Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:03 am Post subject: Recommendations for schools in California
I'm in the process of looking for a college I wish to attend. I'm going to study business, and more specifically, finance. Aside from obvious choices like Stanford, USC, and UC Berkley, what are some other schools you would recommend in the state? And feel free to list those that might not be as renowned, such as a Cal State. _________________ Operation Northwoods - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods
Favorite languages = English/Spanish
Followed by Italian/French/Dutch
I went to Santa Clara U and Chico State. Both were nice. SCU is, of course, far more expensive.
UC Berkeley has always sounded pretty cool to me -- probably because my mom used to live in Berkeley when I was a teenager. _________________ An apple a day....
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
UC Santa Cruz
San Francisco State
Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Long Beach
Chico State
ASU
UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCSD, and UCSB don't offer undergraduate business majors so I discarded those potential choices. I also did away with other potential schools because of their location or because of demographics.
As I was leafing through the Special Monday edition of the FT's report on Business Schools yesterday, I came across a school which left me thunderstruck. It was its name, really.
Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.
Despite name that bears strong resemblance to a favourite cartoon of my boyhood (read: Thundercats), why don't you consider moving inter-state and get yourself into Thunderbird? It features very highly in the league table and in the cut-throat business world where rankings are the all-important holy grail, it is a huge asset to be an old boy of a school with a good brand name.
For your information, Duke Business School tops the list of both the Open and Customised enrollment programmes. Not that it'd interest you at the moment as the league table was making a comparison of post-graduate business education. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
A business school named after one of the most pimpin' cars to ever grace asphalt! That's great
However, since Porthos ****ing hates Phoenix, and the school is located in Glendale, which is a suburb of Phoenix, I don't think he'd like the location very much.
PS: Thundercats rule. _________________ "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." ---- Groucho Marx
A business school named after one of the most pimpin' cars to ever grace asphalt! That's great
However, since Porthos ****ing hates Phoenix, and the school is located in Glendale, which is a suburb of Phoenix, I don't think he'd like the location very much.
PS: Thundercats rule.
All of Glendale smells like shit! (manure from the farms), and it gets baked in the sun, and when monsoon seasons comes in mid-summer, you have to contend with horribly hot sticky, humid weather and a shit smell everywhere you go.
I was once in the Phoneix area at an In-n-Out burger drive-thru, and it was hot in the car, so we decided to roll down the window. But as we did, we re-discovered the nauseating shit smell and at that point, we couldn't decided between sweating profusely inside our car, or enduring the awful shit attack from the outside air. _________________ Operation Northwoods - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods
Favorite languages = English/Spanish
Followed by Italian/French/Dutch
All of Glendale smells like shit! (manure from the farms), and it gets baked in the sun, and when monsoon seasons comes in mid-summer, you have to contend with horribly hot sticky, humid weather and a shit smell everywhere you go.
I was once in the Phoneix area at an In-n-Out burger drive-thru, and it was hot in the car, so we decided to roll down the window. But as we did, we re-discovered the nauseating shit smell and at that point, we couldn't decided between sweating profusely inside our car, or enduring the awful shit attack from the outside air.
Reminds me of how Chino and Ontario used to be when I was a kid. I had an uncle who moved into a brand spanking new development in Ontario and his backyard neighbor was a dairy farm. He'd invite us over for barbecue but I'd lose my appetite out in that summer heat.
The question of which college is best is a REALLLLLY difficult question to answer because there is sooooooooooo much thought that has to be put into the decision. Not only do you have to worry about the academic reputation of the school, you have to recognize which majors are best suited for that school, what the other students are like, what the community is like, the caliber and intensity of the academics, the competitiveness among the students, whether or not you'll fit in, etc. etc.
Nowadays, more and more people are going to graduate schools, making undergrad education just a bit less important. High profile employers are more interested in which graduate school you went to, so it's your graduate school that really matters. But of course, you have to consider that graduate schools base their acceptances on what school you attended for undergrad and how you performed there.
Just do lots of research! And keep your options WIDE open. Apply to as many colleges as you can, and don't forget the private colleges, even if you aren't sure.
I never thought about going to Berkeley or UCLA, but I applied to those universities anyway and guess what? I fell in love with Berkeley upon taking a courtesy visit, and I ended up submitting my statement of intent to UCLA even though it was never even one of my options up until this year.
Don't overthink it, dude. I went to the school that had the latest application deadline and happened to be in range of a radio station I liked. (Santa Clara U.) Then I transferred to Chico, and then I graduated from New Mexico State. They were all good schools, and no employer has ever given a rat's ass where my degree is from -- only that I have one to my name. _________________ An apple a day....
