Ohio Colleges/Degree for Business minded Junior.

My son would like to stay in Ohio for college and enter a Business College.
HIs Junior GPA now is 3.4 and will hopefully rise.
No AP/Honors.

He is not definite on any career other than he wants to enter the Business side of employment.

Surveys suggest he should be in Business/Marketing/Finance. Maybe Personal Financial Advisor, Marketing/Finance Manager.

What degree/major could he pursue?

I am interested in which schools have good curriculum, job recruitment, post graduation career opportunities/support.
Overall experience at the school, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Ohio State, Miami and CWRU will all be reaches with his current GPA. However, Ohio has many schools with fine business programs that your son will be well qualified for. Check out OU, Bowling Green, U of Toledo, Kent State and probably a host of others. The difference is that their recruitment may be more local than the top schools. It looks like finance might be a good major for him to pursue but take the time to look into the schools offerings and see the direction the degrees will take him. I think once you start looking into the programs you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for the response. Ohio State would be ideal but I think he would need much better grades. CWRU is going to be too expensive. We are visiting BG on Friday and Kent on Monday so we’ll see. I will start reading up on curriculums this week. We will be visiting 8-9 in the next two months.

Xavier and Dayton are nice Catholic schools, if that holds any interest to your son.

Cincinnati is worth a look for its co-op program (optional for Business majors). It’s something Cincinnati does better than perhaps anyplace else, and can give grads a leg up for post-grad employment. Plus, the earnings can make a significant dent in the in-state tuition.

University of Cincinnati. The one thing that you need to look at for B school is when do you get admitted. Some are direct admit as fresh some have to apply in Soph year. Make sure that not only will he be able to get into the University, but also the B school.

I’ll just add that plenty of people go into business after majoring in all sorts of things - Math, English, History, whatever.

“Business” is a pretty broad term that encompasses any for-profit company, “Marketing” really means “activities that lead to sales” and FInance has a more narrow definition, usually, but still covers a lot of ground.

Thanks to all of you. I understand that OSU’s Fisher College is hard to get in. Bowling Green requires approval also, I believe. We have saved enough to cover 4 years to avoid debt, so most Ohio schools are manageable, which is why were staying in Ohio. I would hope he likes OSU to start but he has cousins at OSU, Miami, and Cincy. We will visit these along with Kent, as mentioned previously. Also, OU, Ashland and Dayton, Does anyone have kids who attended these schools? Any comments on if they were prepared well for employment.

Does anyone have any experience with the Sports Management and Leadership major at Ohio State? That is not part of the Fisher College in case he really likes OSU but cannot qualify for Fisher

I am sorry, its a Sports Industry major.

Is the 3.4 weighted or unweighted? What is his ACT score? Scores and GPA will matter for both OSU and Miami. If he gets his heart set on OSU, another option is one of the branches for first year or two to get some general ed requirements and then transfer to main campus. You can read up on it, the admission rate from regionals to main campus is very high.

It’s good you plan visits, many of the schools have a much different feel. Also I don’t know about post graduation support/career placement at the schools you listed, but we know someone at Kent under Business-Finance major currently and she is enjoying her experience. A few other choices depending on major/concentration could be John Carroll, Mount Union, or Ohio Northern. Our research showed some strong job placement ratings, again depending on major. Good luck!

thanks jcmom716 . His first ACT was low at 22. He will try again in March. His GPA is not weighted. He has played Basketball and Track and Field so far. We will be visiting John Carroll on March 16. His Jesuit High School may help.

Don’t despair at a 22, that is closer to the average across the country (I know not compared to the CC world). That said, hopefully the March test will result in a few points increase as it could open up more options including merit. For example I believe Cleveland State gives merit starting at 23 and GPA of 3.2 and moves up from there. I didn’t see that school mentioned, but would be another possibility if he likes urban areas!

If he doesn’t see an increase from the March ACT, some libraries give practice exams or there are official previous exams that can be used. My daughter raised her score 3-4 points with practice tests which gave her thousands more per year in merit. We know others who have used tutors, depends on goals and financial situation. If even a small amount of merit is important, you can research his schools of interest. Many listed above say upfront what is needed. Also know that for admittance, many colleges list their incoming student GPA as weighted. For example, John Carroll’s average is 3.55 weighted along with 22-27 ACT. University of Dayton is a bit higher on both.

Not going to plan on any merit monies. Most NPC’s performed show costs less than $25 thousand for Ohio schools mentioned. Need based will be low except for JCU. We have 4 years saved, and that of course hurts aid chances. We have visited Kent, Akron and Cleveland State. John Carroll next week and then OU,OSU, Cincy and Miami and Dayton during Easter break. He is the type that when a campus clicks, his mind is made up. He thought Kent and Akron were similar. Sports Management or Finance would probably be desired at this point. Does anyone have opinions on major/minor differences between CSU business school and say Cincy of John Carroll? Do internships and recruitment matter most?

thanks in advance

I’d think co-op at Cincy would be a big benefit.

ok thank you. we’ll. check it out at our visit.

I’d think Dayton and Xavier would be great choices if they work financially. Ohio University seems like a great choice that would be affordable. It’s nice OH has lots of quality schools from which to choose.

If OSU is ideal, add visits to the branches.
https://undergrad.osu.edu/regional-campuses

He would be eligible for some merit aid at Dayton with those scores and a bit more if he can get the ACT up a bit. Dayton has a good sports management program.

Son is really limiting his choices by only considering schools in Ohio? Why not consider schools in the Midwest. Can’t hurt to just apply to schools and see what aid they give him.

Has anyone been admitted to one of the Regional campuses for Ohio State and then applied and was admitted into the Business College? If so, what GPA was accepted? Any positive or negative experiences? thanks again.