<p>OK as a junior AEM major going into ibanking, dating a hotellie, I can tell you, I wish I was in hotel… AEM is a new program, and subsequently has fewer outside connections directly related to aem. Hotel is hooked up, sending a ton of people to investment banks, real estate finance, etc. Hotel require a lot of group work (rather than just multiple choice tests for AEM), has more specialized classes (you can always take an aem class as an elective anyway), and prepares you much better for the business world. Hotel requires proper formatting of documents, and has a more specialized microcomputing class and focus. Hotel students learn how to go into interviews and how to present yourself. The hotel faculty is full of renowned, successful, business professionals, while AEM faculty consists of many researchers and local accountants/businessmen who do not have experience in big time finance, etc. Hotel is also a very tight nit community where literally everyone knows each other. This is very important for networking.</p>
<p>That being said, AEM is a good business program that will prep you well. It has less of a hotel focus, and if you do not have internships/some ec’s that show your interest in hospitality before applying, you have a better shot at AEM. You will not be looked down upon if you go into AEM from companies. You will also not have to take hospitality classes like facilities management and hotel operations based classes which are a pain. AEM does have a lot of cool courses (like biotech marketing, politics of the WTO, valuation, etc) but you can take these if you are a hotel student. While AEM may be top 5 in a decade, you are going to be applying to jobs in 5 years. It is still a highly regarded program, but I personally feel like hotel has better connections (especially because of the tight nit community and a lot of people go into finance that isnt hospitality related), it is the number one school in the world of its kind, and it prepares you better for the professional world ( in ways that are outside of knowing accounting/finance).</p>