ND,Washington St. Louis or U penn?undergrad business

za · January 2017

Wanted to request an opinion on Notre dame (Mendoza),Washington university in St. Louis(Olin) or university of Pennsylvania(Wharton)which is a better choice for an undergrad business degree? This is for my daughter who has not yet decided in which area of business she wishes to specialise in . Thanks in advance for your generous advice.

philbegas · January 2017

Depends on what you mean better choice. Do you mean perhaps better quality of education? Or better salary prospects? There's a lot of different ranking systems that use different parameters.

za · January 2017

@philbegas I have been through the different rankings which have a different story to say altogether. I would definitely like to lay emphasis on the quality of education ,internships, community sentiment etc ,thank you

happy1 · January 2017

I would consider things like cost and personal fit in making the decision. I'd certainly have Wharton as #1 and then IMO Olin and Mendoza are very close (and both excellent) although I'd personally give a slight edge to Mendoza.

philbegas · January 2017

As usual I tend to agree with @happy1. However, even for the strongest of applicants, it's unlikely a student would get into all 3 of these and have this sort of choice.

happy1 · January 2017

^^^^Who knows? If an applicant is strong enough to get into Wharton it is certainly possible he/she could get into Mendoza and Olin as well. Personally, I would not spend time worrying about which to attend until all three acceptances are in hand.

za · January 2017

Thanks for your comments @happy1 & @philbegas. Cost not being va factor of concern as they are all in the same range,my focus is more on quality and community as my daughter is an International student.
Also have heard that Wharton is very competitive which worrues me as thats is not what we are looking for.thanks

happy1 · January 2017

Internationally Wharton certainly has the best reputation. I wouldn't think Wharton would be any more competitive than the other two schools. When I attended Wharton (admittedly years ago) I did not find the environment to be competitive.

za · January 2017

@haapy1 ,I have been going thru a lot of threads on this site which made me conclude the above,thanks for your advice ,appreciate it.

prezbucky · January 2017

For rep, Wharton is #1 in this group. But these are all strong programs at top-notch schools, so I think that -- aside from looking hard at each program for things like courses and majors, internship opportunities, class sizes, etc., and considering where you might like to work when you're finished with school -- you should consider environmental fit (setting, weather, location, etc.), social vibe, and cost as part of the decision.

For instance, assuming all three are similarly priced, and you'd really like that Midwestern suburban/small city setting, with a huge sports scene, Notre Dame would be the choice.

Urban but still in the Midwest (technically) and probably just a bit warmer than ND, with great reviews for dorms and food? Washington U is the choice.

Urban and near the East Coast, with all the colonial history and cheese steaks, and a work hard/play hard mentality? UPenn.

It's all about figuring out what you want out of not just the academic side -- all three will deliver aces there -- but the rest of the experience as well.

za · January 2017

Thanks @prezbucky for your useful insights. I do understand Wharton has an edge over ND & Wash U but was wondering which of them would hold an edge on quatity of education. Thankyou

philbegas · January 2017

That's true - often internships can turn into job offers if the student in question does a good job. And if an applicant cannot decide between several schools, perhaps that could give one the edge. For me personally (example), if I was fortunate enough to have that decision, I'd pick UPenn because I'd rather have the opportunity to make a career in Philly/the NE of the US rather than the midwest.

philbegas · January 2017

What is it about the quality of education that interests you?
For example, US news does a ranking on the quality of teaching.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching

za · January 2017

Thanks @philbegas that puts ND as no1

philbegas · January 2017

Out of the 3 you're looking at yes.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/undergraduate-teaching-methodology

If you trust their methodology you can place some weight on the ranking when it comes to decision making.

prezbucky · January 2017

za, it's probably really hard to differentiate among these three in terms of teaching quality. You can go to each school's web site and check out the business faculty profiles and find out if they have their PhD (or DBA or other terminal degree), where they got it, which classes they teach, how long they've been there, etc. But you can only tell so much by looking at those profiles; you won't really know whether you can connect with a prof until you are in one of their classes.

You can also read prof reviews online -- that might help a bit. Just keep in mind that those are through the eyes of other people and you might see things differently.

You can try to find out if a PhD/DBA (terminal degree in field) teaches each class, discussion, lab, etc. Chances are there will be some discussions or labs taught by non-PhDs, but that all lectures will be taught by a prof with the terminal degree in their field.

Probably the biggest academic differences will be classes and majors offered, curriculum style (graduation requirements, distribution requirements...) and, if you consider internships part of the education, there will obviously be differences there. You might also look at class sizes, though at these three schools, class sizes in your major will probably be small.

arc918 · January 2017

Choosing between those three school would be a wonderful problem to have...

za · January 2017

@philbegas,the rankings do help as we do not live in the U.S but was also looking forward to personal feedback from those who have attented the above mentioned universities.thankyou

philbegas · January 2017

If you want personal feedback you could also browse/post on the individual schools sub-forums. OR perhaps post a thread on the general "college search & selection board" if it's not getting very many responses. Generally I think people in the "major" forums answer more general questions about different types of business majors, types of jobs, etc.

za · January 2017

Thanks @prezbucky ,appreciate your advice.

prezbucky · January 2017

sure thing. do the work and get good results. :-)

ND,Washington St. Louis or U penn?undergrad business

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