Wharton (UPenn) Vs Mendoza (Notre Dame)

<p>;soeiresr
so.
neither of them will give my family money
they're about the same cost
both are in the top 5 consistently for business (though wharton has more of a consistent trend mainly because its the more established business school)
they're both 8-9 hours from where i live.
i like job security but i want a good environment to learn in
which one is better?! any advice? let me know (:
<3 sarah</p>

<p>i would say that if you don’t mind a really competitive school, UPenn might be best, but if you are really looking for a community and family feel, then ND is better. They are both great schools (both have good alumni connections, though ND’s is probably better, and they both are able to provide their graduates with jobs. However, Ivy League schools tend to have a cut-throat feel to them where as ND is a lot more communal and like a family I would say. </p>

<p>Just my opinion though</p>

<p>Some things to consider (spouse is a Wharton Grad)–</p>

<p>Philly or South Bend? Two very different cities!</p>

<p>Cost? Is it roughly the same?</p>

<p>Yes, Wharton has a long-standing reputation, however, Mendoza is very up and coming. An MBA from Wharton might be more valuable. An undergrad from Mendoza might be just as valuable.</p>

<p>Can’t beat the ND alum connections, as hawkswim indicated. I think ND might have the edge over Wharton in that department.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

<p>Depends on what you want to do
For example:
If you want to go i-bank/ finance with big east coast firms, Wharton is hands down better.
If you want to go accounting with the big 4 in the midwest, ND is prob better.</p>

<p>Don’t rely too much on the rankings… they don’t tell the true story and are primarily focused on magazine sales more so than anything else.</p>

<p>Mendoza all the way. ND alum base is phenomenal (so it is almost even with W for career opps), and it really has the “good environment” that you are looking for. Plus, Mendoza is definitely growing its reputation-- it’s a school on a rise. You should do revisits and see which environment you like better. ND=family feel, strong community. W=competition.</p>

<p>If you want to work on Wall Street, go for Wharton, no question.</p>

<p>I love ND- my dad went there- but it is very true that Wall Street employers look at the Ivies before they look at ND for their employees. I know this because my dad works for Goldman Sachs. He graduated from ND in '78 and was able to get a job at Goldman a few years later, but he has told me that today companies like Goldman recruit mostly from the Ivies/Chicago/MIT/Stanford.</p>

<p>If you are not necessarily looking to go to Wall Street, then ND is probably a much friendlier, less cutthroat atmosphere.</p>

<p>I would sacrifice the benefits of recruiting to a more enjoyable and happy four years college experience. honestly, as cliche as this sounds, what really matters is what you do in college, so if you will be equally outstanding in both places, you will have the same life and career opportunities, but I would pick ND’s quality of life and a more rewarding and community-centered college years over W. And also, Mendoza is nothing to sneeze at. It’s already a top-ranked school with a growing reputation that gets better every year.</p>

<p>wharton hands down if you really want to continue (as I suppose you would) working in the business world. Ignore the bs BW rankings and other rankings. Those people who will be recruiting you for jobs DONT GIVE A CRAP ABOUT RANKINGS. Mendoza is good but it’s not to be compared with wharton.</p>

<p>Coming from a current student here, I 100% agree that rankings really don’t mean anything at all. The quality of education you receive from both business schools will, in the end, be dependent on what you make of it. You really can’t go wrong either way. </p>

<p>I just wanted to make a note that everyone should take my opinions with a grain of salt, as I really haven’t entered the Mendoza college yet and am basing my explanations mainly off of the people and the opportunities presented so far. So please, do not give my opinion more weight than others. </p>

<p>That being said, the people at Wharton are generally more ambitious, hardworking, and competitive. There’s always the “Wharton” factor in your resume, and Wharton is almost a given if you want to go to Wall Street. However, expect to work your ass off and develop a cut-throat competitive spirit. </p>

<p>Meanwhile, the people at Mendoza are generally more spread out: there’s definitely the people who have the ambition and drive, but A LOT of people here are very humble and cooperative. Theres also quite a few people here who major in business because they just want to party and get a job after they graduate. Overall, this means that you have a lot more options to work with. You’re not going to have 30 people competing for one leadership position (there are exceptions haha) and you’re not going to worry constantly about your grades. Because the ambition at Mendoza is generally lower, you will have more opportunities to find what you need from a gold mine. </p>

<p>I just wanted to reiterate that you really can’t go wrong by choosing either college. Both schools will give you a solid foundation for whatever you want to do in the business world and a “safety net” if you fail in your highest ambitions (through the alumni network, brand name, etc.).</p>

<p>Wharton (just like Hopkins) is overly competitive. Very cutthroat environment. I visited Upenn but was not satisfied with the quality of life there and my friends who go there now realize that Wharton students are overly competitive and WILL (i repeat) WILL sabotage you.</p>

<p>“I visited Upenn but was not satisfied with the quality of life there and my friends who go there now realize that Wharton students are overly competitive and WILL (i repeat) WILL sabotage you.”</p>

<p>This is seriously comical. I just graduated from the College at Penn in 09 and I can tell you that this statement is FALSE (i repeat) FALSE. I lived in a house with eight guys, four of whom were enrolled in Wharton (and I had a number of other close friends enrolled there). Wharton is what you make of it. As some of the previous posters have mentioned, you WILL work hard for your grades. But my guess is that if you got in to ND and Penn, you have the capacity to succeed.
Wharton has a reputation for being highly competitive, and that is true to an extent. You will essentially be applying for the same internships and jobs for your classmates, and everyone wants to do well. But as is true in most situations, you will receive what you put out. If you come off as hard, competitive, and unwilling to help others, you will receive the same treatment in return. But if you have a positive and collaborative attitude, you will receive that in return from your classmates. Of course there are a few crazies who have that competitive attitude, but they give everyone else a bad name. </p>

