<p>I'll keep it short and simple, I'm a class of 2014 h.s. student approaching my time to apply for colleges. I have a good idea of where I'll be applying but I wanna make sure I didn't miss any hidden gems. I am 95% sure at this point that Accounting will be my Major (unless I change after my freshman year) with a possible minor in Finance, Computer Science, Business Administration, or Econ</p>
<p>Here is my background and my criteria when looking for a school-</p>
<p>ME
- 1240 R&M SAT 1940 overall, 3.46 GPA, top 25% of my class
- multiple honors/AP courses
- involvement in football, wrestling, boxing, mma, and community service hours all throughout high school (300+ hours total)</p>
<p>WHAT I LOOK FOR IN A SCHOOL
- in state tuition for a student like me (planning on getting an MBA so no reason to go heavily in debt for my undergrad)
- PUBLIC schools only (paying on my own, not gunna pay private school prices)
- LARGE population (20k+)
- STRONG business school
- Not too conservative (there's a reason I'm not going to Texas A&M....)
- Big 4 recruitment!!! Want a good hiring rate after school...</p>
<p>Schools I am looking at </p>
<p><em>HIGH INTEREST</em>
- UT Austin (like every Texan, hopefully this top 7% rule can't keep me out but being realistic... not gunna put all my eggs in one basket)
- University of Arkansas (probably gunna end up here if UT doesn't want me)</p>
<p><em>MODERATE INTEREST</em>
- Mizzou
- LSU (backup school, always good to have a chance at a full ride or close to it)
- Oklahoma State University (same as above)</p>
<p>now my question in this post being, what other schools should I look into, that meet all of my requirements?</p>
<p>Again I want to stress the fact that saving money is a must for me, while going to a Juco or CC is not an option… Call me crazy but I want to enjoy my full college experience, high involvement in frats/sororities and D1 sports are also a plus to any school I look at.</p>
<p>Brigham Young University-Provo (Marriott) is excellent, if you do not mind the whole Mormon thing. Solid sports and school spirit, nice campus and relatively low tuition ($15k tuition, $25k when you include room and board, books etc…).</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply Alexadre, seems like a good school, however when looking into it they lost me at “Student life centers around religion and responsibility” and “All students live according to a strict honor code, which prohibitsamong other thingscamping with members of the opposite sex and growing a beard without a doctors approval.”</p>
<p>As an atheist liberal who very much enjoys his women and his facial hair, I would imagine that I won’t fit in well over there.</p>
<p>I do not think students have trouble fitting in at BYU. Most universities with religious affiliations will describe their institution’s commitment to their church, but that is by no means a dominant aspect of the university in most instances. That is certainly the case at Boston College, Georgetown and Notre Dame anway. My experience with Mormons (as a pretty devout Catholic myself) has been very pleasant. A couple of Muslim friends from childhood fit in very well at BYU. But you may want to ask around as my experience may not be indicative of reality on the ground.</p>
<p>I will tell you right now that it is very unlikely you get into UT-Austin and if you do, it won’t be into McCombs.</p>
<p>So outside of that & A&M there are only other TX Public school that I can think of that * might * be recruited by the Big 4 is Texas Tech (maybe University of Houston due to location but eh…).</p>
<p>Also I’m not sure that Arkansas, LSU, or Oklahoma State are great with the Big 4 either (but I might be wrong).</p>
<p>I believe LSU has a pretty strong accounting department so if you can get a full ride there, it should be considered. Also, just so you know, if you want to become a CPA you now need 150 credits (most colleges require 120 credits to graduate) so more and more accounting students go on for a one year master’s degree to get the extra 30 credits before they start work.</p>
<p>You can also consider UIndiana (Kelly) and UAlabama. Be sure to look at the OOS prices for these schools because the costs can get up there and many state schools are stingy with aid for OOS students. I would apply to TX A&M or at least one other school in the TX system that you should get into based on your stats (Texas Tech, UHouston) so you will have one in state lower cost option.</p>
<p>I know you said no private schools but you may want to apply to SMU and Baylor, and see what kind of scholarships you get. Trinity has a great accounting program and gives good scholarships, but does not meet your size requirement. My son was surprised by the scholarships he was offered, and when you compare the 4 year graduation rates between the privates and publics it may not be as expensive as you think. University of Arkansas seems like a good fit.</p>
<p>For a quality school that matches your stats, you might add UIUC. It is just below the best accounting college, namely UT. A liitle tougher to get in and smaller than your criteria is UTD in Richardson. </p>
<p>Note that accounting is quite universal. You might want to cast a wider net to help on the financial aid front.</p>