<p>My daughter wants to go to one of our two state flagships which has a very loyal alumni network. It also has a better than average academic reputation which results in its graduates being favored often for employment. She wants to major in sports management and work in local youth sports. She can also see herself working for a major league team. All the advice is to major in business both here and the sports management advisor told her if she can get into the business school to go that route instead of sports management. However she can't get into the business school of that university. Would she be better off going to the average state college and majoring in business or going to the much more highly regarded school and majoring in sports management? She really doesn't want to major in business anyway. She's organized, good with people, and would do well in a business or other business type of environment. She really is not interested in most business courses but presented in the frame of sports and they are more interesting to her. I appreciate any feedback. She would also fit in better socially at the flagship school, wants to go there, and would be one of the sharper kids in her major. But is it narrowing her field of future employment too much?</p>
<p>Sports management is still a relatively small field and not offered at all that many schools. I would say that any school with that major, especially if that major has been around for a while, will have the connections she needs. That school probably has a pretty good alumni network as well. I know my Dad graduated from a small state school that has a sports management major and he runs into alum all over the world. They have a VERY active alumni association. You might be more familiar with the flagship reputation because it’s just bigger. I know one school in our state, 2500 kids has a FAR more active and useful alumni network than our 40,000+ student flagship (which is a pretty good network too). I would say get the sports management major and maybe couple that with a recreation degree (which is a common major for people working in park and rec departments in cities around the nation).</p>
<p>Sorry I didn’t make it clear. The choice is between sports
management at the flagship or business at the smaller school. The smaller school doesn’t have sports management anyway.</p>
<p>“All the advice is to major in business both here and the sports management advisor told her if she can get into the business school to go that route instead of sports management.”</p>
<p>This is what I would think even if the SPORTS MANAGMENT (!) advisor did not advise this. </p>
<p>“However she can’t get into the business school of that university.”</p>
<p>Oh, that is too bad. How do you know this? In most schools you cannot apply for the major until ~ junior year. </p>
<p>“Would she be better off going to the average state college and majoring in business or going to the much more highly regarded school and majoring in sports management?”</p>
<p>I’m confused that you know she cannot get into the business major for the highly regarded school. Some schools probably do early admit to the business school for some students, but leave spaces open for others. </p>
<p>I tend to think.
Business major > Sports management
AND (obviously)
highly regarded school > not well regarded school</p>
<p>Majoring in Sports management is a very narrow field that will limit her future prospects moreso than a Business admin degree - especially if it’s not offered through he business college (which seems to be the case). But then again, if she is absolutely set on Sports MGMT, narrowing her future opportunities may not be such a bad thing. </p>
<p>Personally, I think Sports MGMT is not a great degree for employment opportunities and I’d imagine that most of the starting salaries are rather low as well. But who knows? Not me, I’m just making a bunch of assumptions with the info you gave us. </p>
<p>Also, it really depends on what she and you wants, expects, can afford, and can live with. Just be realistic and grab employment statistics from the schools in question if you can.</p>
<p>She is applying as a transfer instead of a freshman because she does much better in classes than she does on standardized tests. She will graduate high school in December and apply in the spring for admission as a transfer with around a 3.5 gpa from community college with 33 credits plus another 12 from the spring semester. The problem is she won’t have the required math courses done in time to be admitted into the business school. The sports management program is more flexible. She doesn’t want to wait a year to apply with those math courses completed. The business school only admits 75 transfers a year and only for the fall semester do it’s no guarantee she would get in anyway.</p>
<p>It sounds like she would prefer the sports mgt college. If you can afford it have her go there.</p>
<p>Can she still take business classes and maybe get a minor in a business field, even if she pursues the other program?</p>
<p><a href=“In Sports Business, Too Many Hopefuls for Too Few Positions - The New York Times”>In Sports Business, Too Many Hopefuls for Too Few Positions - The New York Times;
<p>Buckle down and invest the time to get the math requirements, then go for the business degree. Everything else seems like a circumvention.</p>
<p>If she’s not interested in business courses there is little point in her going to a business-only program. Sounds to me like she would be better off going to the generally better school, majoring in sports management, and taking the math prereqs so that she can take some business courses in addition. Perhaps she could achieve a business minor? Possibly by staying an additional semester, if that is financially feasible?</p>
<p>She has to take the same math courses for either major at the flagship school. It’s just that
she won’t have them done until May and that’s too late to get into the business school. The Sports management department is not so particular about when she gets them done.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t know where to steer her. She’s a good student (but not Harvard type level) but has never had any particular academic interests. She did like her community college biology course, wants to take Biology 2, and may take more kinesiology type courses and combine those with a sports management major but I am not sure where that will get her in terms of employment.</p>
<p>Thank you for the link to the article PolarBearVsShark, I printed that out to give her.</p>
<p>I forgot to add that she plans on minoring in business with an additional minor in coaching. There are no additional requirements to be allowed to minor in business and she can actually achieve the sports management major and both minors in three years as she will be going in with quite a few credits from community college.</p>
<p>Her father thinks she should do a gap year and use it to work/volunteer in some different areas of sports management type jobs that interest her and then go to college the next year. Surprisingly, she’s open to that. That will also allow her to apply to enter the business school of the flagship for the next school year with the required math courses under her belt, if she decides to go that route. Even though she may start out with the same type of position, if she has a business degree instead of a sports management degree she will have more options her whole career.</p>
<p>The flagship will usually have the better all around academic opportunities, it is a plus they have her proposed major. There is likely to be networking and name recognition from the flagship as well. She can always pick up a masters in a business field to add to her sports management if she feels it will further her career later. Go with her heart and the big school, especially since it will have more to offer if she decides to change plans.</p>
<p>I guess I don’t understand the issues-the smaller school doesn’t have her intended major, why even consider that school? There are plenty of other schools that do have that major that she should investigate.</p>
<p>One thing to look into as well, in our state, a “minor” in coaching isn’t really an option but even if you could get one, it’s meaningless unless you have a teaching degree to attach the endorsement on. It might not be worth getting that minor unless she can do that without adding extra time in school. Internships in sports management are hard enough to come by, taking a gap year is probably not going to be a benefit because she really will have a hard time getting hired. She should start looking at jobs with your local park and rec department, part time jobs, after school/in the summer and then when she is in college, look to be an assistant coach at a local high school, etc. The connections the flagship department will have for internships, etc. will be FAR more beneficial to her than a gap year as an 18 year old kid.</p>
<p>The gap year sounds like a really good idea…especially if she can get some sports-field real life experience before she makes her decision as to which program to pursue. </p>
<p>It can be eye opening! </p>
<p>My S1 was all about doing news/sports broadcasting when he was in high school. We were very lucky to have a neighbor on our street who was the news director of the local CBS affiliate, and he generously gave my son a summer internship at his station. The experience convinced my son that this was a career he did NOT want to pursue, and completely changed his college list…Syracuse/Newhouse had previously been at the top of his list; it came off completely.</p>
<p>“Personally, I think Sports MGMT is not a great degree for employment opportunities and I’d imagine that most of the starting salaries are rather low as well. But who knows? Not me, I’m just making a bunch of assumptions with the info you gave us.” </p>
<p>As opposed to if she had given you more information and you STILL could not given her a definitive answer. Love how people get annoyed that someone is wasting their precious time on a blog.</p>