Hey guys, i want to get your guys’ opinion on which university is the best choice for someone who wants to pursue business/finance. I’m not exactly sure which area of business I want to get into but I would like the opportunity to try each field out through internships or classes.
I know USC and UC Berkeley have an actual undergraduate business program, and UCLA does not, but how does it compare to USC and UC Berkeley? UC Berkeley seems to be the most prestigious in terms of ranking, but I hear great things about USC as well. I am a transfer student, so I would only be getting 2 years of college opportunities and experiences in business if that affects the choice. I love LA and definitely find it to be a more suitable environment for me than Berkeley/SF area, but then again, I know Berkeley’s HAAS is pretty prestigious, from what I hear, and UCLA doesn’t offer an exact “business” major but only business economics and economics, while USC does, but tuition is nowhere near that of UCLA, when comparing the two schools in the LA area.
How does each school compare to one another? Which would you recommend?
If you can get into Haas I would definitely go with Haas, the most academically and financially sound decision here. You’ll get the prestige, a strong network to build connections with, and all for half of USC’s tuition (if you live in-state.) In addition, you get to be near the crown that is the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
If you can afford it, go to USC because USC has one of the strongest alumni networks around. Marshall is quite good and you’ll be able to get a strong foundation and many connections.
I can’t say much about UCLA because I don’t have a lot of friends majoring in business at UCLA, but I don’t doubt that the name will get you somewhere. Any of the three are not bad choices, and after all, it comes down to what opportunities you open up for yourself (applying to consulting, companies, startups) for the business world.
UCLA’s business econ is good too and many employers hire from that department. The only disadvantage is that in a business econ major, you will not get that same business depth as you would from a business school like Haas or Marshall. Of these two undergraduate business program, Haas is a little harder to get into than Marshall.
UCLA’s program really isn’t comparable with the other two. Not that it isn’t a great program, but it’s more economics based whereas the other two are business focused. UCLA’s pre-reqs and major requirements are completely different and focus on economics.
Between USC and Haas, Haas is generally considered a far better program. USC is well-known in California with a great network, but Haas (and Berkeley) carries a fair amount of prestige nationally and internationally. I’m not sure how hard it is to get into Marshall, but it’s insanely hard to get into Haas.
Costs are also WAY different between USC and Haas.
I just finished my first semester as a transfer student at Haas and I’d have to say I’ve been pretty impressed with the quality of the program so far. Both breadth and depth of the classes available, as well as the quality of the faculty and admin, has been great.
If you get into Haas, go to Haas. Barring any sort of family ties, needing to be in LA/SoCal, needing to be in a private institution, etc, I think most people would choose Haas over Marshall.
To transfer into USC’s Marshall undergraduate business school, you need a GPA of around 3.6 to 3.7. It is a a difficult business school to get into.
To transfer to Haas’ undergraduate business, the avg. GPA for admitted UC Berkeley applicants is 3.65 and a 37% acceptance rate. For other transfers (mostly community college), the avg. GPA is 3.93 for admitted cc transfers and a 6% acceptance rate.
Haas is more difficult to get into, but costs much less in tuition.
There are out of state business programs that are also highly ranked, if you are interested.
@UCBUSCalum well I actually applied to UCLA under the econ major and not the business econ major. What are the out of state business programs that you recommend? Currently I’m looking at applying to Cornell and Columbia as well.
@briank82 how do you stand as a transfer student compared to the continuing berkeley students? Also, what kind od opportunities do you get from Haas that the berkeley econ students aren’t getting? I’ve heard of access to alumni contact list and priority for their classes but I haven’t heard much else in terms of the program opportunities like internships or anything
@josh2633 Haas students are pampered in a lot of ways. Small things like getting a cool Haas branded backpack and $200 credit for free printing per semester, to having great admin for our small student body and dedicated career services. Other things as well like having access to the alumni network which I don’t believe other students get until they graduate. It’s also a target program at a target school, so the name alone carries weight. Haas also pays for expensive seminars (like Training The Street) which we get to attend for free.
I don’t think many internship opportunity comes specifically to Haas and stay just at Haas, but businesses want students from Haas.
Haas is high touch with faculty and admin, given that the undergrad program is 700 students total. Dept of Economics has over 1,100 students.
If you’re motivated enough, you’ll make your own opportunities regardless of where you end up. Haas isn’t the end all, be all … and though it’s pretty awesome, it’s pretty easy to not get in.
@josh2633, some of the good out of state undergraduate business programs, which I would recommend, are: Wharton (Univ. of Penn), Cornell and Columbia, which you are considering, University of Michigan, University of Washington, University of Texas, NYU, MIT, etc. You can probably find more under the US News and World report college rankings or google.