Should I transfer to Stern?

<p>I thought posting this on here may attract some more relevant responses and I have by tomorrow to decide because I have to send everything in before I leave for Australia on Monday for the summer...</p>

<p>I currently attend Barnard and hated it first semester. I now have met a group of friends, but still do not like the idea of graduating from a womens college. I know I want to go into business, would I be taking a step down by transferring to Stern? I love downtown and NYU, I just don't want to mess it up and try and fix something that's not broken.</p>

<p>Additionally, most of my friends are rising seniors, so I don't really want to make my decision based on a group of people who will leave me up in Harlem by myself after next year anyways</p>

<p>Also, is it harder to get into prestigious MBA programs coming from undergraduate business schools?</p>

<p>I have a lot to think about...any input on Barnard or Stern would be great!
indecisive1923 is online now</p>

<p>I don’t really know much about Barnard. It has a joint program with Columbia right? Do you take the same classes? What year are you?</p>

<p>If you believe you will be happier at NYU then I would transfer, both are top notch schools. I have heard that MBA programs like applicants that are unique accepting people with degrees that are far from business, but the majority of them are still business related (finance, econ, accounting, etc).</p>

<p>I don’t think transferring from Barnard to Stern is a step down in anyway, at least not according to admissions rates and rankings. A potential drop in prestige shouldn’t be a factor in your decision.</p>

<p>I don’t know what Barnard’s business program is like but going into business at Stern is in no shape or form a step down…</p>

<p>You will need a degree of independence if you do decide to go to NYU though; student life at NYU is much more fragmented and you’ll have to look actively for social groups which you would enjoy being around with.</p>

<p>As a person who just turned down Columbia Economics, I can say for sure that Stern is definitely not a step down. Not from Barnard and not from anywhere else in Columbia. Its highly prestigious as well. Top notch academics taught by amazing professors, who actually make markets move with their comments and are directly involved in the field. All top companies in the field recruit there for full time and internships. However most of this is true for Columbia as well (and by extension I assume Barnard as well). The program at Stern is different from many in Columbia (and I assume Barnard as well). So, it depends on you, whether you would like undergraduate business and whether you can get into Stern (which is difficult to transfer into, even for Columbia kids). If you hate Barnard so much, apply to other places as well (stern is not guaranteed). As for your MBA question, as per many of the top schools websites, 20%-33% or so are admitted with business as undergrad majors (keep in mind that this could be low because of kids from places like Wharton, Stern, Haas, Ross, Sloan etc. who don’t go on to an MBA because of what they’ve learned in undergrad and the strength of the undergrad programs)</p>

<p>Barnard has the same prestige as NYU - both are ranked about #30 in their categories. So to transfer from Barnard to a top 10 Business program would be a step up, not down, right?</p>

<p>Barnard is a Liberal Arts school, like NYU’s CAS. If you’re interested in the liberal-arts type education with more theory and broader range of classes, stick with that. If you don’t like women’s colleges, then consider transferring into Columbia’s CAS. Stern is a business program and better if you’re looking for direct, practical applications to the “real world” so to speak. People at Stern are often more focused toward a specific goal (like ibanking for instance) whereas sticking with Barnard will give you a broad education.</p>

<p>From what I hear, MBA program care a lot about your business experience, it’s not something you can do right out of college. And lots of people without business degrees get MBA’s too.</p>

<p>I’m not really getting the impression that you hate Barnard, just that you dislike it for being a women’s college…is that kind of it?</p>

<p>As I understand it, OP was actually accepted to Stern for transfer, and per post #1 has already made this decision by now and has left the country.</p>