Which of the following schools would be best for a career in business?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Right now I am in the process of trying to narrow down my list of colleges, but as of now, I have a large amount of interest in all of these colleges, regardless of the many differences they have.</p>

<p>Amherst
Bowdoin
CMC
Colby College
Davidson College
Pomona College
Upenn-Wharton
Swarthmore
Washington and Lee University
Williams College</p>

<p>semi interests
Grinnell
Middlebury</p>

<p>For most people I guess, the first answer would be Upenn. However, as you can see, disregarding Upenn, all of thse schools are liberal art colleges. I haven't visited many (Reed/Whitman), but from what I can tell, for the most part I lov the environment of liberal art institutions over research colleges (UW, WWU, WASU are the ones I've visited).</p>

<p>Now, I said which would be the best for me to follow a career in business, not necessarily major in businss. I may or may not major in business, there are alot of options for me to choose from I suppose. I do know that you will often live in the area of which you went to school in for quite a while. So, things like the career/internship opportunities, and the scouting companies for that college. And then the general area of said college, and if it'd be easy to get a nice life while in business. According to forbes, the best city for which there is a college I am interested in going to, would be Philidelphia (Upenn/Swarthmore).</p>

<p>Another point is I NEED financial aid like a mother. One of my initial "narrowers" was which colleges were needblind, and which (primary) offered no-loan financial aid, the semi-interests have limited loans. Sadly, some colleges which I am a bit interested in don't have such necessities.</p>

<p>So ya, any advice/help in narrowing this list, choosing a college, etc. The final goal is I want to succeed in business, and as sinful or vain as it may seem, simply get rich to enjoy a nice life.</p>

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<p>Bump bump!!</p>

3

<p>[The</a> Top Undergraduate Business Programs](<a href=“http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/undergrad_bschool_2009/]The”>http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/undergrad_bschool_2009/) helped me out a lot </p>

<p>good luck!</p>

4

<p>Wharton. End of story. Those are some great schools, but you said “best.” Wharton is hands-down the best undergraduate business program in the country, bar-none.</p>

<p>P.S. LACs in general will give you MUCH less FinAid than UPenn, I would imagine. All their endowments are tiny compared to a larger university, so they have less cash to dish out.</p>

5

<p>But is it absolutely necessary to major in business, in order to be successful in business? I mean, I guess that economics/business majors would be more likely to succeed in business, but what if you were to make a biomedical company, wouldn’t you need to know about the topic? And then, every school has an economics major, does Upenn offer a good program in that? I guess I’m sounding very anti-Upenn, but it’s moreso me REALLY liking the environment of a liberal arts college. And then again, career placement is a pretty big deal for me. For example, I know that Microsoft hires the most people from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.</p>

<p>(side note): I’ve also heard that WUSTL has very good financial aid. And Olin looks great if I were to major in business. But the only problem I have with them is that they currently aren’t needblind, and they aren’t no-loan financial aid, they don’t even have limits or caps on loans.</p>

<p>@cacciato: Thank you!</p>

<p>@hookem: I don’t know alot about Upenn’s financial aid other than it meeting my criteria, but alot of these colleges offered significant financial aid! </p>

<p>But, I guess if I did get into/go to Upenn, I’d always have the chance to take some classes at Swarthmore.</p>

6

<p>bump? I do realize that for business majoring itself Wharton is the best, and isn’t even offered at the other institutions, but to do and go into business in and of itself, and have a successful career, is Wharton the best choice?</p>

<p>In the end I’ll probably do ED Wharton, and then pick off a couple of the LACs.</p>

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<p>CMC Amherst Williams Penn</p>

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<p>I heard Wharton has an unsual curriculum. Thorughout your undergarduate years at Penn Wharton you are more so doing “training” rather than actual academics. </p>

<p>But to really answer the OP’s question, U Chicago’s economics program is top notch and I’m pretty solid it can shape you up for a career in business.</p>

