Undergrad - WashU or Berkeley L&S

I'm interested in consulting

WashU 

pro: semi-target for MBB consulting, easier to enroll in business school, smaller class sizes

con: tuition cost (not totally unaffordable though), weather, location, not-well-known school

Berkeley

pro: cheaper option, in-state

con: large class sizes, more competitive, idk how consulting placement is, no guarentee into undergrad Haas business school

 

WashU focuses on consulting in Olin which is good and they are very pre professional. Do you mind the Midwest? Can you see yourself there? Where do you want to work: Midwest, east coast, west coast, south?

 

WashU is a target for consulting I’d say. Lots of kids end up MBB. However it’s strong in Midwest (STL, Chicago) and slightly strong in NY. Not much of a west coast presence and not exactly on par w other east coast schools (ivies, NYU, etc). Also not a lot of name recognition amongst general public.

 

Go to UCB, since you'll have in-state tuition. It's pretty much a target for MBB SF at this point, the placement is like 5-10 kids per MBB per year in SF, plus I would assume random placements in other offices around the country. It will be very competitive to land MBB, but that's going to be true no matter where you go. You'll want to make sure you end up in a competitive consulting club or business frat and also get into Haas.

 

Current washu student that chose it over Berkley L&S. WashU is a strong target for MBB and places a large number every year ~10-15 kids a year which is pretty good for a business school of 200. Berkley is a lot larger (more than 4x larger) and more competitive since it does not place 4x more kids into MBB than WashU. On the other hand, Olin is very flexible and many students double major across schools at WashU.

The cons for WashU are its location and cost. While it places a good number into MBB most are into midwest offices (Chicago, bain dallas, mckinsey stl etc.) also the weather sucks balls (I'm also originally from cali). 

 

Personally, I would choose Berkeley. First and foremost, it is the cheaper. Second, I know going to a big school is a worry but there’s many benefits over a small school. There’s many opportunities and even though it’s more competitive, you’ll have a lot of flexibility with classes. Even without Haas, there are pathways to great jobs in business. I know some people who purposely choose not to enter Haas. 

WashU is a great school, but it is a small class size (120 people), and I urge you to look into whether WashU offers opportunities and pathways in everything you may want to do (unless you are dead set on consulting). 

Array
 

bro that's absolute cap. WashU isn't a small school, first of all, small would be a lib arts school like amherst or Williams, washu is a solidly mid-sized research university with all the pre-professional programs Berkely has. Also, I have a number of friends at Berkley and they all talk about how hard it is to get the classes they want and that's reflected in the 10% lower 4-year graduation rate so I'm not sure what kind of flexibility you're talking about. 

Berkely is a solid school for its location if you want to pursue a career on the west coast and the cost. The flipside is that it's a state school that is resource-starved compared to private universities. 

 

I am talking about the business school. Their class size is only 120 business students per year. All I meant was I would expect much more limited course offerings than Berkeley with only 120 business students a year. This is just my two cents. OP has to make a decision between Cal and Washu that is 2x the cost.

Array
 

WASH U all the way

if it were me I would choose Wash U any day over Berkely. for me I really love the small campus environment and the fact that there is a strong presence of greek life. Also trust me when I say this, Wash U is well represented on the street. if you do right things, you wont find it hard to get a good job 

I know based on my personality is that I would hate berkely cause I'm not just not a fan of the SF area and the fact the berkely is this humongous state school. I feel like I would have probably got lost in the crowd instead of having a serious impact on a smaller campus like Wash U

anyway, two really good schools but definitely polar opposites. depends on your personality where to go but good luck. you definitely have a GOOD problem

 

Agreed, WashU's size is great and if you're in a good frat it's a blast (fantastic connections too). Have no regrets doing undergrad there even with the higher cost $$$.

StL isn't the best (weather definitely sucks) but there's usually pretty fun shit happening on campus / at bars.

 

I did undergrad @ WashU (business minor) and went into consulting after graduating. I am not very knowledgeable about Berkeley (although I have lived in the Bay Area) but I believe opportunities are probably better coming out of WashU.

StL is hit or miss for a lot of kids...I enjoyed it though, and had a solid group of friends who all went on to get good jobs (mostly IB and consulting).

I left WashU with substantial debt - which sucked to pay off - but had a very solid 6 figure opportunity after graduating via a WashU connection.

Happy to chat in more detail if you want.

 

Do you regret going into consulting? Was it like how you imagined? Do you think going to washu was better in long term? What was your student experience like at washu?

 
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