<p>LDB, you know where I stand. I come from a school of thought that dictates that prestige at any level (graduate or undegraduate) is primarily determined by the quality of the university, more so than by the accomplishments or quality of the student. There are admittedly two different schools of thought, both of which are equally common and legitimate, ours just happen to belong to different ones. I agree with your school of thought, which is why I fully admit that schools like Amherst, Dartmouth and Williams are amazing, despite their not having strong programs.</p>
<p>As for Cal vs Yale undergrad, I give the slight edge to Yale because of resources and, admittedly, a stronger student body, which I fully admit counts for something. That and the fact that Yale isn’t exactly chooped liver academically. Yale = Cal in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Only in the Sciences and Engineering is Cal superior to Yale. Overall, I believe that HYPSM are the top 5 universities at the undergraduate level, with Cal being one of just four universities (the other three being Caltech, Chicago and Columbia) that closely matches them. I have always said that Cal is one of the most worthy non-HYPSM top 10 universities. If Cal’s endowment were $5 billion as opposed to $2.5 billion and if it had a slightly strong student body, we would all be referring to CHYPSM, not to HYPSM!</p>
<p>Back to the point I was making. There is a strong correlation between graduate prestige and undergraduate prestige. A prestigious graduate program will typically be prestigious at the undergraduate level, assuming the resources devoted to the graduate program are also made availlable to the undergraduate program. The opposite is not necessarily true. Dartmouth is a prime example of this. It is one of the most prestigious universities in the nation at the undergraduate but has very average graduate programs. </p>
<p>Again LDB, there is not right or wrong here. There are two legitimate and popular points of views, neither one of which is dominant.</p>
<p>^I think what Alexandre meant is that the prestige of Dartmouth’s grad programs is very limited. Tuck is probably the only ultra-prestigious grad program, and the only one with prestige on par with its undergraduate program, that Dartmouth has. Very few if any Masters and PhD’s offered there are very prestigious, and the MD and engineering programs aren’t ultra-prestigious either.</p>
<p>Chardo, Tuck is extremely prestigious, but Dartmouth has no undergraduate equivallent. Dartmouth MD, though good, is not prestigious. No other graduate program at Dartmouth is highly regarded.</p>
<p>If you are going someplace, the primary strategy generally ought to be to make the most of things where you are, and make that great for you, if it’s at all possible to do so there.</p>
<p>Once you are there, you will get a sense of what really goes on there, from an insider’s perspective. And you will be able to determine whether you like it there or not. And you will also see how well you are doing there.</p>
<p>Transfer is always an option, for someone who is dissatisfied with where they are and think they can do “better”, on whatever criteria they are using.</p>
<p>But it may be the case that places that seem “better” may be quite difficult to transfer to, with few slots and low transfer admit rates.</p>
<p>NYU Stern will get you a good job. You don’t need the ego-stroking of the ivy league to be happy or materially successful. In society only a very few people have top 15 USNEWS degrees while 99.5% don’t, and yet I’m willing to bet many of that 99.5% are very happy with their lives and well off.</p>
<p>I think the OP is focusing too much on name brand. You need to consider what job you are aiming for in the future, where you want to be in life, and what school is the best fit considering your circumstances. </p>
<p>From what I have heard, Stern is extremely competitive, so it will be very tough to be among the top of your class. A lot of it comes down to time, devotion, efficiency, and natural intelligence.</p>
<p>If you applied ED II, there really isn’t any point in fretting over your decision now. If you find Stern to be unbearable and you are very unhappy there, only then would I transfer out if I were you (and if this is the case, it would probably be due to a low GPA, which would make transferring to an ivy more difficult). Also, I hope you are ready to pay near full tuition, as NYU is notorious for poor aid.</p>
<p>From what my professor told me, about 99%+ of undergraduates get jobs with an average median starting salary of $60,000. Not too shabby. If you’re sure you want to do business, especially finance, I think Stern can at least hold its own against the vast majority of schools.</p>