<p>I am trying decide which of these schools I should apply to. I'm deciding between business and engineering for a major. I want to know the pros and cons of each school and which you think would be the best in every aspect: academics, social scene, surrounding city, etc. Thanks!</p>
<p>Vandy and Northwestern are both D1 sports schools (NU was ranked in football earlier this year and Vandy is an up and coming program)</p>
<p>Neither Vandy or Northwestern have undergraduate business majors but Northwestern has the Kellog certificate program (I believe Vandy has a business minor?)</p>
<p>Penn is known for its parties, not sure about the others.</p>
<p>I don’t know how many applications you can do but I would definitely apply to Penn (Unless you end up hating the school).</p>
<p>Penn doesn’t have business per se but it does have one of the best economics programs in the country which kind of serves as a business school. Donald Trump went there and studies economics, not that thats important or anything but he did pretty well</p>
<p>theconnoisseur, Wharton is a business school. Even if they call their undergraduate degree BS in Economics, it is still a business curriculum. Most of the classes students take within that major at Business courses such as Finance, Accounting, Management, Marketing etc… </p>
<p><a href=“https://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/ugrprogram/advising/curriculum/requirements.cfm[/url]”>https://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/ugrprogram/advising/curriculum/requirements.cfm</a></p>
<p>To the OP, for Business, Penn is #1 in the nation, while Olin (WUSTL) is among the top 10 or 15. You should check out the Jerome Fisher program at Penn. It is right down your alley! </p>
<p>NU and Vanderbilt do not offer undergraduate degrees in Business. NU does have a certificate program from Kellogg, but it is restricted to 100 or so seniors (out of 2,000 thousand), so I can imagine that it is very selective…and risky since you won’t know if you are admitted into the certificate program until your third year at NU.</p>
<p>For Engineering, NU is very good. Penn is solid. Vanderbilt and WUSTL are not that good.</p>
<p>You should check out Michigan-Ann Arbor. Top 10 in Engineering and top 5 in Business!</p>
<p>Wharton provides business program with the degree of BS in Economics, as Alexandre said. Why economics? Prestigious schools value multi-disciplinary experiences across basic sciences and liberal arts at college first, and recommend to study applied sciences like business at graduate (professional) school later. Basic assumption is that academic well-roundedness at undergrad expands the each students life-time learning/professional potential in every specific area. Thus, business education at college was shameful for Penn as an Ivy league school. I know this spirit of liberal arts (& sciences) education is fading away as the importance of applied skills in science and technology is emphasized more and more. </p>
<p>If you are sympathetic with this philosophy or if you want to become top innovative professional at your area in the future, studying at Vandy or NU is not bad idea, IMO.</p>
<p>One more. Engineering is another pre-professional program but the undergraduate study of engineering is very common and essential, even in the Ivy League schools. This case is quite different from that of business major at college.</p>
<p>“Prestigious schools value multi-disciplinary experiences across basic sciences and liberal arts at college first, and recommend to study applied sciences like business at graduate (professional) school later. Basic assumption is that academic well-roundedness at undergrad expands the each student’s life-time learning/professional potential in every specific area.”</p>
<p>passsky81, that is the case with most top Business schools. It is certainly the case with Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, MIT, Michigan, UC-Berkeley and UVa. At the latter three, admission into their business schools only takes place once the students have completed 1-2 years of a Liberal Arts education. Students at each of those universities take more than half their classes in liberal arts subjects and can easily double major in a traditional major such as Econ, Mathematics, Political Science, Philosophy etc…</p>
<p>@Alexandre:
Anyway, there are two types of colleges: one group conferring bachelor degree in business and the other without business-degree program.</p>
<p>Another issue is a matter of degree; two types are doing liberal arts education but to a greater or lesser extent. I dont know which one is better. This depends on each student’s preference and the level of liberal-arts achievement at HS. For a student reaching at a high level, like German HS (liberal arts school) syudent, there might be no need to taking liberal arts courses at college any more.</p>
<p>
The admission rates have been around 70-80%. The certificate program is more focused (financial economics or managerial analytics), advanced, and quantitative than typical undergrad business (the profs would teach two sections, one to the MBAs/graduate students and one to undergrads and write the same exam; surprisingly, the undergrads usually outperform the MBA/graduate students); so it’s not most people’s cup of tea. If you are merely interested in business but aren’t confident about your quant skills, the set of upper-level (not intro) pre-requisites alone will probably make you think twice: [Prerequisites</a> - Certificate Program for Undergraduates - Kellogg School of Management - Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Certificate/admissions/prerequisites.aspx]Prerequisites”>Certificate Program for Undergraduates | Kellogg School of Management)</p>
<p>But if you are interested in the quantitative side of business and developing advanced quant skills in finance/business, the program is excellent.</p>
<p>NU does have something called a “BIP” minor for people who just want to have a more laid-back exposure to business and an IMC certificate for those more interested in PR/marketing.</p>
<p>At Wharton Undergrad, students take at least 40% of their courses in the College of Arts and Sciences (or one of Penn’s other undergraduate schools), and more than 30% of Wharton undergrads graduate with dual degrees from Wharton and one of Penn’s other schools (primarily the College of Arts and Sciences):</p>
<p>[Top</a> 10 List | Wharton Undergraduate](<a href=“http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/undergrad/why-wharton/top-10-list.cfm]Top”>Your Future - Undergraduate)</p>
<p>Wharton Undergrad allows–and indeed ENCOURAGES–its students to enroll in a significant number of liberal arts courses. In fact, that’s been a hallmark of Wharton (and one of the reasons it has retained the degree of B.S. in Economics as opposed to the BBA) since its founding–including up to the 1970s when Penn’s Economics, Political Science, and Sociology departments were finally moved from Wharton to the College of Arts and Sciences!</p>
<p>I am surprised with all the posting so far - no one has stated the obvious:</p>
<p>Apply to all four!</p>
<p>Even if OP has perfect test scores and GPA and 89 AP classes, all four schools are highly selective. No one should feel confident of admission to any of them. After you have been admitted, you can consider the pros and cons of each. Hopefully it goes without saying that none of these should be considered safeties and OP should have a number of additional schools on the application list.</p>
<p>It just seems short sighted to me to only pick one to apply.</p>
<p>I know WashU and Penn have both schools of engineering and business within them. If you can’t decide which profession you want to pursue, and therefor apply to the colleges of art and science, then you may be unhappy and find it harder to pursue classes in those fields.</p>
<p>Northwestern and Vanderbilt have schools of engineering as well, but no schools of business so I’d think business opportunities are more available for arts and science students; however, this is just an assumption. I think these schools would have more enjoyable arts and sciences experiences for you. </p>
<p>If you can decide with full confidence between engineering and business, then I’d recommend Penn/WashU for business and any of the 4 for engineering. However, you really can’t go wrong with any of these schools, so I’d recommend continuing to research and determine which has best “fit”. :)</p>
<p>rmldad,</p>
<p>I think the OP probably meant ED.</p>
<p>Are you interested in business or economics? Penn has the M&T dual degree program (2 bachelors in engineering and econ). What are the important factors for you and then we can try to help you narrow it down?</p>