NEU vs UMass Amherst vs NYU vs GWU vs VA Tech vs JMU vs Charleston (Hospitality)

College Search & Selection
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EDITED TO ADD: Please see my post with additional NYU information, #53, below. Thank you

May 1 is almost here. The “perfect school” has not jumped out, but D21 has to choose! She has great schools in the mix, but each one has pros/cons and I feel like we’re flying blindly because D was unable to visit due to COVID. We have only seen Northeastern (we live in a Boston suburb) but plan to travel to a few more schools during D’s Spring Break.

THE SCHOOLS
I’d be very grateful to get some opinions/feedback on D’s options, in particular a potential red flag with NYU SPS (read on):
(Please imagine that finances are not an issue and that every school would cost the same to attend)

  1. Northeastern (D’Amore-McKim Business School; International Business; NUin)
  2. UMASS Amherst (Isenberg Business School; Hospitality and Tourism Management)
  3. NYU (SPS; Johnathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality; Hotel and Tourism Management)
  4. GWU (School of Business; Business w/ concentration in Sport, Event and Hospitality Management)
  5. Virginia Tech (Pamplin Business School; Hospitality and Tourism Management)
  6. JMU (Honors College; Hart School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management; Hospitality Management)
  7. College of Charleston (Business School; Hospitality and Tourism Management)

(As side notes: D was also offered a guaranteed transfer to BU’s School of Hospitality Administration after freshman year; also, I kept Clemson and DePaul off of this list because D has pretty much eliminated them at this point.)

THE PROGRAMS
D hopes to become a hotelier one day and own or operate small inns, preferably in Europe. All of her schools offer hospitality majors/concentrations except for Northeastern. She wants a school that will open doors to internships and great entry level job opportunities after graduation.

Even though it does not have a hospitality program, NEU business school is still enticing. She really likes the campus, co-op program and the many international travel opportunities. On the other hand, D was really hoping to get out of Boston for college. And, we do not know if any major hotel corporations actually recruit NEU business students for co-ops? Not sure how/where to find out.

UMass Amherst Isenberg is reputable and well known, at least locally. They offer a unique work and study abroad program at Cesar Ritz, a hospitality school in Switzerland. But, D is not interested in going to her own state school and she applied because we asked her to. But, we are still hoping to visit (even without a campus tour) to see if she changes her mind. Uphill battle.

“The Red Flag:” D was so very excited to get into NYU that she screamed. But, we’ve become concerned. What to make of the School of Professional Studies (SPS), formerly the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, that houses her program? SPS is mainly for part time adult students, but also has a few traditional full-time undergraduate program. No one on the CC NYU threads seems to have applied to SPS or know much about it. Is SPS really just another school at NYU, like Stern or Tisch? Or, is it actually NYU’s version of the Harvard Extension School? Or, just a for-profit arm of NYU? I read/hear such conflicting things on the web it makes me wonder about the value of an undergraduate degree from SPS even with the NYU name? I also have a hard time picturing D right in NYC. I think she might be pretty overwhelmed.

In general, I feel like we still don’t know enough about GWU, VT, JMU and College of Charleston to get excited about them. But, they do offer hospitality programs. Very open to hearing more from you all.

THE FIT
Also, we are keeping in mind overall “campus fit.” D would be stressed in a cutthroat academic environment so trying to avoid that. A great college town or city off campus would be a big plus, with a liberal study body that would welcome an artsy kid in thrift shop clothes with brightly dyed hair and two nose rings (Jewish too, but non-observant). I guess this would be the opposite of preppy? Also, D’s not interested in Greek life or much of a sports fan.

How would she fit at the schools down south? D romanticizes living someplace like Charleston (really, how can you not romanticize Charleston), but I wonder…

How did we get here already? So much to think about; it’s overwhelming. Thank you so very much for any and all feedback! Again, please assume all schools cost the same $$.

EDITED TO ADD: Please see my post with additional NYU information, #53, below. Thank you

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What is your budget? What would each school cost? Would there be any debt at all for any of these schools?

I think that you should strongly try to avoid debt. Also, if your daughter takes on any debt at all for university, you should assume that you, the parent, are going to be stuck paying it off. If there are any younger siblings, then also assume that whatever you spend for this daughter will also need to be spent for all remaining siblings (at the same time that you are paying off any debt that you might have taken on).

We did tour both Northeastern and U.Mass Amherst. The daughter who applied to and was accepted to Northeastern then visited a friend who was one grade ahead and was a freshman at Northeastern. She was put off by the extensive security measures, which are of course normal in a big city such as Boston. New York would be at least as bad in terms of any potential crime. To me the main difference is that Northeastern is sort of almost in a big city, whereas U.Mass is in an attractive university town. Otherwise both seemed attractive to me.

