NU vs. Stern - The Hardest Decision

<p>Hey you guys! I've been accepted to Stern at NYU for this coming fall as a transferring sophomore. Right now, I'm still deciding whether to stay here at Northwestern, and double major in Economics and International Studies or go to Stern and study Finance. I do have a passion for business, however the life that I have here is making my decision difficult.</p>

<p>I know that Stern has amazing recruiting opportunities for Wall Street, however, I also know that a Northwestern degree is also quite good. Also, there's always the chance that I may not be a b-man after all...</p>

<p>Also, the lifestyle at NU and NYU are completely opposite. While NYU has that no-campus, in the city, in the mix, etc. feeling, NU has the suburb, calm, comfort feel.</p>

<p>I do consider job placement to be one of the most important factors in my decision, but I also consider college life and academics to also be huge factors.</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

<p>Although this is a decision only you can make I wouldn’t put too much weight on the job placement as no one can predict what the financial world will be like in three years. I will tell you that my husbands firm (which you would know if I said it) recruits from neither Northwestern nor NYU, although now that our daughter will be going to Northwestern (not for business of any sort) who knows, he might be impressed enough to send his recruiters there. If you’re concerned about the future you need to make it happen no matter what college you attend. Are you working in the field during the summers? Are you planning on doing an internship every summer? Both schools are very reputable so it’s not the school that will get you what you want - it’s you.</p>

<p>You need to decide exactly what you presented - campus vs no campus, are you a city kid or do you prefer some calm in your college experience? Chicago has many great financial jobs and is a more reasonable city for many, some kids only want NY when they graduate. Who are you? You can’t predict the future and in your case, switching colleges is no guarantee of a more successful job when you graduate, because both schools are top.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Many moons ago, I attended NU for undergrad (econ major) and NYU for my MBA in Finance. I would not trade my NU experience for anything! You simply don’t get that same campus feel at NYU, and the academics are likely on par. You certainly will be able to get an entry level job with your NU degree. I would stay where your are!</p>

<p>Stay at Northwestern for the campus experience. NYU doesn’t offer a traditional campus.</p>

<p>NYU isn’t “better” than NU in any objective measure, and transferring when you like where you are without gaining a substantive “material” advantage is akin to deciding to stop talking to all your friends and family because you can get farther in life with “better” friends.</p>

<p>Stay here.</p>

<p>thank you soo much. those were really insightful and helpful comments.</p>

<p>any others?</p>

<p>Misterrr–As a parent of a student at NU, who made a decision to attend NU, I am biased.
If you applied to transfer to NYU as a freshman, then there had to be something about NU that was not offering what you felt would be available at NYU. Or, did it stem from a desire to see if you could get in, because you could not/were not accepted as a freshman?
The fact that you applied to NYU as a transfer student speaks volumes. It is not something one does lightly, and there is no right or wrong answer. It gets down to what you want out of your undergraduate education. These 2 schools are very different on many levels. Prioritize and the answer will become self-evident. G’Luck! APOL-a mom</p>

<p>Also remember that you’ll be in college for 3 years. Your education and the relationships you build will far outlast your time in college. Stern brings you much closer to the Street. Not to say that NU doesn’t place well in IBanking - but it doesn’t do as well Stern. Will you have fun at Stern? You probably will. </p>

<p>I think that “atmosphere” is overrated. People are adaptable and will learn to do well in multiple environments. Don’t listen to people going haywire over the “experience.” You will get a college “experience” regardless of whether you attend NYU or NU (it’s only a one letter difference if you look at it this way… haha). </p>

<p>Finally, I agree with what APOL said. Why did you apply to NYU? If it was just to test the waters, then we may have a problem. Did you really even want to go to NYU? If it was for perceived benefits, then ask yourself this: are the tradeoffs for an experiential change going to be outweighed by the benefits gained by attending Stern? This is all about your PERCEPTION. It’s all about the placebo effect. If you believe you will have better contacts at Stern, you will NETWORK MUCH BETTER. Conversely, if you feel like you miss your friends and the atmosphere at NU, then YOU WILL PERFORM POORLY AT NYU. But don’t spend your entire life lamenting about this choice. Make a choice and go 100%. Do yourself a favor and save this kind of indecisiveness for the retirement home. Don’t go through college with a million regrets.</p>

<p>NU is better than NYU by most objective measures, save one. … the lack of an undergraduate business program. If you know this is what you want and cant get what you need at NU then transfer. NU has made a large mistake in refusing so far to offer an undergraduate business degree.</p>

<p>At NU you can come close to achieving an undergrad business education at McCormick, which offers “management science” as an engineering option [Princeton does this too; it’s sort of a math intensive, poor man’s substitute for a business program] and allows you to couple that with one of the Kellogg “certificate” programs.</p>

<p>I just want to disagree with the sentiment that NU has made a “mistake” by not offering an undergraduate Business program. There used to be one, but the adminstration at some point decided to nix it. Personally, I would like NU a lot less if we had one, and I think it helps curb the pre-professionalism. Also, while I grant that some people may really enjoy and find business interesting (I find it interesting), I, like the NU administration, believe strongly in the liberal arts. An undergraduate business major will need an accompanying MBA anyway, and you’re at no advantage having studied business undergrad too. So ultimately, isn’t it better to be educated, and perhaps somewhat less boring?</p>

<p>industrial engineering is “poor man’s substitute for a business program” ? roflcoper. in my own opinion, this is much better than a business degree anyway because it’s actually intellectually challenging. you can learn business law later but you can’t learn analytical thinking if you know what i mean.</p>

<p>I also don’t understand the stigma that NU doesn’t offer a business education. What mia305 did not mention is the business institution program that offers all those flowery business ethics, marketing, business in the context of our society type of courses. So if you are into that you will not be disappointed.</p>

<p>If you are looking for useful business classes then NU also offers everything you need. Accounting and coporate finance theory classes are offered by the econ department and the Kellogg CPU program will teach you just as much finance as stern. In fact, you take 4 advanced finance classes in the CPU and only 3 finance classes in the stern finance specialization. </p>

<p>However, I will not disagree that stern has better placement on wall street but I believe its because of the location and not because NU doesn’t teach enough business.</p>

<p>No place is a good place for Wall Street placement at the moment!</p>

<p>sorry drizzl and arbiter, but the few courses that NU offers in “management science” do not a modern undergrad business program make. If you want a real undergrad business program that has a full offering of management science and other business offerings you have to go to MIT, Wharton [or Stern if you cant get in to the other two].</p>

<p>What the Weinberg liberal arts crew wants in the other schools is as irrelevant as most Weinberg majors themselves. They no doubt dont see the point to McCormick either.</p>

<p>^ Ross at Michigan is equivilant to if not better than MIT Sloan.</p>

<p>Just because you enroll in an undergrad business program does not mean you’re prepared for grad school. Have you ever thought knowledge in other subjects might actually be more USEFUL in grad school? A UPenn counselor told one of my friend’s sisters, I believe, that she should take economics or something else for undergrad rather than going straight to Wharton. Why? To broaden her scope of knowledge and to not become narrowminded. :]</p>

<p>mia- Show me where I even suggested that NU’s offerings were similar to an undergraduate business degree.</p>

<p>I think I made it pretty clear that I think undergraduate business is a waste/ worthless.</p>

<p>I was saying you shouldn’t WANT to study business undergrad, not that you NU’s offerings are equivalent. </p>

<p>And you take either Managerial Analytics as the Kellog Cert through McCormick, or Finance through WCAS.</p>