<p>I have already created multiple threads dealing with different aspects of the same issue. I am a high school senior in Wyoming, and currently, I am trying to decide what to do with my life. I have been accepted at Brown, Dartmouth, U. of Chicago, Wharton, and Pomona. I want to get into business down the road, but for undergrad studies, I would like to focus on something other than business. I am seriously considering taking a year off and applying to Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, and the U. of Chicago (match). The reasoning behind this decision is that the first four schools on this list are big name schools. I would have a greater chance of getting into HBS, Wharton, etc. for B School from one of these schools than I would from one that is on my current college list. Is my reasoning correct? Also, should I even apply to more schools?
SAT I 800V, 760M, 790W<br>
SAT II 760 US His., 740 MATH2, 770 Phys.
GPA 4.0 Unweighted (school does not rank)
Decent EC's</p>
<p>Oh you've got to be kidding me...</p>
<p>You have gotten into fabulous schools that other people would be thrilled with. There is no guarantee that if you take a year off that you will get into any of the other schools you have listed. Admissions is a crap shoot even for the top students. Count your blessings. Choose one of the schools you have been accepted to, and make the best of the wonderful opportunity before you.</p>
<p>No! If you think you could be HAPPY at any of these schools, go to one of them! They are all excellent schools and while they may not be "big name" to the man on the street in Wyoming, the admissions people at top grad schools definitely know that they are on par with HYPS. </p>
<p>If you truly don't like any of the schools you got into, that's another issue, but it sounds like you just think they're not prestigious enough. They are more than prestigious enough for anything you could want to do.</p>
<p>You already got into five big--huge!--name schools and are in a position that almost anyone would find enviable. Your reasoning is absolutely, 100% incorrect. You would gain NO advantage in applying for grad school from Yale over Brown, Dartmouth, UChicago, or Pomona. You really need to gain some perspective and realize that not only would you not gain anything from attending Yale over any of the schools that you have listed, but that the admissions process is extremely capricious and if you do not matriculate, not only may you not get into YPMS, you may not be readmitted to the schools that you were accepted to this year, either.</p>
<p>Edit: They are big name schools to anyone who knows anything about schools. If Brown, UChicago, or Wharton are not prestigious enough names for your self-esteem, you really need a reality check on your self-esteem. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but...this is a frustruating topic to me.</p>
<p>How are Brown, Dartmouth, U. of Chicago, and Pomona when it comes to landing Wall Street jobs?</p>
<p>How is it you haven't had to tell them yet like everyone else?</p>
<p>missing my financial aid packages</p>
<p>Sick...Just Sick...Burn, Burn...........</p>
<p>i just don't see what the problem is. you don't want to study business undergrad? can't you just switch majors? other than that, there's no reason you'd be at a disadvantage for business school going to one of the schools you've already gotten into.</p>
<p>plus, you put u of chicago on the list of schools you got into and the list you want to go to next year... go there this year...</p>
<p>They're great, in general. I don't know the specifics, but I know that the big financial companies are some of Brown's largest recruiters and that UChicago has an incredibly renonwned economics department. I can't imagine that Dartmouth grads are unsuccessful in the business world, either. Pomona is the farthest away from Wall Street and is probably the least well-known school (although every bit as good as your other choices, I am sure), but I would imagine that it is on the major employers radar as well. </p>
<p>If you do very well at pretty much any reputable school (and by reputable, I mean top 50-100 schools AT LEAST, not just the Ivies and top LAC's), you will be able to find a job. Doing well at one of these schools? No contest, in my mind. There are very few people who are so short-sighted as to value a UChicago or Brown or Dartmouth grad as lesser than an equally qualified HYPMS grad, and while I'm sure that they exist, I wouldn't want to be associated with anyone who DID look down on me coming from a very near equal like UChicago, so I strongly suggest that you don't worry about it. I left out Pomona because I recognize that it is a little less well-known, but I would think that any employer worth his/her salt would be aware of the school and it's top-notch rep. They should be, anyway. Again, do you really want to work for a company--if it exists, which I don't think it does--that is so short-sighted that it will only hire grads from 4 or 5 schools in the country? I wouldn't. </p>
<p>Besides, if you are so soley concerned with your future in business, you already have the undergrad prize: Wharton. I understand--and support, by the way--your desire to have a broader education (although I would imagine that Wharton is not totally business focused, but I don't actually know that) than what an undergrad B-school would usually offer, but to worry that you won't have career options coming from a Brown, UChicago, etc. is ridiculous. I can guarantee you that Wall Street is not all Wharton and HYPMS grads. </p>
<p>Amazingly, not everyone in this world graduates from HYPMS, and yet as I look around me, people manage to find jobs, survive, and even be happy!</p>