Don't overthink it, dude. I went to the school that had the latest application deadline and happened to be in range of a radio station I liked. (Santa Clara U.) Then I transferred to Chico, and then I graduated from New Mexico State. They were all good schools, and no employer has ever given a rat's ass where my degree is from -- only that I have one to my name.
True, for your particular profession, whatever that might be. But for the top jobs in finance, your college name is certainly very important, if not key in most cases. _________________ Operation Northwoods - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods
Favorite languages = English/Spanish
Followed by Italian/French/Dutch
A good friend of mine is studying engineering at UC Berkeley and according to him, more than half of the undergraduates are Asians. Wouldn't the disproportionate presence of Asian students cramp your style?
Porthos:
I agree with Uriel to a certain extent that the name of the university which you go to is not as important as getting a good honours. However, you are right about fussy employers whose eyes would light up the moment you proudly announce in your CV that you are an old boy of established business schools. This is especially so in investment banking or wealth management.
Do you just plan to study for a Bachelor of Business degree? Are you going to specialise in any of the more glamorous business fields such as banking or financial management?
Honestly, I think one of the biggest perks of studying in a business school is a healthy male to female ratio. The engineering guys are always crashing our parties or sneaking into our canteens during lunch to goggle in a wild-eyed fashion at our business school girls. I can understand why, though. I once went to the computer engineering canteen for tea and out of 10 people there, 8 were guys and the remaining 2 girls could pass off as guys for all I care. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
As I was leafing through the Special Monday edition of the FT's report on Business Schools yesterday, I came across a school which left me thunderstruck. It was its name, really.
Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.
LOL!
What are you studying, Loic? You might have mentioned it somewhere as I vaguely remember of something in connection with your studies. I don't want to hazard a guess now as I'm certainly off-beam, I reckon. _________________ Az alvástól megéhezem. Az evéstől elálmosodom. Az élet szép.
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:52 pm Post subject:
loic wrote:
As I was leafing through the Special Monday edition of the FT's report on Business Schools yesterday, I came across a school which left me thunderstruck. It was its name, really.
Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.
Despite name that bears strong resemblance to a favourite cartoon of my boyhood (read: Thundercats), why don't you consider moving inter-state and get yourself into Thunderbird?
I'd be leery of a school named Thunderbird -- that might be the favorite local tipple.
Do you just plan to study for a Bachelor of Business degree? Are you going to specialise in any of the more glamorous business fields such as banking or financial management?
I'm going to eventually be an MBA, but my undergrad major is going to be finance. For the careers I want (Insititutional Sales and Trading/Consulting/Wealth Management), the university you went to is crucial.
For certain fields within Investment Banking like Corporate Finance or M&A, an Ivy League education is practically a pre-requisite. I won't be attending an Ivy League school anytime soon, but an MBA from UC Berkeley Hass school of business is certainly very attractive to employers, and even its undergrad school has a fine reputation on par with many Ivy League schools, being that it's ranked as #3 in the nation.
And yes Loic, there are multitudes of Asians on Californian campuses. They only make up like 6% percent of the local population or something like that, and yet they consitute something like 50% of the major universities like Berkeley or UCLA. _________________ Operation Northwoods - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods
Favorite languages = English/Spanish
Followed by Italian/French/Dutch
Liz: I am doing a Bachelor of Accountancy degree. To be honest, it was not my first choice as accountants are notoriously overworked and underpaid. However, I later realised that being a CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) opens quite a few doors in the financial sector and that my options are not strictly limited to the more mundane aspects of auditing or accounting.
For the moment, I find investment banking terribly attractive. Investment bankers here earn a million dollars on average p.a. and one could only earn higher in Asia if he goes to work in Hong Kong. Otherwise, Singapore is a very attractive place in the Asia-Pacific region to earn enough to retire before 40.
My secret fantasy would be to become the Chief Editor of The Economist, but that would only be a fantastic pipe dream.
Deborah:
Is Thunderbird very alcoholic? Would it embolden me with Dutch courage so that I would be capable of leading the liveliest sallies at the dinner table? To tell the raciest anecdotes? To entertain the company in between the soup and the fish courses with a diverting balancing trick with a fork and a spoon? To be the spirit of Mirth incarnate, in short?
If so, that would be one fantastic triple! If dinner conversations have a fault here in Singapore, it is that people are generally inclined to sit champing their food in a glassy-eyed silence, doing nothing to promote a feast of reason and a flow of soul. An alcohol-dosed Thunderbird would be very helpful in helping me become the life and soul of any dinner gathering (as well as being helpful in getting the number from that cute girl sitting at the opposite end of the dinner table).
