Boston or Northestern, Penn State or Ohio State for Global Business and Management?

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hey there,
So I got my acceptance letters from 8 university's which are</p>

<p>Boston University
Bryant University (Scholarship of 12,000 USD)
Bentley University
Northeastern University
Ohio State University
Penn State University Park
Purdue University
Syracuse University</p>

<p>However, I am extremely confused and not able to decide where to go. All these university's seem to have strengths and weaknesses of their own. It will be highly beneficial for me, if someone could suggest me which university is the best fit for me. Considering all the factors such as Financials, Campus Environment, Ranking, Reputation in both Education and Corporate field, City, etc. </p>

<p>I will be pursuing a course in Management as an undergraduate.
Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>Just from monetary point of view, $12000 at Bryant is a big one.</p>

<p>Other than that the more effective method would be to narrow down your preferences, and that you need to do on your own. I would suggest, make a chart with following parameters and other factors which I might have missed out and then give each of these a score out of 10, according to your preference. and then rank them . This will help to narrow down to top three. And then you can come here on CC with any questions and doubts for help. </p>

<p>Locations
Size
Campus-Traditional closed or in the city with no walls
Your choice of majors
Diversity
Internship Opportunities
Study abroad options
Recruiter ranking
Starting Salary
Rankig-US News and Businessweek
Faculty Ranking
Returning Students -90%+ is good number
Dining Options
Connectivity-to airport or nearest town
Employment rate</p>

3

<p>I have started working on these factors right away. However, had you been in my place, which university would you have opted for?</p>

4

<p>If money is not an issue then I would have choosen Boston university but you look at the scholarship factor then Bryant looks tempting! :D</p>

5

<p>ayushb</p>

<p>One more question, these universities that you mention, have you got into their Business Programs or Arts and Sciences program?</p>

6

<p>Also at Northeastern-Business school, it offers a unique CO-OP program. You can work for one year, in the middle of your four year degree program, get the real world experience and then go back to finish your degree. People who go there have great things to share about this option offered by Northeastern. So you should read about that as well and see if you want to follow that path.</p>

<p>And I am going to advise you that please consider the Diversity factor seriously at all these colleges. Makes all the difference to have familiar faces and food habits to share with and talk in your languauge once in a while. And of course festivals are again a time to bond and have fun.</p>

7

<p>Crystal31
Well, money is a bit of a factor but its NOT THE ONLY factor.
As long as the quality of education and living is good, money won’t matter so much. Boston is on the top of my parents list. However, I am still unsure.</p>

8

<p>anialways,
Just upon your concern, I checked the acceptance letters once again and I got into the business program for each university.
For Northeastern I have been admitted to the Entrepreneurship & New Venture Management concentration program. And for Ohio State, its global management program.</p>

9

<p>anialways,
Putting under consideration all the factors that you asked for. I have narrowed down my choices to the following university’s,</p>

<p>Boston University
Bentley University
Penn State University Park
Northeastern University.</p>

10

<p>According to me, these are the following factors for which I am considering each of them.</p>

<p>Boston University: </p>

<p>Pros:
Being an excellent business school with a high esteem in corporate field. Also, located in a city like Boston, it provides me with a lot of opportunities. Very diverse. </p>

<p>Cons:
Very Expensive.</p>

<p>Bentley University:</p>

<p>Pros:
Again highly reputed business school. A little bit cheaper than Boston Univ. Ranked highly by the business week undergraduate business schools. </p>

<p>Cons:
The city is not as good as Boston. </p>

<p>Penn State University:</p>

<p>Pros:
Highly ranked by business week undergraduate business program. Financially Suitable. Happy Valley. </p>

<p>Cons:
Being a state college, the facilities might not be as good as other Private institutions. Not close to any major city.</p>

<p>Northeastern University:
Pros:
Located in Boston. The Co-op program seems attractive. </p>

<p>Cons:
Equally costly as Boston. Boston’s name seem to be much attractive.</p>

<p>Kindly suggest me whether I have reached upon the right conclusions or not. Please add a few points which I might have missed out.</p>

11

<p>My assessment,</p>

<p>Penn scores if you just look at the Cost, COA. Really Attractive. An the other thing in its favour favour is the Recruiter Ranking but that could be because of proximity or confusion with Wharton. But the red flag for Penn State, for me, are,</p>

<p>Teaching Grade - B very low when compared to the other 3 with A grades.</p>

<p>Academic Quality Rank of 85, way too low when compared to the other 3 with BU and Northeastern at 12 and Bentley at 28.</p>

