What do you feel is more prestigious, a top undergrad with a second tier graduate school or a second tier undergrad with a top tier grad school? I've noticed this recently with people I've spoken to. Guys going from HYP undergrad to state school for law degrees and state school kids getting a harvard MBA for example.
The essence of the question is really, whether you feel as if undergrad name > grad name in terms of prestige or grad name > undergrad name.
I have my own opinion, but hearing others thoughts might help a few of the hs/college kids on this forum out as I was one of the ones who bought into the whole college confidential bs of going to a much lower ranked cheaper undergrad and then going to a ivy grad school.
Going from great undergrad to shit grad implies regression and you either fucked up or you better have a good reason to go to the school that you did. Going from crap undergrad to great grad implies progression and shows growth.
Grad school always trumps ugrad.
Graduate school absolutely trumps undergraduate any day of the week. Absolutely agree with the regression satement
^I feel like this only applies with professional schools. Doesn't a Yale BA in economics trump a Ohio State BA in economics + Yale MA in Economics? -> both in terms of prestige and in terms of recruiting for prestige based jobs like banking/consulting/pe
Who gets a BA in Economics; what IS/LM graphs too hard you can't get a BS. Also an MA in economics is equally as useless. Back on topic, weak undergrad is understandable if you got a boat load of scholarship or they were known for a specific major which you originally wanted to pursue.
Okay so would a BS in Economics Ohio st. -> MS in Economics at Yale still be less prestigious than say a BS in Economics Yale -> MS in Economics at Ohio st? Assuming that no scholarships/recruitment for athletics are involved
The fact that you struggle to string a sentence together completely discredits your baseless argument.
You do know that the majority of econ programs across the country ONLY offer a BA in econ, right? At the undergrad level, if there is no option between a BA or a BS in econ, there's essentially no difference. However most grad programs offer both an MA and an MS.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Yale does not have an MA in Economics and neither to any of the other Ivy league schools. It has a Masters in "International and Development Economics" but they run their own show and are not affiliated with the Yale economics department.NYU, BU, Duke and U of M- Ann Arbor would have been better examples.
Going to Yale grad from ohio undergrad is more prestigious.
Grad prestige trumps undergrad, especially in law and business, where pedigree can open a lot of doors. Someone who went to harvard ug and then a non-top 15 program badly fucked up somewhere along the way. Either he had no business getting into harvard in the first place or lost his motivation once he got there. In contrast, a guy who did ohio state undergrad and then HBS means that the guy was a late bloomer who excelled from college onwards, displayed achievement and leadership, and is going to be very successful in the future.
True but there is also a curve in place at HYP. Not everyone at those schools can get over a 3.0 given the insane amount of competition, and so the HYP kid with a 2.5 gpa might get a 3.7+ in econ/business at your local state school. Which is why a lot of firms (a few that I can definitely confirm) would give the ivy leaguer with no gpa listed on the resume the interview and deny the state school kid with a borderline gpa (3.5-3.7 range). Since a 3.5 GPA at state school with a great gre can get into a prestigious grad school, whereas no grad schools will take a 2.5 gpa kid no matter where their from, it leads me to believe that the undergraduate degree is typically held in higher regard by employers who also favor taking a look at the SAT (all banks/consulting firms).
I'm playing devils advocate here so rip apart this argument (that I hear often) if you'd like.
Um, it's very hard to get below a 3.0 at the ivies unless you did like cornell engineering. Especially at HYP, there's massive grade inflation, and there really is no reason you shouldn't get 3.5+ if you do even a modicum of work.
No reputable finance or consulting firm will interview a college student without a gpa listed. Once you've been out for a few years, you can leave it out and get interviews but not when you're still in school.
"Harvard was hardly alone. Still, its numbers were particularly staggering. More than 90 percent of the class of 2001 had earned grade-point averages of B-minus or higher. Half of all the grades given the year before were As or A-minuses; only six percent were C-pluses or lower. By way of comparison, in 1940 C-minus was the most common GPA at Harvard, and in 1955 just 15 percent of undergraduates had a GPA of B-plus or higher." Source:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/03/the-truth-about-har…
The undergrads have more prestige. After all their parents are subsidizing our graduate tuition.
not quite. P undergrads pay 50K full sticker for an education that costs 80K. so they are subsidizing 120K over four years. but the real subsidy comes from the income from their $10BB+ endowment, which comes from the alumni.
