<p>So I was one of the lucky few who was selected for Stern's new Business & Political Economy program. Someone has told me, however, that I still have the option to switch into the core business program and potentially major in something else (I would probably pick finance).</p>
<p>Pros and Cons for each choice?
BPE: Pros: Really selective program, unique, get to travel the world (London/France/etc)
Cons: Have to do 4 years (so I probably wouldn't get to use any ap credits for it), wouldn't be able to carry a steady internship b/c i wouldn't be in new york for 4 years straight</p>
<p>Help?? Anything that any of you can think of would be great.</p>
<p>hello, I’m not sure if you were at the BPE q&a session last saturday, but at the morning session we asked some of the same questions you have in your cons =) Anyway, about AP credits, if you look at the BPE wheel you have room for electives and liberal arts classes, which is where I expect we’ll be able to waive our AP credits (like Biology you could waive out of a natural science requirement in the liberal arts core, but as for government and politics, I think they might want you to take their class, I’m a little fuzzy on this though). I asked a question about this and I was shown the wheel; I don’t think they told me exactly how many credits we’ll be able to waive but I expect it’s the same as a regular Stern student (whom they recommend not to waive more than 16…I don’t know about you but I’m going to try to finagle that because I did not work this hard these past 4 years to waive off 3 AP classes rofl).</p>
<p>As for internships, the Dean told us that career services did not think it would be a problem for us. They have liaisons set up in Shanghai and London and they’ll help us get work permits. A lot of American companies also have branches set up overseas. They don’t foresee a problem getting us internships our senior year; they said something about how in this day and age there are a ton of Skype interviews. Also, the Dean mentioned something about how a senior once told her to tell other students to maybe intern less in their underclassmen years because he felt like he’d been working since he was a freshman. She said that many of the business people they talk to are pretty excited about the program and wish they could go back to college for programs like this, and also that we have the president’s attention. </p>
<p>There were a lot of questions asked of the deans, some of them pretty tough (e.g. “Since there’s such a broad range of liberal arts and business courses, are they getting any depth in their education?”), but in my opinion they answered them well and assuaged a lot of concerns. All I have to say is, if they represent Stern’s marketing division we’re gonna get a damn fine marketing education, rofl. </p>
<p>However, I think it really comes down to what you’re interested in. I do fine in AP calc but a lot of my passion is in government and history. I have a feeling we’re going to get a great education about the convergence points of economics, globalization, and business, and in this current climate I can’t say that’s a bad thing. However, they also expect that when we graduate we’ll probably work for multinational corporations and not-for-profits. I know some kids said they’re interested in PPPs and global development and things like that. So really, it all depends on what you like.</p>
<p>I have heard of students considering Stern’s curriculum “easy” (someone in the FAQ thread says this) but I looked up this person’s posts and he said he got into Columbia, Northeastern, and NYU in February 2009 so I’m not sure how he could have transferred. </p>
<p>Stern’s retention rate is 96%. Average starting salary is 55k. When I read Business Week’s ranking of undergrad business schools several years ago, that starting salary was equal to the average of a Wharton graduate’s, and even though Stern wasn’t #2 after Wharton (I believe it was UVA), I think that if the curriculum weren’t preparing people well then the recruiters would stop hiring/offering them so much.</p>
<p>Man I sound like a big NYU cheerleader, rofl. If you decide on BPE, pm me or something, it’d be great to meet you in person =)</p>