U.Mass has an attractive campus. It has a reputation for having very good food, which it certainly lived up to when we visited. The program with Cesar Ritz sounds VERY interesting. I quite liked Switzerland on my various visits, although Switzerland is expensive. Switzerland has a very European feel to it and of course you get the multiple languages. It also was not messed up in WW2 which adds to the “Europeaness” of it. If you daughter goes to U.Mass it will be like a different world compared to living at home. If there is anyone else there from her high school she will probably never see them unless she explicitly tries to find them. “A great college town” to me describes Amherst. “Artsy kid in thrift shop clothes with brightly dyed hair and two nose rings” will fit in at most universities. I would be more nervous about this further south, but I do not have much experience with life in the south. One daughter spent a winter in the south and said that she is not going back.

To me U.Mass Amherst sounds like a great fit. However, the main thing is that for a degree in hospitality and tourism management I would not take on any debt at all. She will be thankful five years from now.

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I don’t have enough knowledge about these programs, but I give a big thumbs down to this student being at College of Charleston. I know kids who have transferred out after the first semester and those were kids who I thought might enjoy it.

It’s a shame she is down on U Mass, because I actually think that’s a great option. Does she realize it won’t be like high school?

Apparently NYU SPS has a 50% acceptance rate and there are some not very flattering comments about it. You’re right, it seems geared towards adults and she isn’t going to get the “college experience” she wants. Also, I think NYU is horribly overpriced.

I’d investigate the NE and VTech programs more thoroughly. I have no clue, but for some reason, I think VTech is pretty reputable. I think NE might have more of the vibe she is looking for. I don’t see this student having a GWU or JMU vibe.

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I don’t know much about that program at NYU but you should really try to make a visit to that campus. My kids thought it was a place they really wanted to look at however, while they loved NY they absolutely hated NYU. It was the only school in fact, that they didn’t even want to go in the bookstore and buy shirts. At the time, they randomized roommates (not sure what they did this year for covid, but they’re sophomores now so unless covid changed things, that was a big turnoff for them. There also was essentially no campus and for the one interested in Engineering, she would have had to go back and forth to Brooklyn for classes, while living in the main NYU campus.

Their in person admission session IMO was also awful. They didn’ttalk at all about Tisch which was quite surprising or Stern Business school. They focused a lot on their international schools especially in Abu Dhabi campus and that was just really odd. Kids that go there seem to love it and the location, but it’s a pure city school. My son lived in the NYU dorms when he worked in NY one summer and it was fantastic and a great location for the subway and what not, but it was an easy school to cross off our list. If your daughter is that serious about it, then you really need to make the trip. Especially since it will cost a lot after she is not living in the dorms. Or at least you will be spending a lot for a tiny shared apartment.

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Regarding C of C students who left:

Were they in the Honors College at College of Charleston ?

Why did they transfer out ?

Thank you in advance !

FWIW I only recommend C of C for those accepted into the Honors College.

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Was your daughter offered admission to the Honors College at the College of Charleston ?

NYU SPS would be of concern. I do not know enough to offer any recommendation.

JMU Honors should be given serious consideration as should Virginia Tech’s business school.

UMass Amherst is a great option especially in light of the study abroad option in Switzerland.

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What is your daughter looking for in a school? Big, small, urban…

Funny she wants to leave Boston. I think Boston is the best city for the college experience. S20 really like NEU for business and S21 loves Emerson for film.

Didn’t like NYU that much. No campus. You could walk by it and miss it. Same with GWU. Urban and didn’t seem like a fun place to go to school.

VT is a pretty campus and has a good rep.

If no debt is involved I would think NEU would be a great option, along with UMASS and VT.

She could always punt and reapply next year. Look at FSU or UNLV.

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If your daughter hasn’t visited GWU, I suggest she does. Unlike some, my S20 and I absolutely loved GWU. We also loved American’s campus and Georgetown’s campus, though they are all different.

I could see a student who doesn’t like sports/greek and who wants a city experience really liking GWU. Especially if that student had plenty of spending $. There are many places to eat around campus and the neighborhood was very vibrant. It could definitely be a turnoff for some students, but just as much as a turn-on for other students.

When we toured GWU, we saw several on-campus hang-outs with students congregating and doing student things. The campus is integrated into the neighborhood, but I don’t think that completely eliminates the student experience - it just makes part of it different than a place like VT. Both can be enjoyable, just different.

However, if over $100K in loans is involved, I would recommend no. Amherst is a great school.

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They weren’t in the H college. They didn’t like the constant drinking culture. They felt that students didn’t care at all about studying. The two kids I know were not amazing students, but the partying was too much. They didn’t enjoy the classes.

