<p>My son was accepted into UCI Paul Merage School of Business and Chapman University Argyros School of Business & Economics. Chapman offered him the Presidential $25K/yr, renewable 4 yrs, scholarship. No scholarship from UCI. It will cost us the same for him to attend either school. What are the pros and cons of Chapman Argyros vs. UCI Paul Merage? Do many top business and Big 4 accounting firms recruit at Chapman for internships and jobs after graduation? Do most undergrad business students have at least 1 internship? Are there a lot of resources and personal mentoring from professors for the business students? What about the teaching quality and class size?</p>
<p>Both are excellent schools. UCI is a public university. Chapman is a private university. Depending on your fit, UCI has larger class sizes with a lecture hall of several hundred students and many of the classes are taught by TAs, while Chapman has smaller class sizes and the classes are taught by professors, therefore you’ll be able to get the personal attention from your professors. Also keep in mind that the public schools are having cutbacks due to the budget cuts by the state. When classes are cut, you may not be able to graduate on time in addition to the tuition hikes yearly. You’ll end up paying more and have less. Something to think about.</p>
<p>As for jobs and internships, there’s a link with stats. Good luck with your decision!
[Chapman</a> University - ASBE - Recruiters - oCPP - Stats](<a href=“Page Not Found | Chapman University”>Page Not Found | Chapman University)</p>
<p>My sister loves Argyros (she’s Business Admin, emphasis Marketing). She also chose it over UCI because of basically everything that Ocelite said-- personal attention, stability compared to the UC system, high rankings (it’s generally regarded as one of the best on the West Coast, if not THE best), and appealing location. Have you visited campus yet? It’s lovely, and Old Town Orange is an awesomely charming little district.</p>
<p>Thank you so much to OCELITE and StrangeBro for your inputs! We have visited Chapman twice, but need more in-depth info on Argyros to help my S make his decision. Main reasons why he’s torn: </p>
<p>1) Almost everyone we know haven’t heard of Chapman but everyone know UC and UCI. When it’s time to apply for internships and full time positions after graduation, will it hurt if companies outside of So. Cal haven’t heard of Chapman vs. UC schools? Will it also hurt when applying to MBA programs?</p>
<p>2) UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business admits only 100 freshmen students each year, and an even smaller number of sophomores and juniors. I read somewhere online that Paul Merage has around 450 total undergrad students. I assume that Argyros has more than 100 freshmen and more than 450 total undergrads. This probably means UCI business class size is small, compared to business schools at other UCs. We are also thinking that, because of the small number of Merage undergrad students, its students probably won’t have a hard time registering for business classes and graduate in 4 yrs. </p>
<p>Strangebro, did your sister get info about UCI’s Merage classes and graduation rate that contradicts our belief?</p>
<p>My son plans to attend the Chapman Preview Day and Panther for a Day to help him make the decision. In the meantime, additional info would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi Sher2000, Have you visited UCI in a tour yet? Just to give you some perspectives of the UC schools when DS and I have visited 2-3 years ago, including UCI. UC has some of the best public universities without a doubt. However, private universities, such as Chapman, USC, Stanford, Caltech, and other top privates are just as great or better simply of smaller class sizes. When I speak of smaller class sizes, I mean the general average class size, including GE classes regardless of major. When your student steps into a classroom, will it be 80-500 students, or will it be 20-25 students on an average? That is one of the differences. If your S would like to get to know his professor(s), a smaller average class size would be better. From what I’ve heard from friends and relatives who had kids in the UC’s have told me that they are taught by TAs and they have met their professor only once since day one of class. That being said, when you go visit the campuses, be sure to checkout the dorm facilities. Chapman dorms are also much nicer than the UCI dorms. That’s a big plus for Chapman. </p>
<p>As for schools recognition, Chapman’s name is out there. Chapman is ranked 7th in the west in the USNR. In terms of jobs and internships for any students in any majors regardless of the school, it depends on the motivation of the students. If a student is qualified and has a positive attitude, s/he will land a job regardless of the school. Also, the students who have jobs or internships experiences while in school will have a greater outlook after graduation. My advice is don’t wait for the employer to come knocking, students who take the initiative to seek connection early while attending school will land one. Best of luck!</p>
<p>OCELITE, thank you again for your inputs. We will visit UCI for Discover UCI day in April. He’ll also visit Chapman 2 more times. Hoping things will be more clear by end of April for him.</p>
<p>Maybe I am missing something here–the costs are similar both schools are very good–your son should attend the school that he feels is the right fit for HIM–not for me, not for you but for him. I have a 2nd year at UCLA and that was the right school for him; he got into better schools but he decided UCLA was right for him and he loves it and is doing extremely well academically and socially (maybe too well on the social scene). I didn’t think UCLA was best school for him (and honestly I still don’t )but he definitely does and he owns his decision. I have similar situation with my D she thinks Chapman is the best choice for her and I don’t but if she ultimately decides that Chapman is right for her-- I will support her decision 100 percent. </p>