<p>Student -Faculty Ratio at 34 is high in comparison to 18-20 range of other 3.</p>

<p>Recruiter Ranking wise it would be BU and Bentley and Northeastern, keeping Pen State aside.</p>

<p>With Bentley you are right on about the location. I am told if you go from the hustle bustle of India, and depending on how outgoing one is, location can be depressing and lonely, especially in Winters.</p>

<p>I think if money is not a big factor, I would go with BU or Northeastern. Diversity wise both have 7% Asian, which would include from all countries in South East Asia. International is 15 % so that is a fair number too, I think.</p>

<p>Location wise if you are a big city kind of person BU, definitely. Also remember Boston is a college town so you are bound to make friends or have a network of old and current schoolmates in the many colleges around. Northeastern and BU are 1.6 miles from each other. </p>

<p>Boston is one the great cities of US, lots of history, Parks, Greenery, loads of Indians, big city means Internship opportunities. About five hours on bus to New York City. So great exploring options during Spring Break in March and Fall Break in October.</p>

<p>Food again, lots of options, including variety of Indian food.</p>

<p>Agree with your parents, BU is a great choice but Northeastern is great too. </p>

<p>Both being almost equal on other parameters, ie. Tuition, Academic Index, Median Starting Salary, Teaching Grade, Student Faculty Ratio, Facilities and Services, Student Survey Rank, between the two, Northeastern scores in Job Placement grade with A+ over BU’s B. That is a big one. But then in Recriuter Survey Rank BU - 29 scores over Northeastern’s - 51. So it is a tough call dear.</p>

<p>My source of Information are the following links,</p>

<p>[Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools 2012 - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>

<p>[Top</a> 100 Undergraduate Business School Ranking in 2012 - US College Rankings](<a href=“http://www.uscollegeranking.org/business/top-100-undergraduate-business-school-ranking-in-2012.html]Top”>http://www.uscollegeranking.org/business/top-100-undergraduate-business-school-ranking-in-2012.html)</p>

<p>And Bentley is way down in Rankings on both the lists. I would definitely take Bentley off the list.</p>

<p>When my D applied in Fall of 2011, she had 12 schools on her list and Northeastern was on 9th spot and BU was 12th on that list. If you give me time, a day or 2, I can get hold of her and ask her opinion, if it has changed now that she has friends in both places.</p>

12

<p>Watch the U.com videos on the colleges related to academics and crowd etc. These are fun and do not take them too seriously. They kind of give you a sense and feel of the place, provide the big picture. These were uploaded in 2007 and so are slightly not upto date with rankings and grading parameters.</p>

<p>BU
[theU.com</a> - Boston University: “The Crowd” - YouTube](<a href=“theU.com - Boston University: "The Crowd" - YouTube”>theU.com - Boston University: "The Crowd" - YouTube)</p>

<p>Northeastern
[theU.com</a> - Boston University: “The Crowd” - YouTube](<a href=“theU.com - Boston University: "The Crowd" - YouTube”>theU.com - Boston University: "The Crowd" - YouTube)</p>

13

<p>anialways,</p>

<p>I just can’t find a way to thank you enough. This is just the kind of information that I was looking for. So considering these factors, I guess I have to strike out both Bentley and Penn State as well. So finally, I am left with Boston and Northeastern. </p>

<p>And Ma’am please take all your time to contact your daughter so that I can have another word of expertise.</p>

<p>I am receiving a lot of inclination towards Boston by both my parents and my counselor as well. My counselor argues that I will be able to benefit from quality networking, which will allow me hugely in future. My parents on the other hand want me to be a part of an institution from where I can extract the best possible knowledge. They also don’t want me to study in a “Public” institution as they consider the facilities there might not be as good as in a “Private” institution. Also as you are well aware about the trend in India, people here are just astonished hearing the name of “Boston University”. </p>

<p>However, the thing is that it is me who is concerned regarding the monetary factors. My parents are willing to pay any fee required for the college as long as I will be able to benefit from quality education. They don’t have any problem with the high fee for Boston University. I have argued a lot of times over this with them and they never seem to find any problem with the financial factors. For me, I don’t want to burden them in future. What should I do?</p>

<p>It is very kind of you to provide me with your precious time and answer all my queries.
Thank You once again.</p>

14

<p>ayushb,</p>

<p>You are very welcome. I am glad I could be of help.</p>

<p>My Ds is part of MuN Club and her college is hosting a MuN conference this weekend. She is one of the Chairs. So exteremely busy and it is difficult to catch hold of her. The conference gets over on Sunday and then I can hope to catch her. If I hear from her earlier than that, I will let you know. Also I have also written to her friend, who is at Northeasten and doing the Co-op this year. So let us wait to hear from either of them.</p>

