Hi. I’m a rising senior that is interested in business major for undergrad. I’ve been on a number of visits and finally ready to finish my list and would love any feedback and thoughts. Stats are 4.2 weighted and 3.92 unweighted GPA with a 35 ACT. Match/safeties are Indiana Kelley, OSU, SMU, Wisconsin. Reaches are Michigan, UT Austin, and Wash U. What I’m struggling with is do I apply ED to Wash U. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems like WUSTL is close to impossible to get in RD and ED is the easiest to a reach school for me out of all of them. I would be totally happy at Kelley also if I didn’t get into any of the reaches. Thanks in advance and sorry for rambling.
With your numbers, I would be hesitant to apply ED as you should receive several acceptances.
Are you seeking financial aid ?
Thanks for your response. Cost a non issue fortunately so no aid.
Although cost not an issue, I suppose there could be a scenario where if I was fortunate enough to get into UT, U of M, or WUSTL as full pay vs partial merit money at OSU, IU, and SMU, creating another angle to consider. I want to go to the best school I’m able to get into. Thanks again for your feedback.
If WashU isn’t your top choice/favorite, I wouldn’t apply ED.
I’m most familiar with Michigan - several family members went to UM and Ross. MI does have EA, however you won’t hear from Ross until after Jan/Feb. How are your EC’s? Business related activities while in HS? Have you looked at the application to Ross?
My son was looking at business schools but decided an Econ degree (new business Econ focus) from UChicago was preferable and if he later wants to go to pursue an MBA he’ll look that direction. He applied ED because it was his first choice school, did apply EA to MI (accepted) and a few other schools. He is very happy at UChicago, but if it hadn’t really been his top choice it would have been tough pulling those other apps and acceptances once he heard from UChicago…
ECs are decent to good. Internship at Merrill Lynch this summer and volunteering at Junior Achievement. Yes I’ve already finished 3 of the 4 essays for the Ross application. It is so selective though so these top schools are a crap shoot.
Also special Olympics several sports varsity captain basketball etc. 300-400 hours total.
I would only apply to WashU ED only if both are true.
- The school is your absolute top choice and;
- You are fine with the idea of foregoing potential merit aid at other schools.
Thx
FYI, the following link shows 2018 acceptance rates for 88 undergraduate business schools as well as average SAT scores and % of students in the top 10% of their high school classes.
As noted in the photo, #3 UCB Haas does not accept freshman directly into the business school. You would have to applied during your sophomore year for your junior year. Admission is primarily based on GPA… You should check the schools you are applying to see if they accept freshman directly into the undergraduate business school. Otherwise, you would have to compete for a high GPA to get in. Also, I did not see USC (Los Angeles) on the list. USC’s undergraduate business (Marshall) is usually ranked in the top 10 or 15.
I love the Poets & Quants chart. Nonetheless, I would chose Virginia, Texas, University of Washington & NYU over several higher ranked schools for particular majors & with respect to job placement.
OP: My point is that with your numbers (35 ACT & strong GPA) & internship experience with Merrill Lynch, you should be admitted to several top 20 undergraduate business schools. No need to apply ED unless you are targeting a very specific program offered at a specific school.
Finance & accounting is a very valuable double major. A high GPA from any top 20 undergraduate business program combined with a GPA above 3.75, should yield tremendous job opportunities.
OP, have you considered adding Wake Forest to your list? It wouldn’t be a safety, of course, but has some commonalities with WashU and SMU, in case you decide you’d rather a mid-sized school than a large one. My DS '19 had some of your schools on his list as well and he will be heading to Wake this fall.
Best of luck!
I have re wake. They don’t offer direct admission to the business school and is only a two year program. Am going for direct admission and a 3-4 year program. Wash U has most flexible curriculum as well re double major and or minors.
I’ll throw in another suggestion. Have you looked into UIUC Gies College of Business?
UIUC Gies direct admits students as undeclared business majors. Selecting a major is easy except for Supply Chain Management, which requires a separate application.
My kids both graduated from Gies. DD17 was a Finance/Supply Chain double major and currently works at a Big 3 Consulting firm in Chicago. DS19 just graduated with a Finance/Accounting major and Technology and Management minor. He will start work in the Fall in Chicago doing Financial Consulting with a global firm.
I’ll share a few things they appreciated about their Gies experience…criteria that may help you compare schools.
- **AP credit**. UIUC Gies is generous with AP credit. My son is currently taking the CPA exams over the summer. He had over 150 credit hrs without a 5th year of tuition. He just passed his first one, FAR, so yay!! lol. At Michigan, taking AP credits meant paying the higher tuition level. I have no idea if it has changed. https://admissions.illinois.edu/Apply/Freshman/college-credit-AP
- **size of the college**. UIUC is a Big10 campus of ~33,000 undergraduates, but the Gies College of Business has ~3,000 undergraduate students. It really has a nice, small college feel within a large university. I saw you had Kelley on your list. To be honest when we went to admitted student day there, it felt very large. Instead of 3,000 business undergrads, Kelley has ~7,000 undergrads. We viewed it as ~1700 freshman versus ~600 competing for leadership roles in Business clubs and organizations as well as other professional and personal growth opportunities on campus. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you should consider how enrollment numbers may affect your experience.
- **study abroad**. Both of my kids studied abroad for a semester during their Spring semester of sophomore year. It was very important to them. When looking at schools, be sure to inquire about the school’s programs and the number of students who are able to participate. Way back when my son went to Michigan’s admitted students day, they were honest about the lack of study abroad opportunities. They said they were working on expanding it. If study abroad interests you, I would ask questions about the level of participation, the cost and how credits are transferred.
- **post-graduation employment**. This was important to us. We are Illinois residents and my kids wanted to live and work in Chicago. There is a very strong pipeline to Chicago. My daughter got an apartment with a couple of Gies friends in Lincoln Park and is very happy. My son will be apartment hunting with 3 Gies friends soon. They’re all looking forward to living and working in the city.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how having a very strong College of Engineering helps to bring employers/companies to campus. In fact there are some very good business opportunities where Gies kids can work with students from other colleges like Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences. Here are a couple of links to some campus organizations:
http://otcr.illinois.edu
http://www.ibc.illinois.edu
https://www.illinoisenactus.com
http://illinoisbusinesscouncil.com
This is a business/engineering minor: https://techmgmt.illinois.edu
Lastly, the College of Business recently received a $150 million donation. They have big plans for strengthening Gies and it might be a very good time to benefit from the investment.
- hope I didn’t ramble too much. I’m in a waiting room and just started typing. :)
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We did visit Illinois. Liked the b school campus but no merit for oos students. Don’t need merit but IU and osu will give merit and similar rankings.