<p>My roommates, who are each very unique, all had extremely positive experiences in Wharton. One of them now works for Mckinsey Consulting (if you aren’t familiar with it, you will be in six months when you start school), another works for a hedge fund in San Francisco, one is in his first year at Georgetown Law (studying environmental law), and the fourth decided to take a year to study Scripture in Israel. As you can see from my small sample, Wharton kids are just as diverse in their personalities and interests as people in any school. </p>

<p>ND or Penn- they both have great programs and you will probably enjoy either school. Wharton does have a bigger name on Wall Street, but as another poster pointed at Mendoza is great for top 4 accounting placement (though I’m sure you could enter either field, as long as you do well at either school). In the end I would suggest that you do some research into the campus life of both universities, as they are EXTREMELY different (my sister went to ND). That should help you make your decision.</p>

<p>Having worked on Wall Street and now in corporate finance, I have to say that Wharton definitely gives you a leg up in recruiting. ND is a great school and in most other competencies, I would say you can’t go wrong Penn vs. ND, but I really think that if you’re going into business, not matter whether your goal is banking, accounting, or non-profit work, Wharton simply opens up more opportunities. Big consulting firms and banks simply go deeper into the class at Penn than they do in ND. This seems to be more a result of Wharton’s historical prestige than an actual gap in quality of students, but it’s certainly the paradigm. If you’re looking to have as many options as possible, Wharton will simply do that for you better than Mendoza.</p>

<p>And no disrespect to Mendoza, but I don’t really know how they were ranked #1 this year. I believe the median salary difference between Penn and ND is close to $10,000, no? That’s pretty significant. Probably doesn’t take COL into account, but nonetheless.</p>

<p>Also, the broader factors you have to consider are location (Philly vs. South Bend), religious atmosphere (Catholic vs. secular), and diversity (very white vs. a school that emphasize, perhaps overly so, “diversity”). Just things to complicate your decision!</p>

<p>@shankapotamus:
I have no problem with Veritas’s posts. In fact, I think his posts constitute a good reality check for Notre Dame. Although ND students really love their school, they must be realistic about ND’s strength in some academic disciplines such as engineering and science, and business(when compared to schools like Wharton). </p>

<p>In addition, I dont like your personal attack on him, it does not represent the ND spirit. I believe that Veritas graduated from a college that is ranked higher than ND… A good Domer’s response to people like Veritas should sound like: “Yes, we know ND is not perfect, but the spirit of this place surpasses everything we’ve ever experienced. The love for our school will give us a purpose in working hard everyday to improve the university’s reputation in every academic aspect.”<br>
I’m saying this as a student who will enter Notre Dame next fall.</p>

<p>@pnptroung</p>

<p>I would have been more diplomatic with that guy and responded like you would have had it been a few random posts where he was trying to be objective. After reading about a dozen posts of his all trying to diss on ND it became clear he has some kind of anti-agenda for some reason on this board, thus I am less willing to cut him some slack. It is not normal that he would go that out of the way to comment negatively on so many ND threads.</p>

<p>By the way, I take “rankings” with a grain of salt. For instance, if you are talking about the US News rankings, those are based largely on graduate school success, ie number of PhDs, research etc, and less weighted toward undergraduate teaching emphasis. The very top schools on the US News rankings are mostly schools with that research and doctoral emphasis, and less so on how good the undergrad school is. Notre Dame is primarily undergrad oriented, classes taught by professors and not just TAs. </p>

<p>Numbers that are more important are size of endowment, avg salary for college graduate, alumni donation rate, and satisfaction with the school by students and alums. Those kinds of numbers place ND in the top 10 if not top 5. So it doesn’t impress me when someone says “I graduated from school X ranked in the US News top 10” etc. I would bet, reading his posts, Veritas places great emphasis on the US News rankings.</p>

<p>

Honestly? How is that an anti-ND post at all? Veritas’s post answered the OP’s question and his claim that “Wharton gives grads a leg up in Wall Street recruiting compared to Mendoza” is a perfectly understandable opinion. Your ad hominem attacks do more harm than good to our perception of Notre Dame, something you are trying so zealously to sway.</p>

<p>@Shankapotamus:
you should read veritas24’s post in this thread:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-notre-dame/540712-just-how-strong-nd-academically-7.html#post1060914565[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-notre-dame/540712-just-how-strong-nd-academically-7.html#post1060914565&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The Cornell reply is the first one I have seen that defends Notre Dame, and it appears he is doing that so he can go out of his way to put down another Ivy League school with his typical Harvard snobbish elitism. Its all actually quite entertaining since he appears to be holding himself out as some kind of a college ranking authority just because he went to Harvard, lol.</p>

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<p>Only when the rankings don’t favor ND, apparently. Otherwise, you’re very quick to point to rankings:</p>

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<p>Yep. I still take the rankings with a grain of salt. For some reason you edited out the school I was talking about, which was USC. When EVERY ranking methodology you see ranks ND ahead of USC, then one may draw some general conclusions. There are also objective measurements which rate ND academics higher than USC’s, which I also was talking about. Nice try though.</p>