Greetings -
Which school is better for undergraduate in economics
I am keen on career in economics
Northeast works better since it’s close to friends & family
However, I am not sure about business education at Babson
UWM has offered the best financial aid
But, winter is colder and longer in Madison
Please help me with some opinions
Thank you
BAbson is fine but it won’t have the reputation of the others. Wisc is usually seen as a backup for kids who didn’t get into Mich- certainly an excellent place in its own right, but not too many kids will choose it if they have a chance to go to Mich or UCLA.
But you mentioned $- if Wisc is substantially cheaper than UCLA or Mich then it moves way up the list. Mich or UCLA aren’t so different from Wisc to make them worth big debt for.
Money aside, are there some kids who will choose Wisc over Mich and UCLA just because they like it more? sure, a few.
You might want to Google the article about how the most current Fortune 500 CEOs did not graduate from Harvard, Stanford or Notre Dame. They went to Wisconsin. Michigan was fourth on that list. If Wisconsin is cheaper than Michigan I would go Badgers.
You can compare three of your choices by faculty publishing in economics through this analysis: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html.
Since Babson’s curriculum differs substantially from those of your other choices, it should be considered by different criteria.
What does a career in economics mean to you- a doctorate in econometrics, advising the Federal Reserve Bank on capital requirements or inflation strategies? A BA in econ and then working at a commercial bank in middle market lending? A BS in econ and then working at a hedge fund on interest rate arbitrage?
If you are interested in a theoretical/highly quant aspect of econ, pick one that’s not Babson.
While departmental rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, Michigan and UW both have highly ranked Econ departments on several ranking sites, so you can be confident that both are excellent choices. If UW is cheaper than Michigan as an OOS student, then take that offer and run with it! Ann Arbor and Madison are both great college town, slightly different, in that Ann Arbor is a smaller city whereas Madison is the state capital. Both have huge Big 10 sports scenes, great food. UW’s campus offers a lot of flexibility for students looking for different types of experiences – you can live in high rise dorms with a bustling urban feel, in the southeast campus neighborhood, or live in a bucolic dorm near the Lake, surrounded by running paths and nature, in the Lakeshore housing area. In terms of travel, you can fly into Chicago and take the Van Galder Bus from O’hare to campus vs. fly to Detroit for Ann Arbor. Both schools will have plenty of east coast students. In terms of weather, yes, Wisconsin is colder, longer, than Boston area. But it’s not Alaska or even Minnesota. For someone coming from the east coast, UCLA, as more expensive and longer travel, seems an easy one to pull from the list. Same for Babson, which has a different undergrad focus.
Also, a pre-PhD or quant-emphasis economics major would need to take more advanced math and statistics courses than the baseline math and statistics requirements for economics majors at most colleges (UCLA’s math / economics major appears to be designed for students with such goals, but choosing appropriate electives in a math or economics major at some other college can do something similar).
Wisconsin has a math heavy track for undergraduate theory classes geared toward students considering quant/grad school next steps.
Note that the OP has friends and family in the Northeast, but may not live in the Northeast.
Many Thanks to all sharing their opinions and inputs
Why is Babson’s reputation lower compared to the rest?
Is that from economics perspective?
I’ve read Babson is one of the top schools for undergraduate in entrepreneurship
Would choosing Babson give the option of combining economics with finance and business compared to other schools where it would be math heavy?
Babson lets you declare your concentration in 3rd year
Is it similar with other schools?
Thank you
The reason that people are steering you away from Babson is that you said you wanted to study economics. Babson is primarily a business school. Yes it has a very strong entrepreneurship program, but that is not economics. Econ is a theoretical subject that teaches you how markets and economies work. Entrepreneurship would be more practical with courses on finance, marketing, accounting, etc. Its just not the same thing.
Your question about what combination of majors Babson allows can probably be found on their website or maybe you can call the school to ask more detailed questions.