aBeautifulMind

Colgate, Hamilton College, Bucknell University, George Washington University, RPI, Northeastern, Georgetown

I got accepted to these schools. First rank them in general, than rank them by greatness of economics department if you're able to. Here is how I ranked them, but this is a total guess, and I know basically nothing. I am really desperate, and really, really, really need A LOT of help in narrowing down the list, and eventually choosing one school.

General
1. Georgetown
2. Hamilton College
3. Colgate
4. George Washington
5. Bucknell
6. RPI
7. Northeastern


Greatness of Economics Department
1. Bucknell
2. George Washington
3. Georgetown
4. Hamilton
5. RPI
6. Colgate
7. Northeastern

CK2308

i agree with you on the general ranking, although i think that 2 and 3 are interchangeable, as well as 4 and 5.

some things to think about
-do you want a city campus or rural campus?
-what kind of size would you like?
-how important is greek life?
-what kind of class sizes are you looking for?
-where did you feel the most at home when you visited?

aBeautifulMind

-do you want a city campus or rural campus? I have no preference.

-what kind of size would you like? I have no preference.

-how important is greek life? It is not very important at all.

-what kind of class sizes are you looking for? I don't mind a mix of large and small classes, or all small classes, but I don't want all large classes. So as far as I know, all the schools qualify as acceptable for me as far as this category is of concern

--where did you feel the most at home when you visited? I have not visited any yet, and my parents said that they will only allow me to visit 2-3 schools, so I really need to shorten the length

Please help me!!!!!!!!

CK2308

hahaha ok, im sorry, i cant help you there! personally, i would choose georgetown or colgate. both great schools but very different. you would get a better brand name with georgetown but a better sense of a nurturing community at colgate! good luck!!!!

ticklemepink

Visit all of the schools. Enough said. We cannot rank them on our preferences. You should make your own decisions based on your gut feeling.

VeryHappy

My top two, of what you've listed, would be Georgetown and Bucknell. Close behind would be Hamilton and Colgate.

You must visit in order to differentiate them.

aBeautifulMind

VeryHappy, why would Bucknell be amongst your top 2? You're the first to say that, so I'm just curious.

Papa Chicken

suggest you read up on what the econ profs are researching in each of your schools. Links to Georgetown & Colgate econ departments:
Welcome
Colgate: Economics

gellino

On what basis would you rank Bucknell #1 and Colgate #6 in econ department? From what I've seen, I wouldn't call that at all accurate. Hamilton's greatest strength is in humanities. Colgate does better than all those schools on what % of grads go onto to get a PhD in economics and better than at least Hamilton, Bucknell, RPI, GWU, Northeastern in obtaining jobs on Wall Street. I have known a few that have transferred from Georgetown to Colgate and vice versa. They are roughly comparable (although more people are going to have heard of Georgetown), but the environment are much different and would choose on that basis.

bluebayou

concur with gellino. Hamilton is stronger in humanities. Also, Hamilton is the smallest on your list. Both my kids felt it to be way too small (it's a lot smaller than their high school), so visiting is extremely important. Or, if you can't get to Clinton, can you check out a smallish college nearby so you can get a 'feel' for what a 1700 student campus might be like?

jcarlino

go to Colgate!!! its the best!

rutgersmamma

Gellino, on what do you base your opinion that Colgate does a better job than Hamilton, Bucknell , RPI, GW, and NE in obtaining Wall Street jobs for their econ majors? Just curious where that info is available. Is it a consensus opinion that Wall Street is the goal of most econ majors? I thought an major in econ offered a well-rounded education for grad/law school rather than a ticket to be a broker or investment banker. Yes? No?

homers

I think that this would be a really good time to sit yourself down and figure out exactly what type of school you want to go to. You have to have some kind of a feeling about at least whether you would be happier in a rural or an urban environment. All of these schools are terrific in their own way, but they are very diferent. I am a big fan of Hamilton but its size and rural location could make someone go crazy. I have friends at Georgetown who love the city but I would have a hard time there.
Good luck.

gellino

There is nowhere that I know of where that information is available. It is just my observations through my experience and by seeing my and my friends' investment banking analyst classes and what schools the people there attended and then seeing where people have gone to school in my subsequent positions as well my MBA class.

Many econ majors (especially at schools without a business curriculum), but certainly not all, have working on Wall Street as a goal, or at least discover in their senior year that it is an obvious place of parlaying their education into a tangible job.

Economics certainly is a good, general training ground for grad school as well, although a majority of econ majors will get a job first before pursuing a graduate degree.

From what I have seen I would say Georgetown has a slight edge over Colgate, which has a slight edge over Hamilton, which has a slight edge over Bucknell. RPI is a good school, but one with an almost complete focus on engineering and science and wouldn't reccommend going there for econ. I would then put GWU and Northeastern a fair bit below these first five.

gellino

From what it seems your interests and goals are, I would visit Georgetown, Colgate, Hamilton and decide between them.