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@DadTwoGirls thank you for asking about debt. We know D is going into a low paying field but we won’t have debt at any school. I went back and edited my original post.

I agree with you about UMass but D21 is not having it. Right now it’s a hard no but she will look at it. D17 has friends at UMass and we will recruit them to give us a tour of the school and town. Hopefully it will be eye opening for D21.

I also agree with you about security and safety issues in NYC. Makes me anxious.

We toured Northeastern yesterday and it felt very comfortable. We previously lived in Boston and DH attended NEU long ago for his MBA so definitely familiar. I liked that they shuttle kids home at night from the library.

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Thank you for the response.

This verifies the need to stress that C of C is best for those in the Honors College as Charleston nightlife, restaurants, & the beaches can be a significant distraction to students.

Honors College groups together the most serious students & offers smaller discussion oriented classes among other benefits. (The same can be said regarding Arizona State University versus ASU Barret Honors College, as well as for the Univ. of Alabama vs. UA honors College.)

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@Lindagaf - very helpful info.

Where did you see that SPS has a 50% admission rate? We had no idea and did not think D had the stats for a T30 school like NYU but there’s really no transparency around this. Please to let me know where you were able to see this.

It’s a bit heartbreaking because when D got in yesterday she shouted, “I am smart?!” Like she didn’t believe it until a highly ranked school like NYU validated it. NYU had something like a 12% admission rate this year. We have to tell her that this is not for SPS, right? She was the only one of her friends who got into NYU and is riding high.

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@srparent15 we will go down to visit NYU. Think (hope?) it could very be a rude awakening for D. There are no tours, but we can walk around and also show her what will take to get to the various locations throughout the city.

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@Publisher D is on the waitlist for the Honors College at College of Charleston. It sounds like whether she gets in should be a make or break for attending from what I’m hearing?

@chmcnm - Right, what kid wouldn’t love to go to school in Boston? A kid who grew up here, I guess!

I also like VT, UMass and NEU. As you can tell, D was all over the place in her school selections in terms of location, setting, etc. It killed us not to see any schools until now so she could narrow things down before applying. She was not interested in UNLV or FSU so she wouldn’t wait to apply to those or other schools next year.

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Don’t tell her then😊. She IS smart, but they also want your money.

I just Googled NYU SPS acceptance rate. I can’t vouch that it’s accurate. There seem to be various references to profitability and SPS seems to cater to non traditional students. @MYOS1634 do you know about this school?

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@EconPop thanks for weighing in on GWU. Nope, D hasn’t seen it. There’s a great YouTube tour that I want to show her. You really get sense of place that you usually don’t get from other video tours I’ve seen. Open to visiting though they are not offering tours. We can walk around. Unfortunately, D is preoccupied with NYU excitement. It seems to have eclipsed the other really solid options.

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I assume money isn’t a factor?

Though the practicality of her career plan might be. Does she have any experience in the service/hospitality sector? How does she know that she’d actually enjoy running an inn in Europe? And who would provide her with the inn?

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Saw response above.

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@PurpleTitan - these are issues we have had to discuss. We know hospitality is a low paying field. Would we have preferred to hear doctor or engineer, etc.? Yes, but that’s not our daughter. “Hotelier” is a future career goal, perhaps a dream. D needs to put in her time (and her own money), and build a career before she will get there.

D thrives at work, more than at school, and has worked at small businesses since she was 14, including at a boutique beachfront inn. She worked at the reception desk, greeting customers and making reservations, checking in/out. In her other jobs, she’s also worked in reception but back office as well, bookkeeping, inventory, social media, website maintenance, etc. Small business combined with hospitality really floats her boat.

We realize that some people do not attend college and go straight into hospitality after high school. This is not really an option for our family. D is not ready to live independently and support herself. We want her to have the time to mature and experience all that the college years have to offer, including getting an education. We will not have to assume any debt to pay for it.

Also, except for NYU, and maybe JMU?, these hospitality programs are housed within accredited business schools, so D will be getting an undergraduate business degree with a specialized twist. Also, all require 200-1000 hours of work experience in order to graduate plus most require international travel. We hope that D will have the opportunity to intern with a large hotel corporation and figure out what her path will be. She should be able to tell if this career is really for her. She’ll change majors if it’s not.

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I left college of Charleston. I did have a lot of fun, but ultimately it was too much of a party environment. No one ever talked about homework or class, ever. I didn’t do great grade wise. Now I’m at CC making a 4.0, and I’m going to transfer back to a 4 year. I also had another good friend who transferred out as well. However if they are a big party person, they will LOVE Cofc.

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