Hey guys!
I’m OOS and was super excited to be admitted to Michigan, but before applying, I was still figuring out my major, so I chose not to apply for Ross pre-admit (huge regret) and instead got admitted to LSA for Economics. I am now 100% planning for a career in business, so I was wondering how hard it would be to transfer into Ross or if I should attend another university that I am already direct admit into? Thanks 
Most Ross students are admitted after their freshman year from LSA or Engineering or another college. So it is not difficult to transfer, though you’ll be up against some competition (maybe not as much as applying pre-admit).
Don’t worry too much about “deciding 100%” on business. Certainly keep your mind open, as most freshman end up changing their majors/schools after they explore what they like to study. I know Ross pre-admits who found out they totally hate Ross and are now happily studying something else in LSA or Engineering, and vise versa. If you decide to come to UMich you can always apply to Ross after your Freshman year if you still want to do business, and I promise you wouldn’t be behind anybody if you get in your sophomore year.
Good luck making your decision!
@BluingBlue Ross changed its policy to accept most of its students as preadmits rather than freshman applicants. The preadmits have the opportunity to declare whether they are First Year Ross (if applying through LSA) or be a preadmit who are still in the initial school they applied to (usually for unsure or dual degree students).
I’d say that even as an econ major in LSA, business opportunities are not out of the picture and there is definitely the possibility to apply transfer Freshman Year. I would only keep in mind the competition would be difficult for transferring. From my time this past year as a freshman, I have met a lot of people who didn’t apply to Ross but decided later, and a lot of them were definitely qualified. If you decide to come to Umich for econ and apply to Ross but decide you’d rather study something other than business, you would have the option.
@BluingBlue It is no longer the case. Since last year, most of the Ross students are pre-admitted in freshmen year. Now there are only around 20% seats left for sophomore transfer. As students rejected in pre admission are no longer eligible to sophomore transfer, there may be also less applicants for sophomore transfer. So it is hard to say if it is more or less competitive than before in sophomore admission. Anyway, it is still feasible to apply for sophomore transfer into Ross.
@an24776 @billcsho Whoa okay! I was not aware of the recent policy change. That’s a lot of pre-admits! Definitely different from when I was applying. Thanks for the correction.
I would choose another school. It will be near impossible to switch into ross bba as an internal transfer. If you got in directly anywhere else. Go there or you will regret it.
There is still no new data to show if the internal transfer to be more difficult or not than previous years after the change.
billcsho is right. While there will be fewer spots open for internal transfers, there will be fewer applying; as so many are already in a preadmits.
Its to large a risk. I would reccomond that op choose another school if buisness is what she really wants.
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“I am now 100% planning for a career in business, so I was wondering how hard it would be to transfer into Ross or if I should attend another university that I am already direct admit into?”
Michigan LSA will offer you equal, if not better, career placement than 99% of the business programs around the country. If you have an acceptance from another top business school, definitely go for it. But there are fewer than 15 undergraduate business programs that are truly going to give you an advantage over Michigan LSA. Those are Wharton (UPenn), Sloan (MIT), Dyson (Cornell), McDonough (Georgetown), Stern (NYU), McCombs (UT-Austin), Tepper CMU), Mendoza (Notre Dame), Goizueta (Emory), Olin (WUSTL), Kelley (IU), Kenan-Flagler (UNC), Marshall (USC).
I did not mention McIntire and Haas because they are not direct admits.
Beyond those programs, I am not sure going to a business school for the sake of improving your career prospects will serve you well.
What type of career in “business” are you looking for?? If you want to go into Accounting Operations/Logistical Management, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Consulting, or become a Financial Analyst or other Quantitative Analyst, or go into Sales or start your own business, you can do it ALL through LSA and pair classes from Ross to complement your LSA courses. Once you know what “business” career path you want to take then you can pair your education to match your goals.
Also, if you really want Ross BBA, make it known right away with your advisor, be able to articulate why you want it and how it will help you in your desired career path. Advocate for your self, do very well in your first and second semesters (3.75+). When there is a will, make a plan and make it happen:-)
I know a number of people who went to UM planning to transfer into Ross and most did not get in (and that was when there were fewer pre-admits). From what I can see the UM website says that they will take about 100 internal transfers into Ross which is a very small number given the size of the school. https://michiganross.umich.edu/programs/bba/application-requirements/cross-campus-transfer If you want to study business I’d choose a college where you have been admitted to the b-school.
However, I do agree with the above poster that you can contact your admission officer at UM and see if there is any chance your admission to UM can be flipped from LSA to Ross – chances are low but seems worth an email or call.
I mean there will only be 100 spots for transfer to ross. Maybe less if they overenroll with the preadmits. I would strongly reccomend looking elsewhere if you want to do buisness. Chances are you won’t be able to transfer in and you might regret your decision. I have a friend who had this experience.
Note that those applied to preadmitted and rejected are not eligible to internal transfer.
to add - the other school I am between is Ohio State (Fisher), but I did just receive a very generous financial aid offer which would make Michings cheaper than Ohio
This is a great thread. Based on the quality of the responses, I recommend Michigan, but direct admission to Fisher at OSU is worth considering. How much is the difference in cost ?
Michigan is about $10,000 cheaper
If you are fine with the idea of being an economics major (as transfer into Ross is far from a sure thing) then UM is a great choice. If you know you want business then I think you need to consider OSU if affordable.
It is important to understand that economics and finance are very different majors. Economics is a liberal arts course of study and gets very theoretical at the upper levels. In contrast if you go to an undergraduate business school you will take a business core with introductory classes in subjects such as accounting, finance, IT, marketing etc. and then you will major in one of those disciplines. I’m not saying that one path is better than the other, but they are different. I would take the time to look at the coursework (can be found online) for both a finance and an economics major and see if one path is preferable to you.
Michigan LSA >>OSU Fisher at the same cost. $10k less - sorry, but easy choice.
I would choose osu if you want to go into buisness as you are garunted your major. Obviously you will receive biased answers on a Michigan thread. I urge you to consider the fact that you won’t be able to transfer to Ross. Osu seems like the logical choice to me.