<p>Son know he wants to study business and has been accepted into some really great schools but now comes the decision. I know fit is a big issue and so I told him he needs to narrow his list to three so he can visit in time to make a decision.</p>
<p>He also is waiting for a decision from Stanford tomorrow (brother is a CS major attending) and so would like to be with his brother. They have always been close.</p>
<p>Problem is that money is an issue. Although we can work with all packages offered to this point, Yale's offer is much more generous. </p>
<p>Here is the way I rank them for a business undergrad:
Wharton
Stanford - if he gets in
MIT
Princeton
Yale
Columbia - also got in
Dartmouth - also got in</p>
<p>I may be wrong here but that is just my opinion.</p>
<p>Only problem is that Wharton's and MIT's offers are about $10K a year less than all the others which are similar. Is Wharton really that much better. Although we would send him, it would be a financial burden to a certain degree... income just over $100K so an extra $10K per year is a lot.</p>
<p>From my point of view, a liberal arts education plays a crucial role in the intellectual and even ethical formation of a human being.</p>
<p>To study as an undergraduate what one can learn through work experience or graduate study sounds absurd to me, and to many business leaders, as I’ve read.</p>
<p>Accordingly, I’d rank them in the following way:</p>
<p>Princeton
Yale
MIT
Stanford
Wharton (supplemented by coursework at the SAS)
Columbia
Dartmouth</p>
<p>As I see it, it is unwise to close doors and to make lifelong commitments at age eighteen.</p>
<p>If you feel it is a financial burden, then no I would not say it is worth it when you have many excellent choices as well. If this was Wharton vs. Idaho, definitely Wharton but something like Wharton vs. Columbia/Yale, save the money.</p>
<p>I went to Wharton (years ago) so that is always a top choice in my book. But I know that there is one major at Princeton that investment banks hire a lot of kids from (ORFE? not positive) so that may be one good choice as well. Only you can find the best mix of what makes financial sense and what your son wants. If you eliminate one or two schools based on money, that is fine. With this list, it isn’t possible to make a bad decision.</p>
<p>Tripletime
Congradulations on the admissions for you Son. If you do not mind telling me his GPA and SAT scores it will help me to plan for my kids.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Be aware that most, if not all, of these schools will match the need-based aid packages offered by their peers. So before giving up on any of these because of the relative sizes of the aid packages, you should give that a try.</p>
<p>Also, regarding Wharton vis-a-vis a traditional liberal arts curriculum, this site might provide some useful insights:</p>
<p>Because of the tremendous variations among the potential liberal arts curricula that can be pursued by a student (ranging from, e.g., a heavy emphasis on science and math to a program steeped in fine arts or humanities), and the potential variations available to a Wharton student (including, e.g., dual degrees from both Wharton and Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences), the choice between Wharton and a liberal arts program, per se, is not as cut-and-dried as some might think.</p>
<p>Well he got into Stanford so it might be a moot point. Big brother is at Stanford and they are very close. My younger son said that he was by far the most excited when he read his Stanford acceptance. It would be easier on us also.</p>
<p>@rocdude… I’m sure I’ve posted both of my son’s stats in the past so if you will search my history it should be on there. Good luck.</p>