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I do not think this is true, unless you are speaking perhaps only of a business degree.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, here’s what Wharton says about whether Wharton Undergrad alumni later find the need to pursue an MBA:</p>
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<p>[Wharton</a> Undergraduate | Top 10 List](<a href=“http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/undergrad/why-wharton/top-10-list.cfm]Wharton”>http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/undergrad/why-wharton/top-10-list.cfm)</p>
<p>Thank you so much to everyone for all the advice! Every post gives me a little different angle from which to approach the issue. Going to Wharton definitely makes my future career path “easier”, but I really struggle to justify spending so much money when I know UNC could also give me a good education. </p>
<p>Can anyone else give an opinion if Kenan-Flagler is at all a recognized “name”? On the K-F website, I found that nearly 60% of K-F graduates ultimately work in the Southeast. So, I know I really will not have much alumni network support in the Midwest. </p>
<p>Also, Wharton’s undergrad program is 4-years whereas K-F’s is just 2-years (or 2.5 if you start in the second semester of sophomore year.) Would K-F hurt my chances of getting an internship after sophomore year since I would have relatively few business courses? </p>
<p>I’m afraid it would be a ripple effect that if I don’t get an internship after sophomore year, I would not have experience for my resume, and then would not get as good of an internship after junior year. Then, of course, this would hurt my ability to get a good job. </p>
<p>For what it is worth, I would focus the first two pre-business years on earning my other major (Mathematical Decision Science). If I am fortunate enough to get a spot in K-F’s Assured Admittance program (I find out this week), I would also be able to participate in K-F clubs and on case competition teams during my first two years before officially joining the business school.</p>
<p>Wharton is more expensive, but the business prestige it has over UNC is enormous.</p>
<p>^^^that’s bull. I, for one, do not believe in UG business school. But since it is Wharton, whatever.
What could a Wharton UG possiblely could do better than a UNC math/econ graduate do better at an IB? Would I be able to entrust a Wharton graduate to come up with spreads better? Do a pitch book better? Or understand the black scholes model better? Or could someone as econ/math major(s) be better at critical thinking and a better problem solver?</p>
<p>Check Wharton career center. Please do not listen to anybody on the internet(including me). My internet is very slow while I’m doing an update to my tax otherwise I would post it for you.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the Class of 2011 Wharton Undergraduate Career Survey</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/reports/WHA_2011cp.pdf[/url]”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/reports/WHA_2011cp.pdf</a></p>
<p>2011 a tough year for other schools. Wharton did ok.</p>
<p>Those McKinsey and BCG figures are downright scary at Wharton. There is no school on the planet that is recruited more heavily for consulting and finance than Penn. Harvard’s only in the conversation since the supply and demand equation for these jobs works out better at H due to less competition.</p>
<p>Goldman Sachs might take 2-3 analysts (no more than 5) from UNC during a good year but it routinely takes around 25 from Wharton. The same differential exists for every consulting firm and investment bank. You might say that there’s less competition at Kenan-Flagler but don’t underestimate the intelligence of UNC students as oldfort pointed out-they’re pretty smart.</p>
<p>Check this thread out.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/902457-wharton-mythbusters.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/902457-wharton-mythbusters.html</a></p>
<p>Also check out the course catalog for Wharton to see what’s the required courses are. In general I don’t really believe in a business undergraduate but Wharton is in a class by itself.</p>
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Why? Becuase that’s what those students are trained for and every IB and consulting firm knows that’s what those students want to do. On the other hand, you may have 50 math majors at A&S of a top tier school (like UNC), only 5 to 10 want to go into IB, with most of them wanting to go to graduate schools, but it doesn’t mean those 5-10 students wouldn’t be just as competitive as those Wharton students.</p>
