Princeton Certificate in Finance vs. Wharton

Wharton duh. Dumb question

Wharton, Princeton's program seems like a half-assed excuse for an UG business program. Wharton has some top tier faculty.

unless you actually have some other passion that you value much more than learning about Finance - you can take classes in SAS while at wharton, but like "Princeton's program seems like a half-assed excuse for an UG business program," Wharton's liberal arts component is a half-assed excuse for a liberal arts education.

http://www.princeton.edu/~bcf/certificate.htm

Concurring Opinion. I would go to the school that is known for their strength. Go to Wharton...

the finance certificate will give you exposure to finance while getting a real liberal arts education. in terms of prestige, princeton is probably higher....exit opps are just about the same (with the exception of a lot of the really small/midmarket firms that will only go to wharton).

haha, such an easy question.

lol but after 10 years you have to be a penn alum instead of a princeton alum

Princeton. You get the best of both worlds, in getting a world-class, rigorous education in the liberal arts, from what is arguably the best ivy for undergrad teaching, and enough finance knowledge so that you can keep up with Wharton analysts. If you only want to do finance and accounting, go to Wharton. Princeton will give you a more well-rounded, and arguably more respected experience.

sure...and then come time for b-school i can be a wharton alum and you'll be a jackass.

ironically the well rounded jackass will have a better shot of getting into b-school

not so ironically, wharton has a pre-matriculation program where you can be accepted into the mba program as an undergrad and finish in 5 yrs with a bachleors and an mba.

what good is an mba at the age of 22/23...the mba should be considered a 2 year vacation, or as a way to switch careers, and as a way to make connections which will be hard when everyone is much older...plus very few people are actually accepted into the submatriculation program.

whoa you're going to be 23 when you graduate from college? that's old...

p.s. jj80 is a bitch for editing his post.

I definitely see the merits in both programs. At Wharton you'll definitely have a solid, solid finance education as well as a chance to take classes in other areas, but the liberal arts education at Wharton/Penn can't compare to the one at Princeton. And honestly, how many people in banking really use the things that they learned in undergrad classes more than the things that they learn in the 6 weeks of training? In my opinion, if you got into both, congrats! Go visit the schools and find out which you're a better fit at. Both schools are academic powerhouses. It's more important that you like your friends than respect your professors' academic credibility.

GOAT post. Mad nerds in this thread arguing over what boils down to bullshit. Both schools are amazing, go to either and you will be just fine.

This is probably the best advise on this board for those guys chosing between schools. Play with it a bit and its probably the best advise for those of you chosing between banks, groups etc. as well.

I win! Sorry...I had to, hahaha.

P.S. GOAT = good thing?

GOAT = Greatest Of All Time

GOAT = Greatest Of All Time

jinx! thanks for the clarification.

NO Go Princeton. I was rejected from them and took Wharton instead; I'd still give anything to matriculate there.

Suppose in ten years you wanted to do something different, whatever it may be. What sounds better? Princeton or Penn?

Has anyone outside of the US even heard of the University of Pennsylvania? I mean, seriously, nittany lions?

Go Princeton.

Penn at least has a good football team.

Wharton provides the best business education in America. You'll be taking many MBA classes, and the faculty is top notch. The Wharton curriculum is very strong and diverse, covering all aspects of business from insurance to leadership management to finance. Not only will you blow your peers out of the water with your education, you are also with hundreds of fellow hardcore businessmen. As for recruiting, Wharton undergrad can't be topped. Not only do you take up most of the incoming class percentage for the BB's, but all the small boutiques and elite financial institutions also recruit at Wharton.

Guess who won the Ivy Championship in football this past year?

That's right, the Princeton Tigers.

Princeton > Penn.

A ceritificate in finance versus a proper business degree? that pretty much sums up the whole argument.

actually you get a bachelors in economics from wharton and from princeton the certificate is a minor that you can get with any major

Puck Frinceton.

Ahh, sounds like a good old quaker...

Go to Princeton -- at least you won't have to live in downtown Philly for four years and have an inferiority complex (just ask any Penn alum about the supposed Penn-Princeton rivalry).

