DS narrowed his selection down to BC, Binghamton, and Bentley for accounting/finance. He was invited into the Honor’s program for each (called scholar’s program @ Bing). BC would cost $55k after loans, Bentley $40k (1/2 tuition scholarship), & Binghamton $24k. We can cover the cost, not comfortably esp. with there being a few younger children in the rears, but it’s do-able. Is Carroll honors really worth the added cost over these two honors programs? Does anyone know if you can complete a double degree in acct’g and finance in three yrs ( plus perhaps some summer courses) via the honors program at any of these schools, given 24+ credits AP credits? This kind of info is not available on the school websites.
I would go with Bentley. Its reputation in business and accounting is superb and I don’t think 55K “after loans” (what is it without the loans deducted from total costs?) is worth it for BC, especially if it’d be difficult to swing with 2 other children.
Thanks, myos1634. I am not in the know about the reputation and level of recruiting of these two schools in comparison. I know BC is a big name and I see Bentley scoring favorably in the rankings, but I am unsure about them in comparison when competing for jobs, particularly in the Boston area. My son is interested in staying in the northeast.
I know that $15K per year is not a small difference, but personally I don’t see paying $40K a year at Bentley when you can pay $55K a year at Boston College. To me, the choice is whether you want to stretch to pay $55K a year at BC or whether you should pay $24K at Binghamton. Personally, I vote Bing.
I don’t know for sure, but I think completing any kind of dual-degree program in 3 years is difficult unless you’re both overloading AND taking summer courses. Summer courses cost extra money that financial aid often doesn’t cover, so this plan might not save you that much money anyway.
You’re right, I don’t think 3 years, or even 3.5 years is reasonable. I appreciate your perspective, Juliet. We’ll be going to the open houses this weekend in Boston. I’d love to hear from parents /new alumni from these schools to gain more perspective.
@learners I do not have any information on BC or Bing but I can give you some information on Bentley. Our daughter graduated in May, and we had a fabulous experience. She received a wonderful education with caring and involved professors. She did community service every semester and loved the involvement in the community. She received multiple job offers and is making a salary similar to those stated on the BC board here. She was an accounting major. Her group of friends all received jobs. They all live in Boston supporting themselves. Our son was accepted with no money - that to us is very perplexing. His stats are well above other who received scholarships and the only thing we can think is our daughter was accepted it was probably a “reach” school for her so she received no merit aid. We do not qualify for financial aid. So someone said possibly because we paid full fare for our daughter they knew we would do it again? Just not sure and not too happy. Others will argue with me and say paying $60 plus per year is ridiculous, not worth it etc, but we had such a great experience we probably will (again) He did receive money to BU, Fordham, etc., but if he sees himself there, we will make it happen. Bentleys placement rate is one of the highest in Boston, and to me that speaks volumes for the school. Best of luck, obviously he got into great schools and will be successful wherever he goes. Did you can any insight from the open houses?
I know (at least where I live) that Babson and Bentley grads are viewed more highly than BC grads in business and accounting/finance. My mother has her masters in accounting from Bentley and says that the connections and career services there are fantastic.
Son is a freshman at Bentley in honors program absolutely loves bentley. They r moving up in the rankings big time
As others have mentioned Bentley has great reputation for producing business leaders.
@Learners Would you mind sharing where your DS decided to go?
I’d choose between Bentley and BC. Bing doesn’t even belong in the discussion.
This is an old thread and OP likely isn’t checking CC now. And if price is a factor then IMO Bing. should be considered.
Poppycock!
It’s actually Bentley and Binghamton that are not in BC’s league. While Bentley may be a fine local option, its resources are a fraction of those that BC commands (260 million endowment vs 1.3 billion), not to mention superior contacts and networking not only locally and regionally, but nationally too. Furthermore, does anyone suppose that the level of instruction at Bentley surpasses or even matches that at BC? It is also clear that a number 3 north, regional university (US News) is trumped by a number 30 NATIONAL university, which is, by the way, in pretty impressive company.
I won’t even go into the special value an education provided by the Jesuit ethos provides – one that more colleges could stand to emulate. Then there is the aesthetics of the campuses to consider - are they comparable? I think not.
Yes, there’s a reason it costs less to go to Bentley and more to go to BC.
Sorry, I need to correct one number. The BC endowment stands at 2.3 billion not 1.3 as I had stated.
I agree leanid. From what I’ve seen, it is true that for reasonably strong students, you do get what you pay for when you choose on the basis of price only. BC is a very strong school with a beautiful campus. For me, the aesthetics are important. And BC is simply gorgeous. But it is also true that the OP is probably not reading this.