Daughter is struggling with decision between these two great options. I know she can’t really go wrong but there are a few areas she/we are wrestling with. I’m only focusing on the major pros/cons here as the schools in many ways have similarities or common things we like.
SMU
Pros
- Direct admit into Cox business school
- 25k annual merit money (maintain 3.0)
- Dallas - internships/career oppty
- Dallas - social, culture, art, restaurants
- While Cox is very competitive with challenging courses, overall school feels less a bit less difficult or stressful vs. Wake. Feel could have a more balanced life.
Cons
- While not against fashion, preppy or Greek/party scene…SMU can come across a bit superficial and exclusive. Maybe cliquey.
- Although Cox business school ranks well, overall school not considered as academic or prestigious as Wake…lots of comments from friends who think Wake is the no-brainer just due to rank
Wake
Pros
- Higher ranking, more prestigious school
- Perhaps a bit more nationally/geographically diverse
- While kids may be preppy and rich, day-to-day seems less flashy. More casual-preppy college feel - sweatshirts, jeans, etc.
- May be challenged more, stretching boundaries further
Cons
- No merit money - full pay
- Must apply to business school in sophomore year…can be very competitive (need to do very well in pre-business courses in fresh/soph)
- Winston-Salem - less to do, concerned about ease of internships
- feels like the workload is real…don’t fully buy the ‘work forest’ as i know college is a step-up in work everywhere…but given the competitive nature of students, and necessary to apply to business school it seems the pressure could be intense
- worried won’t have a balanced life, and not sure the ‘work hard, play hard’ is what would be considered ‘balanced’
Yes, both have large greek life and all that goes with that - so not really thinking of that as a differentiator. You can see from the list that its probably biased to SMU but worried about the social fit, vs. passing on what many view as the superior “wake” education. But is it $100k better?
Help!
Strictly based on value, I don’t think Wake is $100k better than SMU, particularly for business. Cox has an excellent reputation for business and places very well even in high finance. The SMU alumni base is also incredible and is strong across the country. If you’re already leaning towards SMU, I’d recommend going there.
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SMU for three reasons:
- $25,000 per year scholarship
- Direct admission to business school
- Dallas, Texas location = easy access to internships & employers
Nevertheless, your concerns about social life are important. Seems like the University of Richmond (or College of William & Mary) would have been a reasonable compromise. Does your daughter have any other options ?
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Seconding the question about other options.
If choosing Cox, to decrease the emphasis on “flashy”/“bling”, you may want to see if she can join an “intellectual” or “artsy” Commons/House. She’d have to inquire which those are.
Wrt Wake, look into all the possible alternate majors or how competitive it is to get into Economics. Ask point blank what % students aiming for any major in the school of business don’t get in for any of their choices - and what they do instead. It looks like Mathematical Economics isn’t in the School of Business and it’d likely be VERY much in demand, but she’d need to be able to handle the mathematical content.
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DD is graduating from Wake Forest business school next month, DS will be applying to the business school next year. Feel free to PM me for information.
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I’ll take a stab at this for the benefit of the group.
DD is graduating from the Wake Forest business school next month, DS is a freshman and will be applying next year. Generally speaking, students who do well on the prerequisite courses are admitted to the business school. Admission is GPA based, however, and rates vary from year to year. There is fairly large attrition from Accounting 111, which is pretty tough. DS is limiting his hours next semester so he can spend plenty of time on the course.
Job placement out of the business school is excellent (and from WFU in general) and career services are top notch.
Academic workload at Wake is significant, but manageable. Most of the students take pride in the school’s academic rigor, so it’s not really seen as an issue within the community. DD isn’t part of the play hard crowd, but DS is to some extent. There’s room for both types.
Winston-Salem is a nice small city with lots of good restaurants and bars, also fairly robust cultural scene. Downtown is five minutes away from campus, and is quite vibrant.
DD gave up several merit scholarships to attend Wake, so I understand your dilemma.
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Thanks so much for your insights!
The dilemma is real 
Happy to hear you’ve been pleased, and i’m not really surprised. I don’t have any reason to really doubt the outcomes or success of students from either school - wake is great overall, while SMU is certainly good in business and likely does well otherwise if only for the Dallas connection.
In the end this is likely just a fit question…and where does she think she is going to be most happy. That’s highly personal and specific to each person. Seemingly this would be the easiest to assess, but Covid and more limited engagement with the schools has hampered some ability to really get a deeper feel.