If your goal is investment banking choose Penn

I didn't even apply to Princeton. Looking back, if I had gotten into every college in the country, I'd still choose Penn

If you're truly interested in finance, I would definitely go to Princeton. First, the difference in the amount of finance you'll learn at Wharton as an undergrad vs. what you'll learn at Princeton in the finance certificate is marginal at best. By the end of training, everyone will be on the same level anyway.

Second, quite frankly if finance is your passion you'll stand out more at Princeton during interviews than you will at Penn. While banks may not have strict quotas on how many people they take from each school, they definitely have a rough idea of what they're looking for, and it'll be way easier to get into GS or MS from Princeton as opposed to Penn. In fact, I had one of my interviewers tell me this exact same thing this past fall. He had gone to Penn and told me I made the right choice for that very reason.

Third, and probably most important, women will be way more attracted to you. I quote a real conversation overheard between two models on a subway in New York:

Girl 1: Did you hear what happened to Jess?
Girl 2: Yea, I can't believe it. It's such a shame.
Girl 1: I know, I mean now she'll probably have to end up marrying someone from Penn instead of Princeton....

In other words, choose Princeton.

Safety School

Amen to the previous post. Seems like there are quite a few Ptonians on this board...

The only thing that Penn has over Princeton is its basketball team and he's about to graduate this year.

The only thing that Penn has over Princeton is its basketball team and he's about to graduate this year.

princeton is the shit. i didnt get in so i had to go to this ghetto called new haven.

but Wharton is much more difficult to get in than Penn, but still easier compared to HYP. I know of quite a few students that got rejected at all 3, but got into Wharton/Dartmouth/Duke, etc.

lol I got in MIT and Wharton and I got rejected from Dartmouth (...and HYPS =C). crapshoot i say.

If you do well at either school, you will get a great banking job and have tons of opportunities in other fields as well. I'm at Wharton, and I know people faced with your decision who've chosen Wharton, and others who've gone to Princeton. I personally got in to Princeton, Wharton, and Stanford (rejected from Harvard, Yale, and MIT), and I picked Wharton because I wanted to be on the east coast (so Stanford was out) and I (1) just liked the general atmosphere at Wharton better, (2) wanted opportunities at some of the truly elite firms that only recruit at Harvard and Wharton, and (3) wanted to see a good amount of corporate finance in practice before taking a job in it. The only place I would probably have taken over Wharton is Harvard (I didn't get in).

Also, the girls at Penn are MUCH better looking than the girls at Princeton (I don't think this should be something you weigh heavily, but I'm just throwing it out there). Penn actually has a decent amount of seriously hot girls - the kinds you'd find at state schools, but they have brains too. From what I saw at Princeton, the girls are not good looking (even by ivy standards).

Princeton is up here

Wharton is down here.

Why doesn't blackstone recruit at princeton?

You guys actually make me feel kinda bad about going to Columbia

Is it not just good enough to go to an ivy league school? What happened to "going to the school that fits"? Do banks really split hairs that much between H/Y/P/S/W/Columbia/Cornell/etc?

First off, Penn is not the Nittany Lions. That is Penn State. And second, why do you all care about banking your hs senior year or frosh year of college? I got to a top bulge bracket firm (and top group) from a non target and did not even know what bankers did until soph year. Some of you need to enjoy college, and quit thinking about your career.

princeton for liberal arts (really useless), wharton hands down for finance.

if some kid came up to me talking up his finance certificate from princeton, i'd probably laugh in his face. it's like the kid that went to KKR and worked in the backoffice.

Wharton undergrads are among the most unbearable people on the planet.

Princeton has as amazing an international name and makes you sound like more than just another finance kid.

wharton guy will be assumed to know more at the onset, but after a few months on any job, it's character and how quick a study you are that make the difference. if both schools are targets, what's the point in arguing over the difference?

btw - the 'liberal arts' component of wharton equates to a lot of free credits to take courses in the SAS. Most wharton undergrads pick up a minor in foreign language, politics, math, etc. It's those tools who pick up a second concentration in accounting that give us a bad rep....