Michigan is the way to go. Fisher is a good business school, but it does not present you with an advantage in the workplace over a degree from LSA, and at a $40k premium, it simply is not worth it. Besides, Michigan is a significantly better university overall, and carries a stronger brand name. If OSU were cheaper, one could make an argument in favor of OSU, but not if it is more expensive.
“ I urge you to consider the fact that you won’t be able to transfer to Ross.”
The OP never applied to Ross, so a transfer is possible. Your “fact” is just nonfactual. Paying 40K more to attend a non premier business program like tOSU is not a wise investment. Most elite universities don’t even offer an undergraduate business program, yet their graduates somehow manage to get employed in finance, etc.
I would reccomond her to look elsewhere. People on this thread are biased toward Michigan cause its a Michigan thread. What answers would you expect?
$40, 000 is a lot but that most likely can be made up with 2 summer internships (different years). So it’s really about what you are trying to achieve.
Exactly
“$40, 000 is a lot but that most likely can be made up with 2 summer internships (different years).”
Summer internships do NOT earn $40,000 (after tax), even over two summers. One would be lucky to make $10k in one summer. Ross interns make between $5,000 and $7,000/month and their internships usually last 8-10 weeks. So we are looking at $7,000-$14,000k net pay over one summer, $14,000-$28,000 over two summers. So even if one lands incredible internships, Michigan will still be $approximately $20k cheaper…and that’s assuming that the hugebig10girl does not have internships if she goes to Michigan. If she does have internships while at Michigan, then the internship money cancels itself out, and we are still looking at a $40,000 savings if she goes to Michigan.
This is a clear cut case; Michigan over OSU. One does not study business out of passion for the subject matter. The subject matter is about as interesting as dry toast. One studies business to land a paying job. It is only about the bottom line. Nothing else should matter to a business student. Fisher does not present any advantage over LSA when it comes to professional placement.
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You are obviously biased. I urge the op to ask an unbiased source for opinion on this before making a decision.
I am not biased lionking973, I just happen to know my subject matter. If hugebig10girl had the option of attending a top business school, like Mendoza or McDonough or even Kelley, I would have recommended going for fit. But Fisher just isn’t going to give graduates the same opportunities.
https://fisher.osu.edu/careers-recruiting/salary-outcome-data
The average starting salary for Fisher BBAs is $53,000 (Ross BBAs average starting salary is $72,000, while LSA graduates’ average starting salaries is roughly $50,000). Like I said, Fisher does not present an advantage over LSA.
@Alexandre I understand business must not be your thing and you seem to love UM – but please recognize that some people actually DO want to study business and may even feel passionate about it. I know a few of them! Also there are students who may do better in a business curriculum which is generally more straightforward as opposed to economics major which is more theoretical and math driven. Individuals have different strengths, interests etc. IMO nothing is 100% clear cut. I do agree that the price differential is something that must be considered in the decision and that the difference can’t be made up in summer jobs.
FWIW, one recent economics major I know from UM (didn’t get into Ross after freshman year) had trouble finding a job after graduation and after a year went back for a MS in Accounting. Of course that is a sample size of one…
While this is a “University of Michigan” thread, the people here aren’t inherently biased towards the school. In the case of deciding whether to go to UMich or OSU, looking at financials and academic opportunities are always important. Even though I may be studying business at UMich, I say that looking at whether the OP wants to take the chance of going to UMich and applying to Ross or the guaranteed admission to Fisher is definitely the most important thing.
In the case of attending UMich, the OP will have freshman year to decide whether business is 100 percent what they want to study and apply for Ross through internal transfer. If they happen to decide that they want to pursue something else, they have the opportunity to do so and can always apply for a minor at Ross.
In the case of attending OSU, the OP will have the resources available as a direct admit to a business school rather than having to worry about any sort of transferring.
“I understand business must not be your thing and you seem to love UM – but please recognize that some people actually DO want to study business and may even feel passionate about it.”
That has not been my experience happy1. Most business majors I knew were fairly open about the fact that they were in it mostly for the job prospects. They cared little about the subject matter, they just wanted that job at GM or Ford or at some zippy tech company out West, or at a consulting or financial firm in Chicago or NYC. But I suppose you will have oddities and outliers who truly love studying accounting, finance, operations management and marketing. Then again, I did not get the feeling that is the case with the OP, who just recently discovered that she wants to major in business. In her case, I think she is more concerned about job prospects when she graduates. In that sense, I just do not think OSU will give her the edge she seeks.
“FWIW, one recent economics major I know from UM (didn’t get into Ross after freshman year) had trouble finding a job after graduation and after a year went back for a MS in Accounting. Of course that is a sample size of one…”
I am sure that many of the 400-500 Econ majors who graduate annually from Michigan will have trouble finding jobs. When I graduated, roughly 25% of Econ majors went straight to graduate school (mostly law school or Econ PhD), and 65-70% had job within 3 months of graduation, and many of them with jobs that they “settled” for rather than dreamed of. The remaining 5-10% were sadly unemployed. I doubt things have changed much over the years. The same can be said of any program and university. My administrative assistant at one point was a Yale graduate. She graduated with a 3.7 GPA and could not find a job other than the one we offered her. No degree is a guarantee for success. Thankfully, she applied to law school and ended up getting her JD from Georgetown. But that’s the benefit of attending Michigan over OSU, and majoring in Econ instead of Business. If a graduate is unlucky and cannot find a good job, the Michigan degree will be more versatile.