Hmm, similar dilemma...but the key is to compare the prestige of the programs, not the prestige of the schools.
This seems like comparing apples to oranges. If someone is going for an associate job obviously the non-target->Wharton MBA is in a better spot than the Yale->Fordham MBA grad.
Though at the end of the day target->target grad = /endthread
Fuuuck. The very first comment was sufficient, Lewis.
/Thread
One thing about grad school: if you are referring to masters or PhD programs (especially PhDs), it is often less "prestigious" schools that have the best programs in specific subjects. Without in depth knowledge, one cannot easily compare the quality or selectivity of PhD programs.
Grad. Doesn't matter law or business school
Duke has a stronger finance network than Brown. Prestige is secondary to network strength.
I'm here to introduce you to truth at the expense of your illusions.
...and just like that, now you have more power over your own fate.
You're welcome.
If I go to dinner with people I'm not going to say "I have a masters in X from Ohio but I went to HYP undergrad."
Top masters is all you ever need to say and is thus more prestigious.
your all morons
it's elementary school as that sets the tone of the overall interview try interviewing a kid from Phillips Exeter Academy they are mini mark zukerbergs but with out add and a wife that looks like this:
What's the most prestigious pre-school?
First of all there is no BS in Econ at any of the Ivies. Second of all, I have many friends that went Ivy undergrad and non Ivy grad school; they are definitely not examples of regression. Some wanted a different experience or the wanted to try out the West Coast or the South. Lastly, this nonsense about getting below a 3.0 at an Ivy makes outsiders just seem idiotic. I know plenty and I mean plenty of below with sub 3.0 GPAs from Ivies and they still scored internships and FT offers.
The misinformation that is passed around this website from outsiders is grotesque.
Wharton Ugrad ONLY offers a BS in economics you idiot.
This is what my impression was coming in considering I know two kids with sub 2.7 GPA's at Columbia arts and sciences who are got interviews left and right lol. It will make it hard for them to get columbia MBA or any program close to it and so they will likely go to something on the tier of UMD.
Christ , 2.7 is really terrible - and that too in arts and sciences. What the hell did they major in?
Preftige brah Preftige
Postgrad is more targeted and more specific, prestige matters less there. In the ugrad, though, you make friends for life as you have longer interaction span.
Obvious, if you go to a less prestigious undergrad and then move on to a more prestigious one it shows improvement.
$50 OP goes to UConn and just wanted to cause a shitstorm.
Y'all posting in a troll thread
Why not just go to a prestigious undergraduate and graduate school
fixes all debate
Too bad half the morons on this thread go to a non target and realized their PASSION for investment banking as a sophomore.
I think it depends. Generally, I'd say grad is more important. This is a finance board, however, and there are certain jobs that require the IBD Analyst experience where going to a target is extremely helpful. Someone chime in if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression HF/PE firms don't generally recruit at the associate level and above. So even if you did something like non-target --> decent non-IBD/MC job --> top 5 MBA --> BB IBD it's unlikely you'll land in one of those industries, right?
If grad is more important, then why can't you go from non target -> average job/teach for america -> top 5 MBA -> PE? Even if you go to HBS or Wharton, PE Megafunds still prefer Target kid -> Goldman sachs IBD for 2 years -> KKR/Blackstone PE pre mba
People jump from hedge funds to banks' S&T divisions to back all the time when it comes to trading. A lot of the folks in the group I was in came from a major hedge fund.
Academics with no industry experience- just PhDs from the University of Chicago also start hedge funds. CC: LTCM.
Yes, PE is a little diffferent. But on the hedge funds front, 40, even 50 year old traders make the move over there for the first time. Most important aspect is your trading record.
The reason they only recruit at the analyst level from IBD is because IBD folks aren't (initially) worth much when it comes to trading.
HUH, UGRAD PRESTIGE is way more important. The day I didn't get in a top tier Ivy for college (not my fault though), I knew the prestige of my academic life had come to an end.
you forgot about the junior transfer process.
you are completely whacked and you should be kicking yourself right now for that comment. So if you went to Berkeley...that wouldn't be "prestigious"? Man people are so freakin materialistic...
Sarcasm? I honestly can't tell at all
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