Any advice on deciding between Holy Cross and Bentley? If my son chooses HC he would go in as an Econ major whereas Bentley is obviously more business oriented (which is what he ultimately is interested in). Factors he is considering would be overall prestige of school and job prospects after graduation. Our financial aid packages are somewhat similar although going to bentley would cost about 10K more per year. Thanks for any advice!
I don’t know about Holy Cross but Bentley is very highly regarded for connecting their students to internships and employment after graduation. I have done a lot of research and read a lot of student reviews. Most students say they have gotten an excellent education and are well prepared for the business world. The only con I’ve read is you should be sure business is what you want to study because of their high focus on it. You will not find academic diversity such as nursing, engineering or education majors.
It is one of my sons top choices and he hopes to be able to make a final decision after accepted students day next week.
Thanks for your input. My son feels he definitely wants business but he’s torn because he likes the overall feel he got when visiting Holy Cross (he’s coming from a Catholic high school so the familiarity was nice), and plus Holy Cross has an excellent reputation. He’s limited there though because he would have to major in Econ. They do have a pre business program which we’ll have to investigate further when we go back for accepted students day. I was very impressed with Bentley as well when we visited so I guess we will see how he feels after accepted students day at both. Thanks again and good luck to your son.
I’d choose HC especially if it is cheaper.
@tyj1122 someone once told me to choose the school that is the strongest academically but for my son he also needs to have a good few about the school and see himself making good friends and experiencing things outside of academics. Hopefully he will choose a school that has a combination of both. Good luck to your son too!
@jcd716 I agree the social aspect is very important as well!
I’d go with Holy Cross. The best thing for a career in business is a solid liberal arts education. So many HC grads go into “business”, an inherently broad term. Liberal arts prepares you not just for a career, but for life. There is always an MBA path down the road as well if he chooses. The econ department at HC is excellent, and one of its strongest. Yet I have friends who were Art History majors in college who are now investment bankers. My advice for your son is to major in what interests him academically, and to combine that with internships and pre-vocational preparation through a pre-business program or such, but to not be too concerned about academic focus as a pre-determinant of a specific career path. Best of luck!
@xhaavic thank you! Great advice!!
You’re welcome - happy to help! Again, best of luck to you and your son.
Getting an economics degree or a business degree are somewhat different paths. Economics is a liberal arts course of study and gets very theoretical at the upper levels. In contrast if your son goes to a b-school he will take a business core with introductory classes in subjects such as accounting, finance, IT, marketing etc. and then you will major in one of those disciplines. I’m not saying that one path is better than the other, but they are different. I would have your son look at the coursework (can be found online) for a couple of potential majors at Bentley and economics at HC and see if he has a strong preference in terms the curriculum.
Other than that comment I do agree that fit is very important so if he feels more comfortable at HC then that would be an important factor to consider as well
Two excellent options, he can’t make a bad choice.
I don’t know much about Bentley, but Holy Cross is a top notch school with an execellent reputation. My husband graduated from HC with a degree in Economics and got a job in a Fortune 100 company right out of college. He later changed careers and went to law school. Your son will get an excellent education with a liberal arts foundation that can take him anywhere. Plus HC has an incrediably strong alumni network. Good luck making a decision. I will be there with my daughter for accepted students day and hope she picks HC!