Midwest Universities

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I will be a Junior in High School this upcoming fall so I have just begun the college search process. I live in Missouri and I'd really like to stay relatively close to home. It just doesn't seem like there are too many elite or competitive universities around in the Midwest.</p>

<p>I've spent some time looking at Notre Dame and I really like it a lot, but it's obviously hard to get into. Vanderbilt is close to me too, but unfortunately doesn't have an undergrad business program which is something I'm interested in. U of Chicago and Northwestern weren't really for me because I don't like Chicago much. WashU is too close to home. So after knocking all of those out, any other suggestions?</p>

<p>My GPA as of now is a 4.0 (unweighted) and APs will be taken this year. I have heavy ECs (two varsity sports, theatre, NHS, several other clubs with leadership). Money is not an issue at the moment. I would prefer a private school. Right now my intended major would be something business related.</p>

2

<p>Have you looked at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management?
[Undergraduate</a> - Carlson School of Management - University of Minnesota](<a href=“http://www.csom.umn.edu/undergraduate/]Undergraduate”>http://www.csom.umn.edu/undergraduate/)</p>

3

<p>Generally, in the Northeast, “great school” = “hard to get into.” In the Midwest, some of the best educations can be received at colleges that are relatively easy to get into. Business educations at places like Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana are tough to beat, even if you don’t have to be a genius to get into them. Even schools like Mich. State, Purdue, Iowa, and Minnesota offer good business programs.</p>

<p>If you want a private school, Tulane isn’t too far away, is it?</p>

<p>Also, Miami University in Ohio is public, but it’s supposed to feel like a medium-sized private university in many ways.</p>

4

<p>Two privates with good business programs to consider would be Bradley University in Peoria, IL and Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. Bradley has about 5,800 students including grad students. I think Butler is a tad smaller. Even though you say money is not an issue they each offer great merit aid. Not sure about Butler, but I know Bradley has a good Honors program to give talented students a more intimate and stimulating experience.</p>

5

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This is so wrong. You listed some of the top schools in the country already (UChic, NW) and missed some (Carleton, Oberlin).</p>

<p>As far as good business schools, to the others listed I would add Ohio State and U Dayton.</p>

6

<p>It sounds as if you have a good chance of getting into Notre Dame, so definitely don’t give up on that.</p>

7

<p>How about SLU?</p>

8

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<p>Really? I think you haven’t been looking hard enough. You say you want an undergrad business program. Well, 10 of the US News-ranked top 25 undergrad business programs are in the Midwest:</p>

<p>Michigan #4
Indiana #12
Illinois #13
Wisconsin #13
Ohio State #16
Minnesota #16
Notre Dame #16
Wash U #16
Purdue #21
Michigan State #25 </p>

<p>Other rankings (e.g., Business Week) will vary slightly, but you’ll find these business programs highly ranked in any legitimate ranking system. This is, in my view, an embarrassment of riches.</p>

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<p>Ah, there’s the rub. You want a strong undergrad business program, you want to stay relatively close to home, and you want a private school. Something’s gotta give. The four strongest private universities in the Midwest are the University of Chicago, Northwestern, Wash U, and Notre Dame. You’ve already ruled out Wash U because it’s too close to home, and Chicago and Northwestern because you don’t like Chicago (but then again, they don’t have undergrad business anyway). That leaves Notre Dame and, sensibly enough, you think you need more options. Fine. Then you’re going to have to choose. You can stay close to home and apply to top business programs at some of the nation’s best public universities; or go East and apply to comparable business programs at private universities far from home. Actually, come to think of it, there aren’t even that many top undergrad business programs at private schools in the East: Wharton (Penn), MIT, NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Babson, BC, that’s about it. </p>

<p>Or you could apply to some combination of the two and decide later which criterion is more important to you. I should warn you, though, that admission to Michigan’s undergrad business program, considered by many people (including US News) the best in the Midwest, is almost as hard as admission to Penn’s Wharton School. The stats for undergrad business students are several notches higher than those for the University as a whole, generally right in the same ballpark as Wharton’s.</p>