Porthos:
An MBA would still be in the distant horizon. Most MBAs typically require working experience as a pre-requisite. But it is good that you are planning for the long-term.
Isn't Elaine working in the financial sector? She'd be pretty au fait with the ins and outs of the industry, I reckon.
As for the multitude of students of Asian extraction at the UC campuses, I would not be surprised if 9 out of 10 of them are huddled together in a drab and colourless engineering lecture, checking their unconscious drift into slumberland with a Sudoku puzzle (Crossword puzzles would be tackled by the English literature undergraduates). _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:29 am Post subject:
loic wrote:
Is Thunderbird very alcoholic?
Yes. It's a "fortified wine".
Quote:
Would it embolden me with Dutch courage so that I would be capable of leading the liveliest sallies at the dinner table? To tell the raciest anecdotes? To entertain the company in between the soup and the fish courses with a diverting balancing trick with a fork and a spoon? To be the spirit of Mirth incarnate, in short?
Well, no. At the very least, it would embolden you to do a lively, racy dance on a dinner table wearing a lampshade on your head. Or you could end up in a gutter.
The fact that Thunderbird is among the top 5 wines at bumwine.com should tell you something. From Thunderbird's page:
Quote:
If your taste buds are shot, and you need to get trashed with a quickness, then "T-bird" is the drink for you. Or, if you like to smell your hand after pumping gas, look no further than Thunderbird. As you drink on, the bird soars higher while you sink lower. The undisputed leader of the five in foulness of flavor, we highly discourage driking this ghastly mixture of unknown chemicals unless you really are a bum.
Whew! I thought I had tasted the worst when I was in college -- an amusing little merthiolate-colored wine called Longhorn Red, bottled in Fresno, California. However, it didn't even make it onto this list. But these are the famous ones; maybe Longhorn Red was a boutique rotgut.
Here's an article about Ernest & Julio Gallo, the creators of Thunderbird.
Liz: I am doing a Bachelor of Accountancy degree. To be honest, it was not my first choice as accountants are notoriously overworked and underpaid.
Interesting — here, accountants are notoriously overpaid and extremely dull.
So what was your first choice?
loic wrote:
Investment bankers here earn a million dollars on average p.a. and one could only earn higher in Asia if he goes to work in Hong Kong. Otherwise, Singapore is a very attractive place in the Asia-Pacific region to earn enough to retire before 40.
So is the salary the most important consideration for you when thinking about career options?
You are right about the dull part. All my accounting lecturers are uninspiring old farts. But accounting is a multi-faceted discipline and the layman's contact with this discipline is usually that of bookkeeping. This is where the myth about accountants begins and ends: one of an unerring and keen eye for numbers as he pores through the endless piles of ledgers while spending the entire night preparing boring and mindless financial statements.
Actually, I wanted to study law. However, my 'A' level results were not good enough. I had 2 As and 2 Cs. Now, I have laid bare my failings in front of you! Till today, I wondered then and I wonder now how the heck I managed to have 2 Cs.
Moreover, the legal profession is a tightly regulated industry here. It is not possible to just pack my bags and fly off for distant shores to pursue legal studies. The local bar recognises extremely few overseas universities and most of them are the very sterling ones in England or Australia such as Monash in Melbourne or Bristol in England. Of course, any law graduate from Oxbridge would gain automatic admission into the local bar.
But I am now glad that I did not become a lawyer. My reasons for originally wanting to be a barrister were juvenile: so that I could wear those wigs in court and trying to look the epitome of sartorial elegance at the same time. However, the legal reforms in the late 90s have resulted in the abandonment of the wigs in the High Court so that reason is now irrevelant anyway.
With respect to the wages which accountants receive, they are notoriously underpaid when they are still working as an associate in their first three years. It is received wisdom that they only begin to witness the fruits of their labour after toiling for five years.
Quote:
So is the salary the most important consideration for you when thinking about career options?
You can say that it is a major consideration, but it is not the be all and the end all. One works to sustain a level of lifestyle which he has become accustomed to. However, I am not so naive as to forget other important considerations which would make work more pleasant and not so much a drudgery.
What about you, Benjamin? You did mention about wanting to be a student for as long as possible. Have you considered your future work prospects? A Bachelor in Linguistics is a rather versatile degree and one can expect to find himself plugging away in a myriad of unrelated fields.
_________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
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