I’m interested in applying to Penn ED and am contemplating Wharton. I’m also interested in computer science, AI and machine learning as possible career paths in addition to traditional finance roles. With that said, does the Engineering school have good finance placement among students who want to do it - like on Wall Street or consulting firms like Mckinsey or even VC funds that heavily invest in tech startups?
Also - I’m thinking about ED’ing to one of Penn, UChicago, or Columbia.
Convince me Penn is better than the other 2
Penn has the best Wall Street placement and many engineers go into finance. Companies interviewing interview engineers and business majors. They aren’t allowed to pick just one or the other.
UChicago does not have undergrad business or SEAS. Columbia has Fu.
UChicago and Columbia both have core curriculums and are much more rigid. It is much easier to get a minor or second major at Penn.
Also, you can take business classes from SEAS.
UChicago is very focused on grad school. if you want to work after undergrad, Penn is the most geared toward that.
Penn is a more campus centric experience. At Columbia, students life is less focused on the campus and surrounding area.
All three with provide a great education. It is more a matter of what is a good fit for you.
Not much better than Wharton for finance type jobs. I’ve heard that some finance firms recruit only for Wharton students – leaving students from the other UPenn colleges excluded. Not entirely sure if this is true or not. You might be better off applying ED to Wharton, and then taking engineering/comp sci classes on the side. Then there are the combined programs mentioned above.
UChicago does not have an undergrad business school, but has a new Business Economics major which involves taking a few Booth classes during undergrad. UChicago also has limited engineering options. But from what I’ve heard, the undergrads do well in terms of getting finance jobs. Since there is only one undergraduate college, you wouldn’t be fighting against other undergrads from the same university.
Columbia is also a great school, and has lots of opportunities for finance internships. Here you would be competing against 3 undergrad schools: Engineering, College and General Studies. Not sure how much impact this plays though.
The M&T program is extremely selective: 50 seats for more than 2,000 applicants consisting of the brightest (or wealthiest!) Applying to this program is a shot in the dark for anyone.
This is not true for the most past. In my experience they only time when this is true is recruiting for the elite buy-side firms (PE firms andHedge Funds) straight out of undergrad. These firms recruit almost exclusively from Wharton and Harvard undergrad but the number of hires is so tiny (only the top 1% superstars at Wharton or Harvard make it) that it doesnt really make a difference.
For other business jobs (investment banking, consulting, VC etc) you ll do just as fine from SEAS or from Wharton. At SEAS you have a bit less competition because not everyone and their mother wants to break into these roles as is the case in Wharton and employers like really students with strong quantitative skills. Also recruiting for these jobs is open to all Penn undergrads regardless of major, school.