To some degree I sense that stereo-types of both schools are a bit overblown (SMU a rich party school, Wake as ‘work forest’ and suffering from a perception of grade deflation in key areas). But to another degree, where there is smoke there is fire. Probably a kernel of truth in each, but not the overwhelming experience for the majority.
Putting the facts and perceptions aside, we are really trying to get a read on D’s true feelings…when she thinks about going to one or the other, does she feel more ‘regret’, etc. People always say your kid really has a sense/desire deep down…but we haven’t found it yet 
Thanks all!
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thanks for your perspective! D does have other options and considered some of those schools. While she looked at Richmond and knows William & Mary very well, she ultimately didn’t apply. She is accepted at Elon for business, and that is currently her third choice (feels SMU offers bigger city benefits, Wake a bit more rigor/prestige).
WFU & SMU are better options than Elon for business & with respect to career prospects.
The stereotypes for SMU & WFU are not as exaggerated as one might think.
P.S. I like both schools & am encouraging a niece to apply to each as top scholarship opportunities.
Has she decided yet? My daughter is in a very similar situation! $130,000 in merit scholarship from SMU for direct admit Cox. On the other hand, she has $48,000 in scholarship total from Tulane! SMU has the advantage of and economically sound city, but with only 11% students getting admitted into Tulane, it is definitely more prestigious and certainly outside of just the south. Well my daughter is very social and pretty, she is very much into acting and enjoys the company of many artsy students, and I don’t know how much she would like SMU if she did not get into a sorority, Which I have heard is quite a daunting semester long experience there. She doesn’t know which school to pick, but is leaning towards Tulane.
Somehow I don’t picture SMU sororities to be full of artsy girls so I’m sure she’ll find a community in the Arts Dept, art class, and clubs, without having to go through an extensive, extenuating rush process. 
Perhaps Kathy Crow House would work???
The vibe is different at Tulane, you’re right.
No decision…plenty of anxiety! I keep telling myself there is no wrong decision here…and we will certainly support any decision she makes. I just hope to avoid any nagging second-guessing on her part. I want her to get excited about school and move past this stress!
Interesting comment that you think that Tulane is more prestigious than SMU.
Probably correct outside of Texas, but not sure that it matters as Texas offers a lot in terms of internships / jobs / careers to SMU students. Texas economy is doing very well.
Just saw Tulane is hiring Hunter Biden as guest lecturer for a class …I’m totally disgusted by this. Now we have more to consider…
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Agree. When my oldest was a senior both SMU and Tulane were considered safeties at his prep school. I wouldn’t be blinded by Tulane’s admit rate, lots of schools manipulate the process.
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I enjoyed my visit to Tulane a couple years ago. I don’t think Freeman results in better job prospects than Cox, but Tulane certainly has strong overall students. Is it worth $80k more?
A social, pretty, artsy woman will find her happy place at either school. Rush isn’t that big of a deal. It can be stressful if one is set on a couple of particular houses, but if one goes into it with an open mind to find a good fit, it should be a good outcome. There are lots of mixers in the fall before spring rush.
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He’s been a target of fake news, which is apparently what he’ll be asked to address in his speech.
More importantly, he’s ONE of many guest speakers (he’s not hired to teach a class).
As per NOLA press, the course is to rotate through these guest speakers, in addition to Biden:
Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator under President Donald Trump
Susan Glasser, columnist for The New Yorker
Margaret Sullivan, columnist for The Washington Post
Juan Williams, political analyst for Fox News
Kylie Atwood, national security correspondent for CNN
Margaret Brennan, moderator for CBS News' "Face the Nation"
Bret Stephens, columnist for The New York Times
Michael Fauntroy, political science professor at Howard University
There are reasons to disregard Tulane but disregarding the university because of this course would not be a service to the student.
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He’s been extremely lucky that the media has covered up many of his wrongdoings…he’s actually benefited from “fake news” in a way
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Has your D visited both schools? Our family seems to have luck knowing the right place when we see it. Both S19 and D21 (even with more limited visiting options - no overnights, eating in dorms, sitting in on classes) were able to identify their school after visiting. I know a lot of kids choose schools without visits and D21, especially, had to do a lot of research on top of the visits (talking to students, faculty, going to virtual events) but the visit is what sealed the deal.
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