9

<p>Read the thread on business schools b whitecastle on the business board.</p>

<p>You can’t compare all research Us to a few state schools in Washington. Dartmouth, for example, which has the feel of a LAC may be a very good choice for you or even Duke.</p>

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<p>You can find the best financial aid packages at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford.</p>

<p>No other school can compete with them in that regard.</p>

<p>Do not look at Swarthmore merely on account of its proximity to Penn.</p>

<p>Top firms actively recruit at Williams, and they are likely to offer you a package comparable to what Penn would offer you.</p>

11

<p>

Considering your stats (top 10%, 2320 SAT, URM), I’d say you have an excellent shot at virtually all of them. Since you require a great deal of financial aid, I would consider applying to 6-8 of the colleges on your list and add 1 or 2 safeties that you can afford. </p>

<p>Penn is a given, for your interests and financial aid. Personally, I would drop W&L and Colby. Your list would look like this:</p>

<p>1) Amherst
2) Bowdoin
3) Claremont McKenna
4) Davidson
5) Penn
6) Pomona
7) Swarthmore
8) Williams
9) Safety</p>

<p>As you know, Penn and all of these LACs are loan-free for all students and have generous financial aid packages.</p>

<p>I agree with hmom; Dartmouth and Duke would certainly be worth a look. Bowdoin and Middlebury are somewhat similar to the former; Davidson is fairly similar to the latter.</p>

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<p>@House of London. Thank you, initially I did really consider Chicago, but I haven’t heard great things about it’s social life. Also, it isn’t loan free sadly.</p>

<p>hmom5: Thanks! I’ll look into those two, I know Duke has a business school and Dartmouth would be a LAC catagory I suppose.</p>

<p>Kwu: I do realize that, however, Stanford/harvard are far from liberal art schools, and Princeton I have considered a bit. Thanks. And I looked at Swarthmore because of it’s consortium with Upenn, as well as it being a very good LAC on it’s own merit. But I didn’t know that alot of businesses recruited at Williams!</p>

<p>IB Class: Thank you for the advice!</p>

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<p>LACs in general also have far fewer students to dish the money out to. Some are quite generous with both scholarships and grants. Don’t rule them out.</p>

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<p>Actually, the top LACs give some of the best financial aid packages out there.</p>

15

<p>Pick CAS at Penn. Much happier that way.</p>

16

<p>Dartmouth seems perfect for you. Amazing business placement, LAC-like feel, and you can take classes at Tuck which is a very strong MBA program. Penn doesnt seem like a good fit given the other schools you like. Williams, interestingly, also seems to do incredibly well at business placement.</p>

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<p>@Ilovebagels- why do you say that?</p>

<p>@Slipper. I’ll look into that! I didn’t know you could do it, after hearing that Dartmouth looks more interesting to me. So, I can take classes at Tuck as an undergrad, but I can’t major in business, yes? And is Dartmouth loan free/need blind?</p>

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<p>But ok, I do pretty much figure if I want to go into business I need to major in business itself, or economics. Especially if I go to grad school. So, say I plan on majoring in business or economics, and then factoring in my other criteria (need blind/loan free financial aid), and me liking a LAC-feel, where would you recommend me applying to?</p>

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<p>I don’t think you can take Tuck classes as an undergrad. Dartmouth has a great presence on Wall Street and tons of recruiting opportunities for lucrative business jobs after graduation. </p>

<p>bagles said to do Penn College instead of Wharton because it seemed you didn’t want to major in business, but just put yourself i a good position for a business job. Penn College will do you just fine, and maybe even better if you are the type to succeed more in a liberal arts setting than a professional one.</p>

<p>Technically, you can major in anything to go into business. For the best opportunities you should look at Harvard and Wharton. Beyond that you can go to any top school (Ivy, WAS, MIT, Stanford Duke), major in what you want (though some majors lend themselves to business placement better than others) and network your way into some interviews and jobs. For an MBA your undergraduate major would matter very little and it’ll be more dependant on your performance on the job.</p>

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<p>If you’re looking for generous pseudo-LACs, definitely consider Dartmouth and Princeton.</p>