Am open for ideas for potential business schools for undergrad - my son is a 4.2 GPA weighted (3.94 unweighted) and he did better than we expected on his ACT with a 35 and SAT with a 1530. We expected him to be in in the 30 range (he’s a junior) and as a result looked at schools that would likely be a fit (which are great) such as Ohio State, Indiana, Wisconsin, TCU, etc. With this score, he is wondering if we should expand the search perhaps to more selective schools like Michigan, Texas, ND, Emory, Wash U (we live in STL), Wake Forest, etc.
Another question - he has a fast food job in the summer - would his time be better spent volunteering for various organizations to try and expand his resume (good volunteer work to date, Special Olympics 100 hours, other sports oriented volunteer) rather than working fast food this summer…money isn’t a big issue for our family fortunately…all feedback is welcome…
Any activity he can pursue in-depth is good. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a fast food job or a volunteer position: one will show persistence and can yield interesting stories (plus make him appreciate college more) as can the other…
Are you hoping for merit aid?
Excellent international business at USC Columbia. Miami Ohio is better for business than Ohio Fisher. UCincinnati has a very competitive business honors program and is in a city.
If you can be full pay, look into Penn State Smeal (the entrance is very competitive but he has the stats), UMN Carlson, UOregon?
I see you already have IU Kelley. He’ll likely get Hutton Honors, which makes a big difference.
What about URichmond? Think TCU or Wake, but in Richmond (as the name implies) and within the DC/NoVa/MD area of influence = lots of opportunities.
He could try for Wharton or Stern, Notre Dame, Emory, Michigan Ross, why not?
(Note that Notre Dame is very clearly Catholic. You don’t have to be Catholic to attend but you have to be comfortable with expressions of faith; there are theology and philosophy classes in the core curriculum).
Basically, make sure he has two safeties you can afford and that he likes. These safeties should thus share some characteristics with the matches and reaches (vibe, course offerings, study abroad in cities he’s interested in, etc).
Then add 3-5 matches that are affordable and that he likes.
Then only add the reaches, and add as many as you can afford and can handle applications for without “winging it”.
Some of the matches/safeties should have true rolling admissions or EA deadlines, so that he can hear before January.
If one is his true favorite, he can apply to it through ED, but only if it’s truly his favorite one and you don’t need to compare financial aid packages.
Run the NPCs on every college (and check the “merit scholarship” page for all universities considered - don’t let him apply to a university you know you can afford).
Make sure he takes Math and Foreign Language to the highest possible level as both will matter for the most selective business schools.
The University of Richmond offers a great blend of programs for a prospective business major who might also appreciate the undergraduate-focused atmosphere of a liberal arts college.
RIchmond and Wake Forest are fairly similar with Wake being a little bigger. Both have a heavy focus on undergraduate education, excellent business school, small classes and intimate student / professor vibe (virtually no TAs teaching classes). Lots of school spirit.
@rickle1 Wake doesn’t have direct admit it the business school right? I know a great student who goes there and his freshman year was very stressful because he needed to keep grades very high in order to get into business program. He ended up taking courses he didn’t really like because of core requirements and GPA boost potential. Something to consider of the college does not direct admit.
@suzyQ7 That’s correct that Wake does not have a direct admit UG Business School. Students apply after first semester sophomore year. Although it’s no guarantee, about 65%-70% of kids do make it through admissions. The killer weed out class is Accounting. S had some friends drop the course and therefore drop the business school as it’s a requirement.
I can’t speak for all the other schools mentioned but I do know UVA and UNC have a similar process for admission. I wouldn’t worry too much about B school admissions. If you’re able to get in to the school in the first place and you do well along the way, gaining admission to the B school isn’t that big of a deal. Wake’s profile for admitted student (into the B School) is something like a 3.6 overall GPA and 3.4 within the prereqs (econ, calc, accounting). Most will tell you that a 3.6 at Wake is a lot harder than their HS experience. But it is very doable (and it’s just an average).
Wake is a heavy liberal arts school with a serious core curriculum . It takes about two yrs to knock out the core or divisional classes. They want to expose students to many things. I’m sure that includes having to take some classes outside of interest areas. However, the flip side is discovering new interests. S, as an example, really enjoyed a Politics & International Affairs course, took another one, and decided to minor in it (6 classes).
thanks for the feedback…the lack of direct admit is something to consider for sure, would hate to fall in love with a school only to not be able to get into the business school after one year on campus when you could have had direct admit to a top tier school right out of high school
Perhaps look into the small and highly-competitive Business Honors Academy at UNL as well https://business.unl.edu/academic-programs/honors-academy/ Between a relatively affordable sticker price, merit, and/or MSEP reciprocity, this could be an amazing value in addition to offering great opportunities and alumni-network support. And I’ve heard nothing but good things about Lincoln as a college city that also offers a lot of opportunities for business students.
I would certainly open up the paper search to include ALL schools but would also caution you to spend time helping your son to find a safety he loves. It is smart to create a wish lists for what is most important to him. Size? Location? Honors? Housing? School spirit? Direct admit? Classes taught by grad students? Internships? Alumni network?
Selectively of a school has very little impact once on campus day to day, and not as much of a bump to career as many think if research is to be believed. Your son has worked hard and meets the threshold for any school. His academic accomplishments are outstanding and this is not diminished if he goes to Ohio instead of Wharton at Penn. You also indicated that cost is not a big issue it you may want to drill down into those numbers and realize the real cost of 4 years plus extras and it adds up. The hardest part for a high stat student is finding a safety they love and THEN they can to narrow down the list from hundreds of amazing schools where they would fit for their other apps (unless none compare to that safety, then they’re finished).
Here is my pitch for a relatively safe STEM university with a serious business college which is filly integrated on the University Campus.
The median, unweighted GPA of the latest matriculating class is 3.89. The program is research based in all majors and requires interdisciplinary project studies as well as required research in the student’s major. The idea is to get involved and creative in your research so you don’t even realize you are pulling a heavy load as you research. The work gets better when you are working for more than a classroom grade and you are part of a talented team.
Here’s the official undergrad business rankings, with discussions, from Poets and Quants. IMHO they do a better job describing the business schools than anyone else.
WPI undergraduate business major is ranked #36 by Poets and Quants (2018) undergraduates. Purdue is ranked # 37 and Michigan State # 38. Not bad company for a University that most people do not even know has serious business majors. Whatever you do, look at WPI’s range of possible majors and how your selected program lets you interface with different fields which may be of interest to you.