15

<p>Just received a reply from my Ds friend. Am posting it as it is,</p>

<p>"Of course I could give you my perspective - it’s not that there is a right choice, which makes BU better than NU or vice versa. However NU was the right choice me for a no. of reasons, but mainly because of the Co-op program, the flexibility of combining and changing majors or adding minors. </p>

<p>I’m currently a Co-op one of the worlds 10 largest asset management companies and this would not have been possible without the help of my Co-op advisor and the co-op program. </p>

<p>The co-op has given me the an opportunity to make strong personal and professional connections with Execs and VP’s at my company through work and philanthropical events. So much so that I almost think I’ve secured a potential job in the future with this company. </p>

<p>My co-op experience will definitely impact my professional future in the US or if I come back to India. The co-op program has is truly helping me to meeting my professional objective - which is a priority in my life. </p>

<p>I was hoping to get this experience out of the Co-op program and fortunately, I got more than I deserved and expected. There is absolutely no way I could’ve secured an internship with such a big firm if I didn’t have that Co-op connection, which is why I think NU is the best fit for me.</p>

<p>Yes, we do worry about the food, accommodation and environment when we decided to zero down on schools, but after freshman year students easily adjust themselves to their campus environment. Of course, for some it doesn’t work out.</p>

<p>Some differences between NU and BU - NU has a single campus that’s right in the middle of the city, while some BU students have to take shuttles btwn classes. It’s easier to change or add classes at NU, NU offers grants to international students and Co-ops are almost secured by all business students. This doesn’t make NU better than BU - these are the differences I just noticed."</p>

16

<p>Just received a text from my D as well, short and sweet. Keep in mind it is her opinion, based on her visits to Boston and having friends in both places and of course the research put in while finalising her college list.</p>

<p>"Northeastern. It has a better Program and is a better School.</p>

17

<p>Here is an article published 3 days ago that might help to put things in perspective, and help with your decision as well,</p>

<p>Undergrad Ranking: Top B-Schools for Internships
[Undergrad</a> Ranking: Top B-Schools for Internships - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>

<p>Northeastern tops the list, and I quote,</p>

<p>"For more than a century, Northeastern has offered a cooperative experience, or co-op, program in which students get at least a year of relevant work experience before they graduate, broken up into two or three six-month cycles. </p>

<p>The business school works with more than 600 companies, including General Electric (GE), PricewaterhouseCoopers, Staples (SPLS), and Ernst & Young, to make sure each student who wants a co-op gets one. Co-op cycles run from January to June and July to December. Most students graduate with at least two. </p>

<p>Thanks to the program, 97.5 percent of business students at Northeastern will graduate with some work experience."</p>

18

<p>Anialways,
Thanks just not seem enough to me now.
You don’t have any idea how much your cooperation has helped me understand.
Please thank your Daughter and her friend as well by my side. I owe them.</p>

<p>Although the co-op program of the Northeastern looks really attractive, but I seriously do not want the length of my college education to go up one more year. Is it really helpful in long run? </p>

<p>Is it really necessary to get that work experience before graduating? </p>

<p>For me, Boston University is the name which sounds much more attractive as compared to Northeastern. Although they are highly competitive, being a part of Boston seems to be a much more matter of pride for me. I don’t know whether I am right or not, this is what I think.</p>

19

<p>I am extremely sorry to put up a question again and again. But, I am relying a lot on your opinion and I just want to go anywhere with a clear state of mind. I don’t want any regrets later on. :)</p>

20

<p>ayushb</p>

<p>I love to be here on CC and share my insights, however limited they are. So it is a pleasure.</p>

<p>At the end of the day it has to be your decision. I think you should go with BU if that is what you really want. You have done a wise thing by weighing in all the options. Both, in my opinion are great choices. So go where your heart tells you and if it is also your parents top choice that is the best decision.</p>

<p>Just for your information Co-op is optional.</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/polisci/experiential-opportunities/co-op/]Co-op[/url”&gt;Co-op - Department of Political Science]Co-op[/url</a>]</p>

<p>"Although engaging in co-op is optional, we strongly encourage all undergraduate Political Science students to learn about how this program works and what it can offer to them.</p>

<p>Co-op is a program that allows students to alternate between periods of academic study and full-time employment related to their field of study. You may choose to complete as many as three six-month co-ops under the university’s five-year undergraduate curriculum. Some students prefer to participate in co-op for only one or two six-month periods."</p>