Basically: Where will a degree from Georgetown get me? I got accepted into McDonough but I also got into UC Berkeley where, if I go, I plan to apply to Haas during my second year. Haas has a much better reputation than McDonough, but I could ignore that if the financial aid package is large enough from Georgetown since I've always wanted to go to an East Coast school. But I'm still concerned that the difference in reputation might be too much.
Georgetown has a better reputation, especially because of its position...or rather, mainly because of its position and IF you use and flourish with the opportunities that are provided for you at D.C.
And it's not about the undergraduate that takes you to the graduate school but here is a ranking of the statistics of the acceptances to the graduate school: http://wsjclassroom.com/pdfs/wsj_college_092503.pdf
Insofar as a large proportion of metro commuters are professionals in search of graduate study - seriously, average yearly income of a Metrorail rider is $102,000 (source: washingtonpost.com) - this is intelligent targeted marketing, especially for programs that may be less well-known, e.g. the executive MBA programs, certificates, etc.
Georgetown is one of the world's great universities. It's SFS program is unique and has an outstanding reputation. It's location provides opportunities for anyone wanting a career in foreign relations or government that can't be found elsewhere.
A week ago, Vanity Fair listed the US universities to which European royals send their kids. Georgetown was ranked #1 followed by Brown at a somewhat distant second. That speaks volumes about Georgetown's reputatation.
you're asking yourself the wrong question. why does the reputation matter to you? you should be asking yourself which school you think you would get a better education at and you would be happiest at.
don't listen to awkturtle, obviously not in the business field or even within a gunshot to it.
GTown reputation is infinitely higher than its ranking suggests. Then again, as STRONGLY hinted at in this thread, Gtown is a politics place; everything else is stepchild on campus. That, however, doesn't prevent Goldman / McKinsey /Blackstone from recruiting there.
If you want to go into business, you have to be on east coast. No anecdotal evidence will spoil that statement.
Awkturtle - when it comes to preprofessional programs, ranking is key
Desoan - TheRoad is referring to the rankings that he has provided
FlaPops - I abhor the idea of royalty so much that any association with it is extremely negative in my view
necrophiliac - I have looked at the employment reports from both business schools and both send their graduates off to some highly reputable firms. I'm going into strategy/financial consulting myself, so Bain/McKinsey/BCG are firms I look for on the recruitment reports.
jamescchen - incidentally there are more than double the number of business administration students at Georgetown than Berkeley, but the General Education courses are very crowded affairs with a hundreds of people in each class.
One measure of a school's reputation is the median salary that fresh graduates receive. People like awkturtle might be offended by this seemingly mercenary approach, but let's face it. College prepares you for a career, and people have careers to make money.
Interestingly enough, Georgetown actually scores higher on this factor with a median salary of $60,000 as opposed to Berkeley's $58,000.
