<p>Ok guys, help me out one more time here. I posted a similar thread a few months ago just to get a feel for things but now I actually have to make a decision between these two:</p>
<p>Northwestern MMSS</p>
<p>Pros:
1. Double major MMSS/Econ + Statistics Minor + Kellogg Certificate in Financial Economics...<em>drool</em>
2. Chicago = internships/jobs
3. Better chances at Kellogg MBA coming from NW undergrad</p>
<p>Cons:
1. Don't really know if I'll be able to make it out of that program - what am I to do if I don't like it/can't take it?
2. Math-heavy Econ degree not as well respected/marketable as a business degree? Is it worth the work?</p>
<p>Notre Dame Mendoza</p>
<p>Pros:
1. Undergrad business degree (Possible majors: Accountancy, Finance and Business Economics, Management, Marketing, and Management of Information Systems)
2. Insanely strong alumni network</p>
<p>Cons:
1. Religion classes (but it's not that big an issue)
2. In the middle of nowhere</p>
<p>Possible career options:
IB whore
S&T if possible
Consulting</p>
<p>I'm willing to work my ass off but I wanna make sure I'm doing it for a degree that'll net me a nice job so I can start paying off that 120K tuition. Also, I know this is a bad thing to be considering, but in the unlikely scenario that I want to transfer to Wharton, which one will give me better chances?</p>
<p>Have you seen the list of internships MMSS students had in the last two years? It's posted on their website. By being in the MMSS program, you already have one foot in the door of elite firms like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. MMSS is intense but very rewarding; if you can't handle the program, maybe you are not IB/S&T material anyway. So it's gonna be a good test for you. On the other hand, even if you drop out, you still have a degree in one of the best econ programs. If you can get through the MMSS and get the financial economics certificate from Kellogg, I will be surprised if you don't have multiple interviews from top firms.</p>
<p>Also look at the following list for Undergraduate Recruiting at Vault's Top Six Consulting Firms:
<a href="https://web-08.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=252&article_id=14364421&cat_id=1223%5B/url%5D">https://web-08.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=252&article_id=14364421&cat_id=1223</a></p>
<p>NU is a clear winner. </p>
<p>Note also how most of the schools on the list don't have ug biz programs.</p>
<p>But wait a minute; have you been accepted to MMSS though? You said you were accepted to the engineering school. I don't think you can count on transferring there as admission is competitve. Last year, students had average of 1470 on SAT.</p>
<p>"Math-heavy Econ degree not as well respected/marketable as a business degree?"</p>
<p>Wrong. Strong quantitative skills are extremely marketable, and many of the most interesting positions are exclusively for people with this kind of experience. (Assuming, of course, you find advanced statistics and quant-work interesting.)</p>
<p>I saw that list of MMSS internships. I'm interested to know what happened to all the other MMSS grads since there were about 50 on that list and some of them were repeats. Basically, how much value does MMSS add to its students? Did all those kids who got internships at GS do it because of MMSS or would they have gotten it based on pure talent even if they went to another school?</p>
<p>I had 1570, not that it means anything. Let's assume I can't get into MMSS. What then? I know the Econ program is well ranked and NU is recruited by the top consulting firms, but who's to say they don't take all the MMSS kids? :)</p>
<p>And does anyone have an opinion on the Wharton transfer thing?</p>
<p>There are only 40 graduates in any given year (60 starting this year). There were only 50 on that list because not all filled out the survey and the list doesn't include academic research. Also, not everyone would do internship or academic research over the summer anyway.</p>
<p>
[quote]
but who's to say they don't take all the MMSS kids?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You mean you are worrying that the top firms are there only because of MMSS or you mean you are worrying that there's no spot left after the top firms take those MMSS kids?</p>
<p>Either way, the concern is unnecessarily.</p>
<p>The top firms are there not because of only MMSS students. They are recruiting there because NU has many top preprofessional students and many programs, particularly the business related ones (economics and industrial engineering/management sciences are ranked top-10), are strong. For example, one of my friends from Hong Kong was a chemE and went back to work for GS in Hong Kong. He wasn't a MMSS student. Also worrying about spots being all taken by MMSS is like worrying about being at Harvard because so many students are equally smart/smarter or being a student at Penn but not Wharton (Wharton constitutes much larger fraction of the student body).</p>
<p>Anyway, at the worst, you will have a econ degree from NU vs ND business school. I personally don't think ND is that known for business. Unless you want to study something like accounting, I don't see a business degree from ND has any edge over a degree from one of the best econ depts in the country. Many finance jobs I've seen also ask for econ majors. But at NU, you <em>may</em> get into MMSS or the Kellogg certificate program or even both. If you can't transfer to MMSS in the next few weeks, you will have another chance to apply for sophomore entry. There will be 30 spots there up for grab. For the Kellogg certficate programs, there will be 100 spots available, 50 for managerial analytics and 50 for financial economics. Keep in mind the Kellog cert. programs do require a set of math-oriented prerequsites. So the pool of applicants will be self-selected and the size of applicant pool will be limited to some extent. I don't want to say anything about your chance. Given your high SAT score, I'd think you will continue to do well and be competitive.</p>