Our daughter is trying to decide between Purdue University, UW Madison, UIUC and UMass Amherst for Economics major. After her undergrad she wants to join the workforce and have some experience and funds under her belt before she decides on grad school. For grad school she is interested in Law, Public Policy, not so much in banking but things might change with her experiences during undergrad.
We will visit the campuses to get a feel of the environment, but that aside, which of these would you recommend and why? All of these are out of state for us. Tuition is a concern but the program and internships leading to a job at graduation is what we are most interested in.
Purdue : has accepted her in their Honors College with direct admission to Upper Division at their Krannert School of Business
UMass Amherst : has offered her a nice scholarship
UW Madison: has accepted her in their BS Economics program
I think for Econ and this list, you go to the school you feel most comfortable after visiting. . Her outcome is likely not going to be noticeably different at any of them. And if she goes to grad school years after, it won’t matter.
Fit, which includes finance, matters. So hopefully you’ll know after you visit.
Wisconsin is on the small city and has the lake. Umass is in a college area and has top rated dining. All the schools rate well in food and Purdue’s honors dorm is nice.
I worry that you say at all of these, tuition is a concern. That’s not good. That means none are a fit and you should consider seeking others.
I don’t know her #s (gpa, test) but there are other big flagships where you are likely to get big merit and will have internship opportunities too. Plus many kids today are finding internships on their own…LinkedIn, indeed etc.
I would look to Alabama (if she has a test score) or Arizona (no score needed) where if she’s got a 3.5 UW GPA (Bama) or 3.9 (Az), you’ll likely go for less….like 20k total a year including room and board….and lose some of that concern. Bama, for what it’s worth, has the top rated career center for internships in the SEC (which includes Vandy, Florida, GA)… truth is, if a kid wants an internship and they put in the effort, they’ll find one….at least after 2nd year. You can still apply to both and they are easy apps. I put scholarship links below.
Btw each school will have a career report you can find…or call each schools career center and ask for outcomes of Econ majors.
Comparing the Big Ten schools, I would place Wisconsin above the other in overall general experience. From a pure Econ perspective, Wisconsin will have more headroom for a very motivated student because its graduate program is a tier above ( at least) the the others. If the goal isn’t an Econ PhD program, it likely doesn’t matter. It could help if you are trying for a strong quant based public policy program. All 3 will recruit well into the Chicagoland area. I do have an issue when Econ is taught out of the business school (Purdue). It is like having a physics major in the college of engineering.
To echo @tsbna44, if tuition is a concern, then that’s a problem - especially since her intention is to pursue graduate school at some point. Under these circumstances, she should go to the school that is most affordable. That sounds like UMass?
One of the advantages of UMass is that it has cross registration with the other colleges in the 5 college consortium, giving her access to top professors at some of the best liberal arts colleges in the country - including 2 women’s colleges. Down the street from UMass, close enough to ride a bike to or even to walk to, is Amherst College, which consistently appears near the top of the lists of best liberal arts colleges for economics. (Walking or biking isn’t necessary; there is free bus service.) up to 2 courses per semester can be taken at another member college through this program.
Just from that are all of these affordable?
You mention a nice scholarship from UMass, How does that school rank with your daughter?
I like Honors programs, they can make a large University feel small and give you extra support as you transition from High School to College
So here’s my choices based on a few issues
UMass if tuition is an issue
If not Purdue for the Honors college
If none of those issues matter and just based on program UW Madison First Choice.
All good Options
Find the Best fit for your Daughter that is affordable
I dont’ believe we were told UMASS was cheapest or affordable - just that there was a nice scholarship.
"All of these are out of state for us. Tuition is a concern but the program and internships leading to a job at graduation is what we are most interested in."
Truth is, one can get jobs and internships from any school - and today so many are found by the student on their own - but all these schools will have solid recruitment.
One difference, I believe, is that she will be studying in the College of Management at Purdue and within the colleges of liberal arts at the other three schools. This fact could give her more flexibility if she wanted to change majors to another business area like management or marketing.
The more apparent differences merit from UMass from a cost perspective. Honors at Purdue combines the benefits of a smaller college with all the resources of a larger university. Outside of that, I agree with the advice that it is most important to find the overall right fit. All four are great options.