I cannot stress enough that Michigan and OSU are not peer institutions, and since it is cheaper for the OP to attend Michigan, it only makes sense to go for the cheaper and superior university. Even fit isn’t an issue since Michigan and OSU are both large Midwestern universities. It’s not like she is choosing between Michigan and Occidental College or Michigan and the New College of Florida.
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^^ Guess we have to agree to disagree. Clearly we know different people! And IMO the course of study one can take is a part of “fit”.
In any event the OP hasn’t been back since posting.
what “business” do you want to study? Accounting? Then LSA is not going to cut it if you get denied, but also I would not pay OOS for an accounting degree. Finance? Ok, what do you mean by Finance? I see this all the time and no one really knows. They know they want to be XXX when they graduate, but they don’t really know what it means. So Im not sure some of them even need to “study business”. A lot of CFOs were biology or English majors. Just sayin.
Just be aware: my S had a 3.8 after freshman year and did not get into Ross. So it’s not easy. He’s better off in CS, so he’s over it. He decided to stay with LSA instead of transferring out, though one of his friends transferred to Kelley bc he did not get into Ross.
I’m from Ohio. I’d stay in LSA. You can set up to transfer somewhere else (Kelley) if you don’t get into Ross and still want to do business.
“Just be aware: my S had a 3.8 after freshman year and did not get into Ross. So it’s not easy. He’s better off in CS, so he’s over it.”
I agree HRSMom, CS is an awesome degree. I know two students who are about to graduate with CS degrees from Michigan. One landed a job with BCG in Chicago and the other with Epic Systems. If huge big10girl is so inclined, I recommend she look into CS.
“Guess we have to agree to disagree. Clearly we know different people! And IMO the course of study one can take is a part of “fit”.”
I agree, but not when two universities do not belong to the same peer group. Like I said, if the OP were choosing between McDonough or Mendoza and Michigan LSA, I would recommend going for fit. Choosing OSU over Michigan to study business would be like choosing Penn State over Northwestern or UConn over Brown. It does not make sense, especially when the better university is $40,000 cheaper and the OP’s alternative major, economics in this case, is not that different. It’s not like hugebig10girl would have to give up studying music or architecture in order to study engineering or economics. There are enough similarities between econ and business.
I’m not a big ranking person but for an quick order of magnitude, UM is ranked 28 in USNWR, Ohio State is ranked 54. Up to the OP to decide a guaranteed ability to study business is worth the difference…
And again being in the business world, my opinion is that studying economics and attending an undergrad business school are different paths. One is not better or worse, but as I suggested earlier the OP should look at the curriculum for both online and see if he/she has a preference or not.
This is my last post here. I have no particular allegiance to either school, just want the OP to make an informed choice that works for him/her.
@HRSMom I disagree that you can not go the accounting route through LSA, Accounting is obtained by going through Michigan Masters in Accounting program and you definitely can get all the undergrad prerequisites without being admitted to Ross. I truly don’t think many have done their research. You can specialize in Marketing, Operations Management, Financial Analysis and so on without the Ross degree.
If folks don’t believe me, reach out to an Advisor or head of departments and you will see this is true. So to say that students are less marketable as an LSA graduate over Ross graduate is not even fully true. It is a matter of what you have accomplished under each of those schools, how hard you sought out opportunities/internships/jobs and presented yourself in job interview that determines ones success!
So much comes down to effort. The stats that the schools post on average salary is there for marketing purposes and egos, they are “averages” and you don’t know the story behind those numbers. I am not saying they are false, but they are just numbers, you need to look deeper than that. In fact, that is a good analogy, a Business degree is a overview of “business” and you need LSA courses (which are half of the required classes of a Ross degree) to give it substance. Look at any of the top business programs, the majority of the curriculum comes from their liberal arts schools.
To answer the question to this thread, I would choose Michigan Economics, try for Ross but know the world is not over without it if you put in the effort.
@FoxRulz Of course you can with a masters…she could get an MBA as well, or any other Masters. We were not talking about that. I said if you want to concentrate in Accounting…getting a Bachelors. You can work for a Big 4 firm right out of LSA if you want without being an accountant (consulting). So many accountants do get the masters anyway as part of the required elements, so…
I’m not a fan of “BBA” programs in general. What most business people end up needing is the ability to communicate (written and verbal) and to think critically. Not a fancy “faux trading room” training grounds.
But, Ross does have great job placement, so I see the draw. And if UMich is in state, I would choose it no matter what your other option is. The bargain price alone is your first education in “business”!
I’m thinking of a a career in either finance or marketing, so I’m would most likely double major in Econ and Communications if I don’t get into Ross.
Just noting…can you afford Michigan once your sister graduates from college? Your need based aid was predicated on having two in college at the same time. Once your sister graduates, your costs at Michigan will increase. Of course, your parents won’t be paying anything for your sister to attend college…so ask if that extra money can be funneled to you.
Otherwise…Michigan just might not be affordable after year one.