networking, better internship/job opportunities, but the school there gears you toward a more professional route, and the undergrad experience there can be more comparable to an MBA experience there.... this results in wall street companies being packed by "Sternies", but for some reason, Stern somehow only has a 67% job placement according to Businessweek
-Ross is far away from NYC, and people there rely more on On-Campus Recruiting, alumni connections, networking, and travelling to NYC for interviews on your own, supposedly the job placement into these big name banking companies is just as good, though there is no statistical evidence of this, but it seems that Ross has a way higher job placement of 91% according to Businessweek
-The average salary for Ross Graduates is $62,000 first year; its top employers are Deloitte(10 people), Microsoft (8 people), Accenture (8 people), Goldman Sachs (7 people)
-The average salary for Stern Graduates is $62,000 first year; top employers: PWC, Goldman, Ernst & Young, Morgan Stanley
-Ross total costs is about $53,000 a year
-Stern total costs is about $61,000 a year
-Ross has a campus and a traditional campus life/greek life etc
-Stern has no campus, no campus life but it has bars & clubs
-Easy to make friends at Ross
-Hard to make friends at Stern
-Ross is predominantly white males
-Stern is predominantly asian females
-Ross has more lenient grading and less competition, so people generally have better GPAs
-Stern is cutthroat and very competitive and there is a "stern curve" that causes a lot of stress and what not, but people are more prepared for the professional world</p>

<p>Questions:
1. If I want to eventually end up in ibanking or private equity or hedge funds in the future and make some big $$$ in the long run, would Stern or Ross be a better undergraduate option? </p>

<p>Both GENERAL universities are ranked pretty low though, maybe late 20's to 30's, and I'm not sure how that looks in terms of "prestige" in the business world. Would it be better to go to one of these schools, or somewhere like Northwestern or Brown or something? </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Also, which would look better for getting accepted to a top MBA program? (I know schools' names aren't everything but it's definitely at least somewhat considered)</p></li>
<li><p>How much does GPA matter for undergraduate job hiring? Of course it isn't everything, but that's what they told me about college also, like "HS GPA isnt everything, they look at many other parts of your application," but it turns out that my HS GPA is the only thing that is holding me back from the top schools now... I think the real message was "you have to have a high HS GPA, but ALSO excel in other aspects of you application as well", is that the same for jobs? Or is GPA kind of disregarded? </p></li>
<li><p>If I have any misconceptions about anything, please do tell me :)</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>bump 10 char</p>

3

<p>Yeah but assuming if I get into both which should I go to and why?</p>

4

<p>lol idk; i feel like stern is the better school but i’d have no fun over there since its not really a real college experience and i might do bad at school there too and ruin my college gpa</p>

5

<p>i put in the total costs including everything</p>

6

<p>I wouldn’t choose a college based on how much “fun” you are going to have, let the fun that you have come from your social circle and social world outside of the college system. Let the college you choose be one that you can AFFORD, one that’s of high quality (in education quality and marketplace standing), and one that fulfills your career objectives.</p>

7

<p>Well I feel that Stern is just studying everyday and night and dealing with a ton of stress, but if thats the case then it doesn’t sound too appealing…</p>

8

<p>honestly if you want to work on wall street like yes, ross is an amazing program but NYU is literally right there and there’s no denying that it’s going to be easier finding jobs there. my dad works at goldman and said that NYU stern kids are everywhere all the time.
also my friend at nyu said her stern friends still have a lot of free time and don’t feel crippled by the workload or anything. and nyu kids have a lot of fun, yes its not really your typical frat party scene but they go to concerts and bars and clubs and stuff a lot you will definitely still have a social life. the one thing michigan definitely has an advantage tho is the sports atmosphere bc nyu doesn’t have anything like that lol.</p>

9

<p>yeah I think i’ll go with stern. thanks!</p>

10

<p>all the replies are 100% nonsense. i’m very familiar with both ross and stern at the undergrad level. if you are admitted to both and are serious about working in finance, PM me and i’ll be glad to walk you through what your main concerns are and how to make a decision from there. it’s much more of an intuitive decision than most people think.</p>

11

<p>For what you are looking for you want Stern. Do a little more research on Stern, and you will see everything that it offers you: </p>

<p>Awesome study abroad/traveling experiences which will make you a more cultured and well-rounded person</p>

