My major is finance, and I got these three offers, Boston University, University of Rochester and University of Wisconsin–Madison. The cost does not matter, and I want to apply top 20 school as my graduate school, which I should choose?
Boston University, , University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Rochester,which I should accept?
please give me your opinion
Congratulations. URochester.
Are you a direct admit into B school at UW? Do the other schools require application to the finance major? What else are you looking for in a school? What if you wound up changing your major, where might you want to be if that were to happen? I know UW well – it is a great college town, a city with strong internship opportunities and a growing tech start-up economy. But 28,000+ undergrads is not for everyone. When you say grad school do you mean MBA? The strongest MBA programs focus on work experience, and less on the specific undergrad. These are the types of questions to consider as you think about your decision – they are all great options, not a bad choice among them.
Thx. The grad school is also for finance, not for MBA. I have interest in UW, but it is a public college, 30K undergraduate school is really too much… I don’t care the location, the most important is which one is better for me to apply a Top 20 graduate school.
Thx. The grad school is also for finance, not for MBA. I have interest in UW, but it is a public college, 30K undergraduate school is really too much… I don’t care the location, the most important is which one is better for me to apply a Top 20 graduate school.
Guys, I need more
What is bottom line cost for each?
URochester offers of a traditionally collegiate, classically arranged campus (mostly in Greek revival and Georgian colonial) and a manageable size. In terms of their curriculum, financial economics would be a strength of the school.
Perhaps worth noting, Rochester keeps fairly rarefied company:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9
For me, I would be choosing between U of R and BU. They are pretty different I think. Boston would be MUCH better as a city to live in. U of R may be a nicer campus for undergrad as per #8.
One thing to be aware of are the retention and graduation stats. According to collegedata, at BU 93% of freshman return as sophmores whereas at Rochester it is higher at 96%. But only 74% at U of R graduate in 4 years whereas at BU it is 80%. So one way to look at that, is if you come back to sophmore year at BU you have an 86% chance of graduating on time. Whereas at U of R that figure is only 77% or almost 10 % points lower.
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=117
By six-year graduation rate, URochester reports a figure of 88%, which compares favorably to the 85% rate reported by BU (USNWR).
In terms of location, Rochester offers a city-in-the-country environment (by Lake Ontario and the Genesee River) located just far enough off the beaten path to be suitable for the adventurous.
Another vote for University of Rochester. Excellent school all around.
I’m curious how you got these offers so early? Athletic? because UR and BU are both ED schools. Please clue us in.
From his other threads, the OP appears to have applied as a transfer student, @pickpocket.
These are all great schools. You can go to a top 20 graduate school from any of them - none of them is necessarily better than the others for that.
That’s not what that means. The fact that 86% of people graduate in four years does not translate to an 86% probability that any particular person will graduate in four years. The individual probability of graduating in four years is related to a variety of factors that are particular to each individual’s characteristics and needs, and is going to be different for every person.
Boston may be a better city for finance internships. I’ve heard really good things about Madison as a city as well. It also depends on the atmosphere you want.
Yep, I’m a transfer student
Both colleges can get you where you want to go if you do exceptionally well. And in general people do best in the environment they are comfortable with. Keep in mind that your undergrad college is but one small piece of the equation for grad school admission. For most top tier MBA programs you need 1) very strong GPA 2) very high GMAT https://magoosh.com/gmat/2015/gmat-scores-for-top-business-schools/ 3) 2-5 years of meaningful work experience 4) strong recommendations, essays etc.
My personal preference would probably be UR because I happen to like a traditional campus, but I would recommend that you go to the school you feel is the best fit.
UR unless you want to live in Boston
Any one more?
You may find it interesting to compare Rochester by historical standards:
If you are a direct admit, as a transfer into the B school at UW, then I would keep it on the list and research the details about the B school and finance programs at each school more specifically. Look at class sizes in your programs, career services and placements etc. If you are not a direct admit into UW B school, then as a transfer, it would not make sense to have to get your pre-requisites in order and apply in spring of sophomore year.
I’m not specifically familiar with B school rankings outside the usual suspects, but a quick search showed that Forbes and Bloomberg have your schools clustered fairly close together in the 20-low 30 range for undergrad rankings and for graduate programs, UW is about 10 spots ahead of both BU and Rochester. You can argue with the rankings but that suggests those are perceived as roughly comparable schools. BU is not exactly a small school, with 17,000 undergrads and another roughly 15,000 grad students so I wouldn’t see size as a major differentiator, at least between BU and UW. What will matter more, in terms of a transfer’s experience, is the size of the program in your area of interest. Winter is going to be long and cold at all 3 schools.
Congrats on your admission as a transfer, and good luck with your decision.