Selecting between business schools - any thoughts on these schools

My S has been admitted in many business schools and has made up his mind on rejecting a few but cannot seem to make up his mind on others, any thoughts or guidance would help:

Schools that rejected him - UPenn, Columbia and NYU

The schools business schools he got admission and decided to reject but has not official told them yet are Tulane (20K scholarship), UNCC (100% scholarship), Villanova - he visited all these schools

Schools that he got accepted and interested in - IU direct admit Kelly; Syracuse - Dual Whitman/Newhouse with a 28K scholarship; University of Miami 25K scholarship - has not visited IU and Miami

School waiting for decision - University of Southern California (his first choice)

I do not know if he will get into USC given he got rejected by Columbia, NYU and UPenn so of the current schools he is interested any thoughts on the programs would be helpful - IU Kelly ; Syracuse dual Whitman/Newhouse; Miami.

We are in a fortunate position where cost is not a factor to consider for any of the schools - just want any insights you may offer. Thank you.

What is hoping to get out of the program- possible areas of interest? Suggest to him that he look up the recruiting schedules for the colleges he’s interested in (if it’s password protected, he can reach out to Career Services who can give him temporary access) and see the types of companies and jobs that students from the various colleges get/interview for.

If he has no interest in becoming a CPA and the majority of opportunities are with Big 4 Accounting firms, that’s a datapoint.

And what type of vibe is he looking for overall for college?

he is mainly interested in a school that will give him a good education and fun social activities - he wants to be a finance major with a minor in communications - also wants to take courses in digital communications. Does not want a school that is too small under 8000 students and schools with decent sports programs and school spirit Also he wants study abroad programs and internship opportunities - all these schools seem to have what he wants hence the conundrum.
I am just at a point where too much of a choice is a bad thing

“Schools that rejected him - UPenn, Columbia and NYU”

How did he learn the results so early? did he apply ED to all of them?

“he wants to be a finance major…”

Few schools offer an undergrad finance major because its usually in an MBA program. Good jobs in finance would typically expect an MBA or an undergrad major in hard STEM like applied math, theoretical physics etc. Does he expect to go to grad school for finance? If so, he can almost major in anything.

@jzducol : My understanding is that many undergrad business programs offer a major in finance.

In fact, it is quite common to see double majors in accounting & finance.

Since those are his interests I’d go with Syracuse - he’s got double access to two top schools (business and communication), the school spirit with big sports, etc. It sounds like a perfect match.

@Publisher My point is that you are more likely to get a good job in finance with an undergrad physics/math degree from Syracuse than with an undergrad accounting&finance degree from IU.

1 Like

@jzducol : Thank you for the clarification. I was responding to your assertion that:

“Few schools offer an undergrad finance major because its usually in an MBA program.”

Actually, finance is considered an undergrad course of study. Over the past several years, many specialty masters degrees in finance have become available. Typically these masters in finance programs are aimed at recent college grads with little or no post undergraduate work experience. Course of study usually includes an internship / practicum.

The field of “finance” is way too broad to state that definitively.

@jzducol UPenn ED, NYU - ED II, Columbia RD - we know his result unofficially. IU, Syracuse, Miami and USC have Finance majors for undergrad. Many other undergrad schools have a finance major and he is thinking about a career in banking

@MYOS1634 Thanks for the comment - so far he likes Syracuse the best for the very reasons you mentioned - he also likes their study abroad programs. But he has not made up his mind yet, hopefully attending the whitman scholars day on March 26/27 will help him make up his mind.

Lots of Wall St jobs, consulting, commercial banking, asset mgmt, etc. are accessed via a strong finance UG program. More and more of them are becoming heavy in quant subject matter. These jobs typically have a seperate recruiting track for UG and MBA with entry level spots (analysts) going to the UG kids.

They certainly look at Econ and other majors as well, but Finance majors from strong schools do quite well out of UG.

IU Kelley seems perfect for him. Good spirit, lots of fun, Kelley is always highly ranked and does well with finding employment.

@NYC2018nyc We are planning a visit to IU Kelley for addmitted students day - The program there is ranked consistently in top 10 - only negative I heard from my son is not about the program but location somewhere in the midwest - hopefully the visit will help him make a decision