<p>Hey guys im interested in doing finance. Is it worth going to a mediocre school for undergrad biz school for finance or a better school for economics.</p>
<p>I don't even think it is worth studying finance at a top program like Wharton, Sloan or Ross if one that the option of studying Economics at those schools. But to answer your question, I do not think it is worth turning down the opportunity to study Economics at a school like Chicago or Northwestern for a school like IU-Bloomington (Kelley) or OSU (Fisher). The only way I would recommend one turn down a top Econ program over a finance program is if they are of equal quality. For example, turning down Chicago to attend Stern is reasonable, although I personally think Economics is more respected as an undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>What is the real difference between "business" and economics?</p>
<p>An economics degree is usually part of a more liberal education, while a business degree is meant to prepare a candidate for the business world immediately after graduation. The focus in the latter is on acquiring practical skills while the former is part of a broader, more traditional undergraduate education.</p>
<p>I agree with most of Alexandre's post but I'm going to have to add that I do think there is some advantage to having a Wharton finance degree if you want to go into investment banking. The place is an i-banking factory.</p>
<p>At Penn, the average Wharton student has a definate edge over the average Econ major in terms of getting recruited into the buisness industry, although Penn Econ students still do much better than lower tier buisness programs in getting jobs. Also, the degree at Wharton is called a BS in Economics degree on the diploma, so if you prefer, you can say that you studied Econ at Wharton rather than "Business" at wharton, if you don't like the latter's connotations.</p>
<p>The advantage of Econ is that it's more liberal arts like, so it's more flexible if you're looking into med/law school. At Penn, Econ is an easier major than Wharton in terms of competition and grading.</p>
<p>you have every kind of major at Penn getting into investment banking, you can do history, whatever you want. As long as they accept your resume for oci, then your fine. You may see more people in wharton going to ibanks becuase that is what they originally wanted to do, while the econ students could have gone off to law school, into banking, posisbly medical school or go for masters/phd. I have compared the econ programs at schools such as Iowa and ASU. The finance majors have classes on securities, actual ibanking classes, ibank management. Its straightforward stuff that anyone that is inclined to do banking should be able to knock out easily. Really how hard can a class on options/futures/globex or whatever, how hard can they really be. Econ classes include econ classes i believe would be a little more challenging, but i havent taken upper level classes yet so i am not sure. Iowa has a totally different programs, while ASU you have the same businesss cores and the only difference between econ and finance rests in 6 major classes outside core, that is it, 6 measily classes seperating the two majors</p>
<p>My take is that at a top 15 school, econ is better than finance anywhere except possibly the top 3 business schools. For lesser schools though, its more of a toss-up.</p>
<p>I agree with you slipper, but even for students at the top 3 or 4 B schools (Haas, Ross, Sloan and Wharton), I recommend Economics rather than Business as a major. It does require more initiative to find that first job, but otherwise, I think majoring in Economics is more versatile.</p>
<p>slipper you are correct, but the numerator is self-selecting....only a few of the top biz schools even offer an undergrad program (Wharton, Sloan, Haas, NYU, UMich). Students at all other uni's with top tier biz programs (H, Y, S, Chicago, et al) must major in something else, and it's usually econ.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is it worth going to a mediocre school for undergrad biz school for finance or a better school for economics.
[/quote]
Go to the better school. Employers are not blind to the quality of the schools, and they tend to concentrate recruiting & hiring at the better schools</p>
<p>you know what? why don't you guys stop whining and major in BOTH business and economics??</p>
<p>so Rutgers Undergrad Biz (Rank 87) or NYU CAS for Economics</p>
<p>In my opinion, definately NYU CAS for Economics.</p>
<p>Although I like neither school, I would definitely pick NYU Econ over Rutgers anything!</p>
<p>NYU CAS in a second!!</p>
<p>Alexandre, how does a Princeton ORFE or Econ degree with a certificate in Finance look?</p>
<p>That is, in comparison to a business degree at Wharton/Stern/Sloan, etc.</p>
<p>For what?</p>
<p>Princeton econ will be on par with Wharton for getting banking/ consulting jobs. It will be better than Stern and Sloan.</p>
<p>Princeton Econ is on par with Wharton or Sloan...but I would pick Princeton or MIT econ over Sloan or Wharton.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what you want to learn. Do you want to take an all-liberal arts curriculum, with 12-16 classes in Economics or do you want to take a 45/55 blend of liberal arts and business?</p>
<p>And I don't know why people assume or say that business school is inflexible because it isn't (at least at Wharton). You take almost half of your requirements outside of Wharton so you can do minors or additional degrees in liberal arts, study abroad, research, etc. and students totally take advantage of this.</p>
<p>i now want econ, and turned down</p>
<p>Chicago and Northwestern</p>
<p>for Cornell</p>
<p>wat a bad move!!!!</p>