<p>IMHO, You S has great options, let him own his decision–best of luck and congrats to your son!</p>
<p>Crunch, with all do respect…the parents are the ones who are paying for the education.</p>
<p>Definitely uci. Do you know how hard to get in uci paul merage? They only accept such a few number of students every year. Be thankful for being accepted and go uci if you are able to pay.</p>
<p>wltn70, Keep in mind not everyone wants to be in a lecture hall with several hundred students, not even their GE’s. That’s another reason why we didn’t go to a UC. You need a car or a bike just to get around the campus. DS didn’t want to bring a car and Chapman is the perfect size because the students can actually walk to class within 10-15 minutes. The UC’s will take a student half an hour or more to walk across the campus.</p>
<p>If the parents can afford both schools, I think the student should decide. Choosing a school mainly because it’s hard to get in is not a good reason.</p>
<p>OCELITE, with due respect back at you–if paying is the factor then the parents should not only choose the college, they should choose the major, the residence hall, when their son studies, what he eats, the clothes he wears, who his friends are and who he marries. Seriously now, we are talking about two comparable albeit different colleges–we are not talking about picking between Stanford and South Harmon Institute of Technology (and I have to assume South Harmon would be better than Stanford for some students). </p>
<p>When do we let out ADULT children grow-up and make decisions for themselves? I for one don’t want to be the parent that tells my kid you go this college, what if the student is unhappy–is the parent going to own that decision? IMHO choosing a college is probably the first major decision most of our children will make. Believe me, it was not easy telling my son that I would fully support his decision to attend UCLA (as an out of state student) when he could have attend much better (ok higher ranked) schools for less money. Again, with my daughter who is going through the process right now, if she chooses Chapman I will support that decision too, even though I think their are better and less expensive options for her. </p>
<p>Sorry Ocelite we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one!</p>
<p>crunch, I agree that the student should be able to choose where s/he wants to go to school, etc., but to a degree as long as his or her decision is reasonable. Keep in mind that many of these kids are just 17-18 years old. They haven’t been out on their own much, so this is a big financial process. They still need their parents to be their guide. College is a big step for a lot of people. It’s like buying a car or a house. It’s not as simple as buying clothes to wear. If pants don’t fit, you can return for a different size or get a refund. You can’t do that for a college, if it’s not the right fit after a semester or a year, you can’t ask for a refund. However, you can transfer to another college, but you would loose the financial aid benefits.</p>
<p>Crunch, I want to clarify that I asked for inputs on collegeconfidential, but I give him all the info that I gathered here. Ultimately, he will make the final decision after we have looked at all the pros and cons of each school that admits him. We believe that it’s our job as his parents to provide guidance, but we are not the type of parents that would force our S to attend a college because WE think it’s good for him. </p>
<p>I agree with OCELITE that when the parents pay a significant amount of money for the college cost, they should have a say in their child’s school choice. We don’t believe in putting the family in financial hardship so that our S can attend a college he will be happiest at. Yes, academics, social environment, and our S’s happiness are all important, but affordability is also an important factor. </p>
<p>In our S’s case, he now has narrowed his choices to 3 schools, all equally outstanding. Although he would be happiest if he attends 1 of them (USC), it happens to be the most expensive of the 3 (double the cost of UCI and Chapman - after the Presidential scholarship). Similar to his admission to the UCI school of business, he was admitted into the more selective USC school of accounting. With both schools, it’s much easier to be admitted as a freshman vs. as a current UCI or USC sophomore. So now, we have to weigh the much higher cost of USC against our son’s higher level of happiness there (he won’t be unhappy at Chapman or UCI, just not as happy as he’d be at USC). Even though push come to shove, we can pay for the USC cost, we realize that no job has a certain future in this economy. Thus, we have to discuss with our S if USC’s much higher price justify its benefits.</p>
<p>I do appreciate everyone’s inputs, especially those from OCELITE. We will visit all 3 schools in April before my S makes his final decision.</p>
<p>sher–I agree as parents our role is to guide! Your initial post asked to compare two schools that could be considered equal academically and in your situation equal financially–so doesn’t it come down to his happiness. Now you throw USC into the mix you have an additional variable (cost) that makes the choices a bit different. I completely agree that for most of us finances needs/should be a consideration–but that was not part of the first equation. I think what I would do if I was in your situation–is to say to your son–look USC is so much more expensive than Chapman or UCI and this extra cost would be a burden for us–if you REALLY think USC is the right place for you then we need you to take responsibility for the the additional cost(his answer will tell you how much USC is worth to him). If he is willing to pay the additional cost, USC is in-fact the place he wants to be. You can still end up picking the cost of USC but at least you know how bad he really wants to be at USC. It is very hard not to like USC (If my son had not selected UCLA it would have been USC–a school that I personally did not think was a good fit for him)!</p>
<p>Sher–great options, tough choices–best of luck to you and your son!</p>