Georgetown or Emory

For undergrad, I have got into Emory and Georgetown (just the college, but could transfer to the b school). From what I have seen, Georgetown definitely has a better reputation. However, I have got a lot more money at Emory and, although my parents could do Georgetown, they would want to to know that I really want it. Could someone try and quantify the difference between the schools in terms of their reputation? Is it worth it?

47 Comments
 

We found out recently that Georgetown, while lacking any Greek life whatsoever, produces pretty "fratty" grads.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Georgetown is a target. Emory is a semi-target. In my opinion DC > Atlanta unless you're really into the music scene down there. However, with that said Emory did give you more money. You'll still get looks from firms if you network. A little tougher but you can do a linkedin search to see where Emory students are interning/working.

 

Yea over for years Georgetown would by around 95,000% dollars more expensive. So that's what makes it difficult. I don't think I can do that.

 

Money and exit opps aside, which school would you enjoy going to more? I think this matters more than worrying about exit opps / prestige. You should keep two things in mind: 1) You may have no desire to enter finance after graduation, so I wouldn't make your decision based solely on which school will provide the best exit opps 2) Emory, while not a target, is a well respected school. I have to imagine you wouldn't have a terribly difficult time breaking into finance so long as you take the time to network and educate yourself on the industry

$95k isn't chump change, so I agree with your parents that you should want to go to Gtown in order to spend more. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go -- just make sure you want to go for reasons other than maybe having a slightly easier time breaking into finance in a few years.

Good luck with the decision.

 

I am going to Emory. I just couldn't do that to my parents. Thanks for the advice though. I hope it still works out as yes I am hoping to go into nyc ib. But if it doesn't work out hopefully i can get a job somewhere else. Should i got the business school or just do undergrad econ and get an mba?

 

Study what you want to study. Your grades matter more than your major.

Don't worry about an MBA yet.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
"Evan157"

I am going to Emory. I just couldn't do that to my parents. Thanks for the advice though. I hope it still works out as yes I am hoping to go into nyc ib. But if it doesn't work out hopefully i can get a job somewhere else. Should i got the business school or just do undergrad econ and get an mba?

I feel like this is the right choice. From what my friends at Emory tell me if you have your shit together you'll be fine for high finance/consulting jobs. Clearly you'll be ok given you're posting on WSO right now as a high schooler.
 
"Evan157"

I am going to Emory. I just couldn't do that to my parents. Thanks for the advice though. I hope it still works out as yes I am hoping to go into nyc ib. But if it doesn't work out hopefully i can get a job somewhere else. Should i got the business school or just do undergrad econ and get an mba?

Don't forget to network with banks in the South too. They love Emory grads, especially the bank in Atlanta.

 

if you go to LinkedIn and search Emory's alumni data, you'll find less than 200 of historical alumni ended up in top IBs, whereas for other less famous colleges (e.g. DePaul, BU, KSU, OSU), they have far more number of people in top IBS.

 

Go to Georgetown, make a decent GPA, and transfer to the b-school? Easy to transfer between schools at Georgetown freshman year. To the b-school is hardest, but can be easily done! Best of luck to you.

 

Georgetown undergrad has one of the best placements into IBD across the entire spectrum.

That said Emory is definitely a top undergraduate b-school and places well up north in addition to being a top target in the southeast. They don't get GS/MS/JPM for OCR but get BAML/Citi/WF/Lazard/MM IBD/Southeastern IBD.

Gtown will have better placement as already said and Id go that route but what KingVodka said is completely wrong.

 

the global head of PE at Blackstone went Georgetown and is on some advisory council there, he's like 40 something too

"Understanding reality, and financial markets in particular, is a never ending process." - George Soros
 

the global head of PE at Blackstone went Georgetown and is on some advisory council there, he's like 40 something too

"Understanding reality, and financial markets in particular, is a never ending process." - George Soros
 
Best Response

I know OP has already made a decision- this is for future readers facing a similar situation:

I would go Georgetown, without question. Even if you have money from Emory and none from Gtown. Emory is great but Georgetown is about as good as you can get. Prestige, caliber of students, connections, etc. are all superior at Georgetown. If you want numbers, here is the most recent study done on which schools put the most kids into banking. According to this study, Georgetown put more kids into BB banks than any university in the world except Penn.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/02/investing/investment-banking-job-linked…

Penn, Georgetown, and Yale got the most kids into banking, respectively, followed by Princeton, Columbia, Duke, and Harvard. No surprises here.

Georgetown. Second only to Wharton in banking placement.

Also, don't worry about transferring to the business school if it's not feasible. At a school like Georgetown, you can get a banking gig no matter what your major is. My cousin is an art history major at Georgetown and she'll be working MS IBD next year.

 

LOLOLOL. Emory is a great school and has OCR according to alumni I have spoken to, yes GTown a slighter edge but is it worth all that much more money? Remember, just BC you land an IB gig doesn't mean your loans magically disappear. Make your first excel with the loans you're pulling out (private, interest rates, etc) and put the job you think you're gonna land. Keep in mind nothing is guaranteed. Top students at HYP don't land IB gigs bc the competition is fierce.

See the thing about some people who are commenting here haven't handled large sums of money since their parents did it for them when college time came rolling around. There is difference for wanting to work in high-finance vs HAVING to work in high-finance. If you go to GTown and decide you hate IB and most Certified Users here hate it, you're going to have to work in IB to start paying those juicy private loans off before the interest rates start ballooning. God forbid you don't land an IB gig and those interest rates start kicking in, you are screwed fella.

Good Luck! Remember, 6 figures isn't chump change "Just cuz ur gonna work in IB and get top bucket bonuses bro!"

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