I totally disagree. WFU Business school is top notch and most of the finance majors land at top NY firms
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I agree that Wake is a great business school. Just as a heads up, Wake emphasizes demonstrated interest more than most schools. Being on your area’s admission counselors’ radar could be beneficial.
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I don’t think @Publisher was disparaging the WFU business school, just pointing out that it might be a uncertain RD admit for OP.
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Wasn’t disparaging WFU at all. My thought was that WFU is a tough admit RD so better to go with IU Kelley at which OP would have automatic admission to the business school as a direct admit based on his numbers
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WFU does have a good business school, but it’s not direct admit. Students have to complete the pre-reqs and apply spring of soph year. Admission is competitive and does not necessarily go to those who have the highest GPAs (admission is holistic, so things are not entirely in one’s control), so bear that in mind when deciding between a direct admit business program such as IU and a non-direct admit business school such as WFU.
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Is it harder to get into than Notre Dame?
@Mwfan1921, I don’t think that is accurate.
Admission to WFU is holistic, but admission to the WFU business school is GPA based, objective and occurs mid second semester of a student’s sophomre year. According to DD (21 business grad) and DS (22 business school applicant), admission is entirely GPA based, with minimum grades required for the prerequisites.
Meeting or exceeding the minimum GPA doesn’t guarantee admission. Acceptance percentage varies from year from year to year based on the number of applicants since there are only so many spots available. Both kids told me that about 1/3 of their accounting classes dropped out after the first test, so there is considerable weed out before applications go in.
My understanding is that WFU business school tries to balance gender, and have URM representation at the very minimum…are you saying that admission to the business school is not holistic and does not take factors beyond GPA into account?
I don’t know. But Notre Dame does offer direct admission to Mendoza, whereas WFU does not offer direct admission. Again, my point is to make sure OP understands the difference between getting direct admission or not.
Direct admission is a sure thing, whereas the schools on the list that don’t offer direct admission have per se more risk…where getting a C in one of the required classes might prohibit one from pursuing a business major/degree (at least at that school).
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That is my understanding, and jibes with what we were told at the business school meeting when our daughter was a freshman. It is very competitive and the kids really bust it to keep their GPA up.
There may be some exceptions to balance out URM’s, but I’ve never heard it mentioned. It would also be difficult to complete the upper division courses without mastery of the prerequisite subject matter, especially accounting.
My understanding is the typical acceptance rate is around 70% for about 275 spots. And yes, some students have self selected out and don’t apply because they don’t think they will get accepted…which is part of my point. Lots of business grads each year have a C or two on their transcripts, but that’s not possible at schools where there is no direct admission (because you would be unlikely to get accepted to the business school).
As for WFU business school admission practices, re: holistic (as described on counselor sessions) vs rack and stack…we will have to agree to disagree. Thoughts @rickle1 ?
Just to be clear, I am not criticizing WFU business school. I am making sure OP understands the difference between direct admit and not.
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I understand, thanks. As a clarification, I applied to Notre Dame’s business school (Mendoza), and I put as my second choice as Economics. I was accepted into Kelley yesterday, which takes off some of the stress. I’m hoping I can get into Notre Dame, but I’m looking at an ED2 to Boston College (appears to be very difficult this year but I think I have a good shot) or Wake Forest (more difficult if I try for regular decision).
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Thanks for letting me know - I plan to do their 3-minute video and I’ll look to email my area’s admission counselor too.
Congratulations on the Kelley acceptance, that is a great option to have and you can achieve all of your goals from there. I would ED2 to the school you most like, both BC and WFU will be hard in the RD round. Good luck with the rest of your decisions, you should hear from UND/Mendoza soon.
Yeah, hopefully Notre Dame works out, but I’m leaning towards BC over WF ED2 due to location and other aspects. On the other hand, BC seems extremely hard this year, but I feel I’ve built a strong application and would give it a really good shot.
Don’t be scared away by BC’s increase in ED1 apps. That did get a lot of press, but WFU could have received a similar increase, we don’t know because they haven’t released any data yet (AFAIK). My point is there is just not enough transparency across all of these schools for you to make a completely educated decision…so sounds like you have your reasons for BC ED2, so go confidently with that.
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it! Someone in my school did ED1 to BC and was deferred. He had a high GPA, similar to mine maybe a little higher, but he had 5 aps compared to my 6, a 1370 superscore to my 32 on a single test, and I believe my essays/extra curriculars are strong and may appeal to BC.
Really don’t have much to add. I would imagine there is some degree of holistic admissions because of limited seats, but that is a moving target and varies slightly each yr (perhaps to accommodate those who hit certain GPA). Don’t really know.
I do know the pre reqs, especially Accounting, weed out many from applying.
So you have a tough overall RD admit (approx 25%), then pre req / weed out, then about 1/3 -1/4 denial to BSchool (that also means 2/3 - 3/4 acceptance!).
I wouldn’t worry too much about BSchool admissions. It works out for most people. But it’s not a guarantee.
I would focus on which school (s) you’re most intrigued with and are most excited about (and why). If it happens to be a non-direct admit school, just focus and get it done. Will take work. But I can tell you that it’s quite possible (and even normal) for a Wake B School student to still have plenty of fun and remain quite active while gaining admission to and excelling in the B school (source - S21 and his fairly large group of friends). All about time management skills.
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Hey, Notre Dame Econ Sophomore here. Honestly I have heard some talk around the admin office (I work-study near there), and they have been focusing on trying to weed out the applicants who “pad” their resume with seemingly intensive/involved ECs. Also, your ACT score is below the curve. Does your school offer any kind of Model UN or mock trial by chance? I have heard that those two ECs are particularly popular with the admin staff here. I can’t attest to the other schools. Good luck…
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I agree. While this is a strong application, the college decision process these days, especially for people who are Indian and white as well as rich is very unpredictable.