<p>I was accepted to BU's School of Management, Villanova School of Business, and University of Richmond's Robin School of Business. I was also waitlisted at BC's Carroll School of Management and NYU Stern. After visiting all three, I am slightly leaning towards Villanova, but still really likes BU. Each has their strong suits, so I try to compare them according to different categories. It would be great if anyone can comment on the below points and provide some insight.</p>
<p>Info about myself: Asian female living in CT, originally from Taiwan. Have various academic interests, namely Marketing, International Business, IT, Accounting, Psychology, and Operations Management, so I'm looking to double major and minor in a few of those areas. Passionate about sports, especially basketball. Not a big fan of alcohol and partying, but enjoys hanging out with friends. Plans to pursue an MBA after a few years of work. Also, $ isn't necessary an issue here since it would be roughly the same cost (~$8000) for me to attend these schools. </p>
<ul>
<li>Academic quality - Villanova > Richmond > BU</li>
<li>National/international Recognition/Prestige - BU > Villanova = Richmond (this one I'm not so sure, but I might eventually work in Taiwan after MBA so international recognition is kind of important)</li>
<li>Location - BU > Villanova > Richmond</li>
<li>Study abroad program - BU > Villanova = Richmond (important since I really want to have study abroad experience, especially in London, Beijing/Shanghai, and Japan)</li>
<li>Diversity - BU > Richmond > Villanova (this is the one that holds me back from paying my deposit at Villanova. Its lack of cultural and economic diversity kind of bother me... especially since I'm Asian and come from a low-income family)
Sports - Villanova > BU > Richmond</li>
<li>Campus - Richmond > Villanova > BU</li>
<li>Career placement / alumni network - BU > Villanova > Richmond (not sure, but very important to me.)</li>
<li>Campus/social life - BU > Richmond = Villanova</li>
<li>Fit (feels belonged when visiting, regardless of academic quality, prestige, etc) - BU > Richmond = Villanova</li>
<li>Ranking (Businessweek) - Villanova > Richmond > BU (how much does this count?)</li>
</ul>
<p>What do you think? Current students, parents, alumni, prospective students, anyone, please share your thoughts! Also if there are any insights on NYU Stern or BC Carroll, feel free to share. Thanks!</p>
<p>I’m not sure who the program is offered to, but when I was accepted i was offered a study abroad trip to london next spring and next summer, (2012). So i think Villanova has a great study abroad program. And if you go into one of the Learning Communities Freshman year, like Leadership the most popular one, I think you will find the students to be much more diverse and have a better fit. I did an overnight visit on candidates day and we stayed in a sophomore learning community. It was very diverse and most of them were in a freshman learning community. I would really consider that in your decision, but you need to get your deposit in ASAP to avoid being roomed in triples, which I hear is a growing problem. Good luck and I hope to see you at Nova next year… PS I also was waitlisted at BC, don’t even bother waiting the campus looks like a construction site and there “year 3 of a ten year plan” of rennovation, including destroying buildings. I don’t know about you, but i’d rather learn at the Number 7 school in great facilities then at the number 16 (i think) school in a tent. I would wait on Stern though</p>
<p>Villanova has a top-notch International Studies program, business students are allowed to and encouraged to study abroad twice in their four years of undergrad. Also, Nova has one of the strongest alumni networks in the northeast and has like a 96% placement percentage. Villanova is also renovating almost the entire campus over the next three summers.</p>
<p>Hey dpetro, I was at that candidates day as well, Nova really went all out and that was a great experience. The rain sucked though. I couldn’t agree more about BC, i got into Carroll but still don’t want to go because I think they are trying to expand the school too fast. I also highly suggest learning communities, the global-something one is probably what I would do.</p>
<p>Which environment did you prefer? I happen to like Villanova the best of the three, but I know kids who have picked BU over it as well as UR because those schools fit them better in terms of being their new homes.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses. I have put down my deposit at Villanova! I felt very comfortable at all three. I thought I liked BU the most, but after taking a few days to think things over, I feel like I put BU on top of my list mostly because of the city of Boston, which shouldn’t be the most important factor regarding college decisions. I really liked Villanova’s environment/atmosphere when I visited on Candidates Day. The concern holding me back from choosing 'Nova was its lack of diversity, but, being a minority myself, I think this would be a great experience for me (I attend a high school where I’m the only Asian student, so I realize I’ll be just fine at Villanova) Hopefully I’m right.
I applied to be in the Global Community Learning Community, with the Leadership Community being my second choice. Cannot wait for Orientation!
Thanks for all the responses! :)</p>
<p>just applied, but crap, priority is given to people who applied before may 1st, haha i hope its not so competitive that applying on may 1st puts me back a lot. my 2nd choice was leadership, yours?</p>