Please help me out if you can!

Hey y’all, I’m in a bit of a predicament here. My top school is Appalachian State, which I have been accepted into for fall 2015. I was about to commit there, but I went to scholarship interviews at Gardner-Webb and Anderson (SC) Universities, and received full tuition scholarships at each. I plan on studying business, concentrating on either economics or finance. Also, I will likely apply to an MBA program (possibly UNC) after undergrad.

I don’t want a decision made for me, I’d just like some helpful insight. GWU will cost only a couple thousand a year, while AU will be around 5 or 6K. I got into the honors programs at both. GWU seems boring, but isn’t a bad drive home, whereas AU has a lot going on and I love the area, but it is further away. My question is - which would you suggest to attend, and why? The money isn’t an issue now, so it really just comes down to program strength, grad school/internship prospects, and which school has more to offer in general. If you have experiences with either of these schools, please include them in your comments! Thanks everyone!

I would check out the student prospects at each university. Many schools post reports about the percentage of students in each graduating class who go to grad school, who get jobs, who are unemployed, or who go into service. This could be a helpful statistic to check out.

Also, as far as internships go, maybe check out career services online page and see if they have a tab for internships, how many students get internships, if they have information/resources to students-- these are good signs.

It would also be a good idea to check out clubs, organizations, and volunteer opportunities you may have available at each school (you can find this on most website if you use a search engine). If one school only has 1 relevant opportunity and the other has several, that might sway you.

I would not let location sway you too much. If the one that is further away is less than 5 or so hours by drive, that isn’t too bad. If you love the area and the community of that school, that can make a huge difference, I think.

I’m sorry that this isn’t too specific–I do not have experience with either college. But, I think that my advice still stands.