<p>I am trying to decide between these four schools. I know that UVa, NYU and UofMich are all top ranked business schools but Northwestern's overall ranking is better. I'm planning to major in either finance or economics depending on the school I decide to go to. However, I don't necessarily plan on working on wall street. I may actually prefer working for a smaller consulting firm. Could anyone elaborate on which school they would advice me to go to?</p>
<p>Why major in business/finance? Try considering something more applicable to the modern world or consider double majoring/minoring</p>
<p>This looks like the op is heading towards Northwestern</p>
<p>What’s your financial situation? I’d say UVA</p>
<p>@phantombrain: What would you advice me to major in? and why do you consider business/finance not applicable to the modern world?</p>
<p>@pierre0913: I can afford all universities. The scholar program for UVa doesn’t offer money, it is just called Echol scholar. It is more like a honors program.</p>
<p>Since you are considering Northwestern, you may want to read “Roads to Business”:
<a href=“Harvey Kapnick Center for Business Institutions - Northwestern University”>Harvey Kapnick Center for Business Institutions - Northwestern University;
<a href=“http://www.roadstobusiness.northwestern.edu/[/url]”>http://www.roadstobusiness.northwestern.edu/</a></p>
<p>Personally, I’m not a fan of NYU and would go to UVA or UMich over NYU.</p>
<p>I’m also stuck between UVA and UMich. Leaning towards UMich right now because I’m guaranteed into their B School.</p>
<p>As for Northwestern, from 2 of my friends who went there for Econ, the Econ there is really dry and boring. Now, it could just be them, but they took Econ classes with me and enjoyed them. Who knows. Either way, they’re both doing Engineering there. One of them says he regrets not going PA Ross a ton because he really enjoyed business. Of course, these are just anecdotes, but something to consider.</p>
<p>Undergraduate business is kind of pointless IMHO unless you go to Wharton since the courses are pretty simplistic and you don’t learn all that much about finance anyway. You don’t have to study Economics to get a good job out of NU. If you’re involved in the Investment Club there, you can get away by studying English or Political Science if that’s what interests you. If you go to a target school, then you"ll have an opportunity to attend the info sessions no matter what and you can use your extracurricular experience and summer internships to differentiate yourself.</p>
<p>If you want, you can also do the Kellogg certificate which Sam Lee recommends. Their recruiting sounds phenominal. At NYU, UVA, or UMich however, you will have to be in their undergraduate business program to stand out unlike at NU.</p>
<p>DRose2012,</p>
<p>Your friends are probably not aware of all the different opportunities to study business at NU. Even within engineering, they got industrial engineering & management sciences which, IMO, is just as interesting and more challenging than typical undergrad business. They should seriously consider Kellogg certificate program in either managerial analytics or financial economics, in which, graduate-level courses are taught by Kellogg professors. Teams from this program have participated in Rotman International Trading Competition since 2009 and they placed 4th last year and 7th this year out of approximately 50 teams. Most other teams were made up of graduate students in financial engineering or financial mathematics programs.</p>
<p>@goldenboy I disagree. Schools like Ross have caught up to Wharton. They might not match the prestige, but in terms of overall education, they’re right up there and far from simplistic. </p>
<p>@Sam Lee
I can’t speak about what they know or don’t know. I’m just basing it off of what they told me. I’m sure they are aware of lots of their opportunities, but once again, one of them told me how much he regrets not taking PA at Ross (this one just graduated this year). I thought I would throw that out there since the OP like me got PA at Ross.</p>
<p>^undergrad business programs do tend to be a mile wide and an inch deep. if you look at the core curriculum even at Ross, you’d see it’s a mix of introductory classes in various areas. Some classes are of questionable value to students with very limited or no prior work experience (e.g. management and organizations). i used to be in engineering and now in finance. it’s not uncommon to come across people with business degrees who definitely can use some time to review some basic accounting.</p>
<p>^If he just graduated, he probably did miss the Kellogg cert program since it only started in 2008.</p>
<p>@Sam Lee: Thank You!!! Those two links were really helpful and the Kellog certificate is really tempting. </p>
<p>From reading what everyone has said, and as predicted by @Jamie Brown, I’m definitely leaning toward Northwestern now. I’m not planning going to UVa because I’m not in the business program yet and I might no get in when I apply the second year. The only thing that is bothering me is that I think that stern (and maybe ross) has a better reputation in the finance/business world as compared to Northwestern, but I’m not completely sure. I admit that stern could be overrated but I don’t think that takes away significantly from its reputation.</p>
<p>At Ross is a 55 credit program. Michigan requires 120 credits for graduation. As such, most Ross students double major with a degree in either a Social Science or Math or Science. Some even double major in Engineering, but that takes a little longer than 4 years to complete. I think Ross students get the best of both worlds. They get an excellent liberal arts education at one of the best universities in the nation and a Business degree from a top business school with excellent ties to corporations. The OP had previously mentioned that she is also interested in Mathematics or Philosophy, both of which are extremely strong at Michigan. The OP also mentioned an interest in Consulting or Finance, both of which recruit at Ross.</p>
<p>I know UVa and McIntire are similar to Michigan and Ross. Of course, NU does not offer a degree in Business, but it does have excellent certificate programs with Kellogg. </p>
<p>I think Ross is the safest bet since the OP was pre-admitted into Ross. McIntire is not guaranteed, neither are the Kellogg Certificate programs. However, in terms of quality and education, one cannot go wrong with any of those three options.</p>
<p>“Undergraduate business is kind of pointless IMHO unless you go to Wharton since the courses are pretty simplistic and you don’t learn all that much about finance anyway.”</p>
<p>In other words, Duke doesn’t offer it.</p>
<p>I think a degree entirely devoted to Business is pointless. However, mixing a business education within the context of a liberal arts education, as it is done at Penn, Michigan, Cal, UVa, CMU, MIT, Georgetown, WUSTL, UNC, UT-Austin and several other elite universities, although certainly not my cup of tea, is worth it.</p>