<p>If you went to UPenn’s nursing school, guess what, you will be heavily recruited by hospitals.</p>
<p>Yes, Wharton UG is an excellent school, but I don’t think in the long run it would be worth 200+k than UNC. I have seen those resumes come across my desk, and based on their experience, I have not been any more impressed than students from other top tier schools.</p>
<p>The bottom line is you’ll save much more than $200K by not needing an MBA. That’s the $200K cost of a top MBA plus 2 year’s salary, so close to a half million dollars anywa, probably more when you look at what you’ll be making 4-5 years out.</p>
<p>My kid doesn’t see a need to get a MBA now. Many IBs do not require the traditional 2 years analyst, MBA, 2 years assoicate progression any more. People usually get a MBA when they want to change their profession.</p>
<p>Wharton all the way, finances considered. Wharton is one of the top if not the top for recruiting in a field like consulting. It’s a “super-target” as opposed UNC which I’m not sure would even qualify as a “semi-target.” The Wharton degree will give you a better guarantee of getting a job and you’ll be able to pay off what you can’t in no time whilst setting yourself up better for a successful career.</p>
<p>Again, thank you all for the varied input. I really appreciate all the different perspectives.</p>
<p>Those hiring statistics from Wharton for BCG and McKinsey really are something! I cannot imagine any other university possibly sends such a large quantity of students to those two firms. Kenan-Flagler also lists BCG as a “Top Hiring Company”, but obviously it wouldn’t have near the draw. Plus, it is BCG Atlanta that recruits at UNC. Even if I were lucky enough to win a job or internship, I would probably not be able to transfer “up” to the Chicago office. </p>
<p>It’s not necessarily a deal-breaker, but there are certainly a lot of factors to consider.</p>
<p>“What could a Wharton UG possiblely could do better than a UNC math/econ graduate do better at an IB?”</p>
<p>This isn’t the question at issue. The OP is interested in some ultra-elite employers that prioritize school prestige in hiring. Maybe the OP is being silly to want those employers, and maybe the employers are being silly to have those priorities, but it is a fact McK/BCG/GS etc. want Wharton kids more than they want UNC kids. This isn’t just a matter of clustering of ambitious/capable kids at the target schools. UNC grads are less preferred relative to Wharton grads, and that’s just how it is.</p>
<p>This is a tough one because of the finances involved but if it doesn’t severely financially constrain your parents, go to Wharton.</p>
<p>OP isn’t silly in wanting those employers, just like it wasn’t silly for my daughter to know she wanted to work at IB since she was in high school, but we knew she didn’t have to go to Wharton in order to get a job in IB. No one she spoke with ever told her that the best way in was by going to Wharton. As a matter of fact, most people told her not get an UG business degree. She graduated with a liberal arts degree and 4 IB offers.</p>
<p>With all due respect, I do think it is a matter of clustering of ambitious/capable kids at the target schools. Those same kids at Wharton going to Duke, NU, Cornell, UNC, UVA, Berkeley would have probably ended up at those “ultra-elite employers.”</p>
<p>First, NOBODY at Wharton gets a business degree.Everyone at Wharton graduates with a bachelor of science in economics. (That’s one reason Wharton is the ONLY “business” school that sends a lot of folks to top law schools.) </p>
<p>Second, UNC is a good school, but only last time I checked only 18% of students are from out of state. It doesn’t have the national and international alumni network and/or rep that Wharton has. </p>
<p>However, it is a lot of $. So, talk to your parents.</p>
<p>[Wharton</a> Undergraduate | Flexible Curriculum](<a href=“http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/undergrad/academic-excellence/flexible-curriculum.cfm]Wharton”>http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/undergrad/academic-excellence/flexible-curriculum.cfm)
</p>
<p>“the national and international alumni network and/or rep that Wharton has.”</p>
<p>That network is pretty astonishing, maybe without peer. I don’t think this is an easy call when UNC is a terrific school, but I also don’t think Wharton is overpriced if a family can swing it. Immediately upon graduation from Wharton, you will have people you know in literally every major firm and in every major market from Hong Kong to London to San Francisco. You’ll reap the benefits of that connection for the rest of your life. It’s valuable.</p>