I have been accepted to the Smeal undergraduate business program at Penn State and was invited to apply to the Sapphire Leadership Program (have yet to hear back on whether or not I have been accepted into the Sapphire program). I have also been admitted to the University of Maryland for the spring term starting in 2016 and was placed on a waitlist for the fall term with the option of Freshmen Connection so I would go during the fall. Unfortunately I was not admitted to the Smith school of business at UMD. I was wondering how hard is it to internally transfer into Smith and what kind of stats would I need.
I am an in state student in Maryland and money is not a huge factor into my college education (however I still want to pay as little as possible). I am torn between these two schools and I don’t know what I should do. The fact that I am accepted into the business school at PSU is appealing because I am guaranteed a spot as long as I maintain a 3.2 or 3.5 GPA depending on what my concentration is (which I am confident I can do). However I would be paying double the price to attend PSU opposed to UMD. I am concerned that I won’t get into Smith because I have heard internal transfers are extremely competitive and majoring in anything other than business is not an option for me.
What is everyone’s general opinions about both schools which school do you think has a better overall reputation, job placement, and etc.
@maryversity could you weigh in on your thoughts about my position and provide any insight on the difficultly of internally transferring into Smith (your posts on the maryland form are always informative)
Can your parents pay for Penn State costs out of pocket, without any loans, and are they willing to do so?
Smith is better than Smeal, but is indeed very competitive, and you run a high risk of not being able to get into your chosen major after two years at College Park. However, the quality difference between both schools isn’t worth taking on debt.
A 3.2 is not as easy in college as in high school, and a 3.5 is really excellent. Don’t assume you’ll be able to get that 3.5, however if you have a 3.7 in high school a 3.2 in college is within reach as long as you’re serious (ie., do the readings before each class, no partying during the week, etc. BTW, try to avoid East Halls in order to avoid noise. )
Ask for a living-learning community or a quiet floor to ensure you get the grades you need. Nothing is worse to your GPA than a floor or a roommate who are constantly playing loud music, having guests over, etc, etc. Avoid ROTC roommates if possible since they often have to get up at 5 or 6.
If majoring in anything else besides business is not an option for you, then you need to go to Penn State. You haven’t been admitted to the business school at Maryland, and you say that internal transfers are competitive - so there’s a good chance that you won’t get into Maryland’s business school. And then what?
I tend to think that not majoring in business is totally an option for you - just a less preferred option.
You say that money is not a huge factor for you. Do you mean for you alone, or for your parents too? Are they willing to pay Penn State prices? Or are you saying that you’re planning on just borrowing the difference? If your parents can afford the difference and you and they won’t go deep into debt, then it truly doesn’t matter - but if you have to borrow, then I think you should go to Maryland and save the money. You can do businessy things post-college without a business major.
I also agree with @MYOS1634 that a 3.5 can actually be quite difficult to maintain in college.
Thank you for your replies
@MYOS1634 and @juillet I realize that achieving a 3.5 GPA isn’t as easy in college as it is in high school but I feel that until i would be able to internally transfer to Smith my focus would be purely on academics. However, the internal transfer to Smith would not be easy by any means. Additionally, my parents are able to pay my college tuition regardless of where I go and I will not have to take out loans or borrow any money. Even though money is not a huge factor I still do not want my parents to have to pay more than they have to for my education. This is why this decision is so difficult. PSU and UMD are both similar schools in terms of overall quality and the business school itself. This is why I almost feel obligated in a way to attend Maryland because the tuition is so much cheaper and I would have to pay double to attend PSU. I am just extremely concerned that I won’t get into the business school and have to transfer. I have always had my heart set on majoring in business since I know it is what I want to do after I graduate. I feel that the safer option is to attend PSU but for some reason I have a gut feeling to go to UMD. Also, I recently emailed the LEP coordinator at UMD and I found out that the internal transfer acceptance rate for Smith is 70% and the average GPA is around 3.5. Do you think this is extremely difficult to achieve or is it possible for someone who did not have to study in high school and got a 3.67 GPA and a 1900 sat?
Thank you for your help
A 3.5 is going to be extremely difficult for someone who had a 3.67 in high school, especially considering you’ll be in weed out “pre-Smith” classes. The 70% internal transfers isn’t the percentage of freshmen who started with the intent to get into Smith - it’s for students who completed all pre-reqs with good grades. (The percentage is MUCH lower for freshmen who enrolled hoping to get into Smith 2 years down the road).
Ask your parents: would they be glad for the money you saved, if you went to UMD but couldn’t get into Smith and majored in something else?
@MYOS1634 I’ll have to talk to them about it. I feel like they would rather me go to Maryland because they believe I can get into the business school and the price difference. I just worry about it because I don’t know what I would major in if it was not business and I honestly would not want to major in anything else.
On another note, I have also been accepted to Fordham (Rose Hill Campus) at the Gabelli School of business and I was wondering what you and everyone else thought of that school and program.
It’s an excellent program. They’re famous for their excellent core curriculum (philosophy, theology, history) that ensures you graduate an academically well-rounded person, and they have contacts all over the city. However, if your parents are concerned about Smeal’s costs, I can"t imagine how they’d feel about Fordham, which is even more expensive.
Have you taken Calculus yet and what grade are you having (or are you taking Precalc?) Have you taken or are you taking AP Econ?
@MYOS1634 as I said before the cost is not really an issue and they’ve told me that my education is completely covered. So do you personally prefer Gabelli over Smeal or even Smith? I took Calculus last year as a junior and got an A and I’m currently in AP Econ and I have straight A’s in all of my classes this year.
Okay, that would help.
Smith is a big unknown, but if you got an A in Calculus last year, taking it your first semester as a way of GPA-padding would help, plus of course you already know calculus so you have shown you can handle some of the quantitative aspects of business.
Is Gabelli better than Smeal? I don’t think so. They’re different. Gabelli is, obviously, in NYC; in addition, there’s the Jesuit curriculum (which can be a plus or a minus - check it out). Classes are likely to be smaller. But it’s also much more expensive than either UMD or Penn State.
If your parents wouldn’t balk at Fordham’s high costs, why do you think they’d prefer UMDCP for cost reasons?
In USWR, Smith and Smeal are ranked roughly similarly.
In Bloomberg, Smeal is more highly ranked than either Smith or Gabelli, which are actually almost tied.
It was my impression that Smith was more selective and higher-ranked than Smeal but I must have been wrong. Hopefully other adults will weigh in on the matter.
@MYOS1634 thank you for your quick responses and all of your help. The reason they prefer UMD over PSU for cost reasons is because they are similar in rankings and they are both public schools. So in comparison it seems more reasonable to go to the school where I get in state tuition (UMD). However, Fordham is a private school with a completely different mindset than both UMD and PSU. Personally, I think I’d rather go to either PSU or UMD because I feel as if there is a lack of school spirit at Fordham and the price is quite high (I could be completely wrong it is just my initial impression).
