<p>Just completed my second year at a PSU branch campus. Im trying to decide where i should finish my college career.</p>
<p>I was accepted to both PSU Main and UPitt. I definitely plan on going to Grad School for an MBA or Law.</p>
<p>Career Aspirations: Sports Agent, Lawyer, Financial Analyst, Investment Banker or Stockbroker</p>
<p>Choices: Penn State (Main Campus) or University of Pittsburgh (Main Campus)</p>
<p>If I go to Penn State, Ill double major in Business Management (Smeal) & Economics (Liberal Arts)</p>
<p>I cant get into Finance at PSU because I have a 3.2 GPA not the required 3.5.</p>
<p>If I go to UPitt, I'd strictly major in Finance.</p>
<p>Which university would you attend if you were in my situation.</p>
<p>Penn State has the #1 ranked school for business in the country according to wall street. If your ultimately looking for a job in business I would say without a doubt go to Penn State. Also, going to a large Division 1 sports school (like PSU) can’t hurt your opportunities to get started as a sports agent.</p>
<p>Not too sure about Law but already Penn State seems to have the upper hand on Pitt when it comes to what you said you would like to do.</p>
<p>Wherever you decide to go, try to get the GPA up. You are already seeing that the 3.2 won’t get you into undergrad finance at PSU…it gets even harder when you’re applying to reasonably good law schools or MBA programs. The higher your GPA, the more options you will have. Best of luck, you’re off to a good start!</p>
<p>“Penn State has the #1 ranked school for business in the country according to wall street.” What does that mean?</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal published a survey of corporate recruiters who ranked Penn State as number one.</p>
<p>[Job</a> Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ.com](<a href=“Job Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ”>Job Recruiters Prefer State Universities Over Ivy League Colleges - WSJ)</p>
<p>I think maybe this is what the poster was referring to?</p>
<p>Thats exactly what I was referring to. A school that has a number 1 ranking must be doing something right education wise. Not to mention its a great fact to be able to spout to potential employers.</p>
<p>The WSJ is not Wall Street. And I might suggest that applicants would be better served spouting off their own achievements to potential employers.</p>
<p>lets keep this forum clean lol</p>
<p>I was offering advice sincerely. Potential employers are far more interested in what a student might offer their company than in how the WSJ ranked PSU.</p>
<p>@1moremom</p>
<p>So what would you do if you were in my position? Please read my situation.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the nuances of business education or how not getting in the Finance program would affect you. Still, I would give the edge to PSU. (Earlier I was just trying to point out that “Wall Street” per se doesn’t rank anything.) Smeal touts its actual rankings here-- [url=<a href=“http://www.smeal.psu.edu/about/rankings.html]Rankings”>http://www.smeal.psu.edu/about/rankings.html]Rankings</a> — Penn State Smeal College of Business<a href=“The%20ones%20worth%20bragging%20about,%20at%20least.”>/url</a></p>
<p>Still, I think you could succeed with a degree from either school. If you visit and prefer the feel of one school over the other or if for some reason one is significantly cheaper than the other, that could reasonably affect your decision. (Law and MBA programs are not cheap.) Good luck!</p>
<p>bump looking for more opinions.</p>
<p>i feel like double majoring might not be the best decision. but i also feel like leaving the chance to attend the Smeal college of business would be something id regret</p>
<p>Jay, I think you need to take a serious look at figuring out what direction you want to take your career because given your current situation, you will need to throw all of your effort in the direction you want to go to make sure you succeed. I’m not trying to be mean here, just real, and you’re not going to get into a good law school with your current GPA, and I would personally not recommend going to law school if you can’t go to a good one. I don’t know anything about sports agents, but I do know that you’re going to have a tough time getting a job in investment banking if you don’t have some sort of personal ties to the industry given that your GPA is on the low end for your major (and the fact that Smeal is not exactly Wharton, regardless of what the WSJ rankings said).</p>
<p>You should definitely be able to get into financial analysis, and your GPA is good enough for a top MBA program if you have great work experience to go with it (GPA matters a lot less for business school than law school). With a few years of work experience you could feasibly get into a top MBA program, and then from there go into investment banking. I hate to make this recommendation, but given your current career aspirations, majoring in finance at Pitt might be a better bet than business management at Smeal. I wouldn’t personally recommend to anyone to major in business management as an undergrad if they have high career aspirations, but I’m sure some people will dispute that.</p>
<p>However, there are career routes using an undergrad degree in Economics that can lead to top MBA schools, and then to i-banking, but they don’t involve jobs you originally posted (think more along the lines of economic analysis positions in the government or with consulting companies). I would personally drop the business management thing and stick with economics if staying at Smeal. </p>
<p>I know I didn’t address stock-brokering, but that’s sort of a dead field given the rise of discount online stock brokers. :)</p>
<p>Just throwing this out there, last time I checked, Economics was actaually a BA degree, and not actually part of Smeal, but rather the college of Liberal Arts at PSU…</p>
<p>@warrior1183</p>
<p>yea Economics is no longer apart of Smeal. Thats why i thought of balancing the Management major (smeal) with a liberal arts major in Economics.</p>
<p>Thanks for you input BigAarst. I am definitely still considering Pitt. I just love the large alumni of PSU and the Smeal college of business program.</p>
<p>What sort of job do you think you could get with an undergraduate management degree? If you go to Smeal, do you think you could get into something a little more technical, like accounting or marketing (note: marketing is not advertising, but rather provides a solid foundation for product management, consulting, or strategy)?</p>