Hi, I’m a junior who is interested in studying business. I have made a list of possible schools. Now I need people to judge whether it is a good list, whether I need to add/remove schools, or look at all new schools.
Here is some basic info about me:
GPA: 3.53 UW/ 3.85 W
ACT: 31
4 APs, rest honors
School is very rigorous and has an incredible reputation.
School List:
Reaches:
U of M
BC
Wake Forest
William & Mary
Matches:
Richmond
Northeastern
Maryland
IU- Bloomington
Villanova
Bentley
SMU
Safeties:
Miami (OH)
PSU
Elon
Loyola Maryland
UConn
Look at UConn for safety
NYU for a reach
BU another match/reach
@LordSwag I looked at BU, but I didn’t really like it because it didn’t offer anything special from the other Boston schools, has a terrible job placement percentage for a school of its prestige, and the campus had no organization and was scattered throughout the city. I want to make something clear though. I do not hate urban campuses as long as it’s not scattered around a mile and a half and has some sort of community. I don’t know what NYU is like if it is more like Northeastern, then I will probably like it. However, if it is like BU, I probably would not. Although UConn doesn’t have that great of a business school, I agree with that selection and will probably add it to the list.
I would add UConn.
I would cut - assuming you want to narrow the list down, which I think would be wise:
- W&M (you don’t seem like the LAC type)
- SMU (Texas is a geographic outlier in your list, likely to be a big culture shock)
- Elon (relatively new and relatively weak business school)
That would leave you with three reaches, three safeties and six matches, plus UConn: 13 schools. Which is still a fair number of schools to apply to.
The University of Rochester has a nice, defined campus and may be a good match for you. Babson is worth consideration.
@NavalTradition Okay so I will agree with your thoughts on SMU. I simply put it there because someone recommended it and it seemed to have a good b school. I visited W&M and I seemed to like it. Of course I didn’t get to see how I would like the classes and the liberal arts aspect as you mentioned, but it does have a good business school, nice campus, and a nice community. Therefore, I think it is worth an application. My brother goes to Elon and I can tell you first hand that although it may be a new school and a decent B school ( I wouldn’t necessarily say weak), it has the nicest campus I have ever seen, the friendliest people, and it is one of the most up-and-coming universities in the country.
Northeastern and BC are both low reaches. NYU has an even less defined campus than BU.
I would remove SMU and Richmond and put in Bucknell and Lehigh.
@TomSrOfBoston I recognize that BC is a reach and that is why it is in the reach category, but you consider Northeastern on the same level as BC? I don’t know about that. If I were to guess, I would say Northeastern is in between a low reach and a high match. Also, thank you for letting me know that about NYU. No I know not to include it on this list.
The mid 50% for enrolled freshman at Northeastern in 2014 was 31-33 ACT, the same as BC.
@2019Parent I have already agreed to take SMU off the list, but I cannot edit my original post. I am not taking off Richmond because I really liked the school and I think it could be a good fit for me. Also, I like Bucknell; it has a great atmosphere, well-recognized academics, but it do not have a great business school reputation. I am still deciding whether to consider this school or not. Lehigh, I visited along with Bucknell and for some reason, I just did not like the school. I didn’t get good vibes there and I felt as if I would not be happy there. Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate it and it seems like we had the same initial idea of schools.
@TomSrOfBoston All of the other stats matches up as well? Okay I guess I will change it.
I thought I would post an updated list of the schools since it has changed a bit.
Reaches:
U of M
BC
Wake Forest
William & Mary
Northeastern
Matches:
Richmond
Maryland
IU- Bloomington
Villanova
Bentley
Babson
Safeties:
Miami (OH)
PSU
Elon
UConn
This seems like a balanced, good list of schools, right?
Move PSU to Match
Pull down IU Bloomington to safety
Also I recommend cutting down the safeties to 2, I dont see much need applying to a plethora of safeties
Sorry but Bucknell has a better business school reputation than Richmond in the Northeast and many more alumni in high places, same for Lehigh.
That said I am impressed with your list overall. I was thinking though that Michigan for OOS is very tough so maybe you use the time and energy on Notre Dame instead. You have many other great ones if ND is a rejection.
@LordSwag You think PSU is a match? My brother got into PSU science department with far worse stats than mine. It is a great option but I do not know i would consider it a match. I’m curious as to what other people think about this. Maybe I am blatantly wrong. Also the reason I have IU as a match is because of Kelley. I want to ensure that I can be a direct admit. If you still believe that it should be a safety with that said, then I will move it. Lastly, I agree with your ideas on cutting safeties, so I think I will cut some schools off the list.
Ok that makes sense IU Kelley direct admit would be a match while IU itself would be a safety
I would consider PSU a match only because you are an OOS student.
@2019Parent Thank you for your advice. I will have to do some more research on Bucknell and if it is as highly- regarded as you make it out to be, then great I can put another school on my list. I totally agree that Michigan OOS is extremely tough and I am not expecting to get in, but I would think that Notre Dame is just as hard if not harder. Also, I would love to ask for your opinion about Penn State. Would you think that Penn State would be considered a safety or a match for me?