<p>NYC as your social playground - 1st year/semester will of course be tough in finding your circle(s) of friends and you should always be talking to people this year & after that you are in a position to enjoy NYC w/ your life-long friends. I say life-long b/c in other universities once people get jobs they go to different places. At Stern 70-80+% of your class will be living and working in the NYC after graduation and its great to be connected to such social capital. </p>

<p>Unparalleled Opportunities to Network & Intern</p>

<p>The main difference b/w Stern & Ross in terms of Job Opportunities is that at Ross you are pretty much limited by which companies come to you to recruit. @ Stern not only do you have a larger base of companies coming to the school to recruit you, but you can also go out and make opportunities for yourself simply by putting in the effort to meet people.</p>

<p>Both are top business programs but for finance you should go with Stern. Ross is better for management.</p>

12

<p>I’m a Ross student, so if you want go ahead and take what I’m saying for what it’s worth given inherent biases.</p>

<p>That said, you would honestly rather go to NYU than Michigan?? Trust me, if you’re cut out for it you’ll have no problem getting IB or S&T opps at Ross, and you’ll ACTUALLY GET A COLLEGE EXPERIENCE. I spent a summer living in NYU housing when I was interning in the city and I loved it for the summer, but I could never ever imagine spending my four college years in the middle of NYC without a campus or college experience. You’re from NY and have your whole life ahead of you to live there and experience the city. You only have four years to be in an environment like what Ann Arbor offers. There’s something really great about being surrounded by a only a bunch of other highly motivated 18-22 year olds all the time, and you simply won’t get that at NYU. Or football games. Or the unique social life that comes with living in a college town. Academics are a wash between the two schools, as are career opportunities for what you’re trying to do. For what you want out of a school, Ross is far and away the right choice.</p>

13

<p>^I’m aware, which is why I’m pretty confused as to why he’d like to go to college there as well instead of getting a different experience for four years before starting a career there.</p>

14

<p>I agree that it is a good idea to apply to all of those to get a score.In Finland i am planning lately to get a BBA course or [kauppatieteiden</a> kandidaatti](<a href=“http://www.helbus.fi/]kauppatieteiden”>http://www.helbus.fi/) which i think for me a good choice to reach my dream and hope that i can manage studying this course cause i heard that it is one of the difficult courses in business.</p>

15

<p>maizeandblue, </p>

<p>One of my bachelor’s degrees is from the University of Michigan, but I didn’t stay on the campus at Ann Arbor. My question to you is that don’t you think one of the reasons the cost of college is so high and these students are ending up in serious debt is due to what you typed? You went on about the “campus life” and being around “motivated 18-22 year olds” well, is that REALLY what you are going to college for? </p>

<p>You can find motivated young people in large groups at just about any business networking convention, business club, etc. if those are the types of people you want to associate with on an on-going basis. Does it make sense to attend a college solely for that reason? </p>

<p>My take is always go to the college that LINES UP with your career plan, then that can provide a quality EDUCATION at an affordable COST. All of this “college life” and “campus life” stuff is what’s driving up the cost of education at these institutions. Nothing wrong with a social life but you can easily network with other motivated young professionals without attending a particular college to do so.</p>

16

<p>Honestly, money wasn’t a huge deciding factor for me and my family when it came down to choosing a school, so I don’t know much about how financial aid works or why people are going into huge debt. For me, yes the college town atmosphere, big time sports, and a young community of similar students were major factors in my college selection. Being from the midwest, I only applied to the best academic schools in the Big Ten. I ended up choosing between Northwestern, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and Michigan had the best business program and, in my opinion, the best setting and campus feel. In the OP’s case I assumed since he lives in NYC and is applying and seriously considering expensive OOS schools, money isn’t a huge issue for him either.</p>

<p>As for the rest of your post, yes I do think it would be significantly easier to find a tight community of like-minded students at Michigan than at NYU. And Ross is just as good, if not better than Stern at providing options in the OP’s career field of choice and providing a quality education. Both USNews and Businessweek rank Ross higher than Stern for undergraduate business.</p>

17

<p>This should seriously be bumped lol </p>

18

<p>All i hear is how Ross is ranked higher as a Business school in general, and how it provides a better college experience, and i completely agree with that. </p>

<p>But in terms of IBD, PE, and HF, and other finance related things on wall street, is Stern the better school? And also in terms of long term success, wouldn’t stern seem like the better place to go to? It seems like Wall Street is packed with Stern kid but a lot fewer kids from Ross… </p>

<p>And did anyone answer the original posters question about MBA and how undergrad college play a role with that? </p>

<p>I am also a high school student trying to differentiate the pros and cons between these 2 schools. </p>