Too many questions to make a sufficient title...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am a junior in high school. I am interested in engineering, economics, business, information systems, finance, logistics/transportation, and international relations, crudely in that order. Because it is such a broad list, I want to go to a college that touches all of these so I can learn about them more and further narrow the list down. I don't want a liberal arts college because I am certain that I don't want to learn about anything that's not on this list like english, arts, biology, history, etc. I am finding it very hard to find colleges that offer majors for most of these which brings up my first question: Is it necessary to take business classes as an undergrad to get a MBA at a different school? If it is not necessary I would probably lean to colleges that are good in engineering and social sciences.</p>

<p>Another question: Does it depend on the college to the ease of double majoring? I understand this may be the case but I can't help but think that there is an easier way to understand all of this without consulting an adviser from each college (something I won't be able to do). Will a double major fill up my schedule a lot? Will I have any free time? Could I get lucky if many of the classes are required for both majors? I know that triple majoring is basically not an option.</p>

<p>Also, how easy is it to change majors? I know that I will have to scrap some of my interests and I want to know how easy it will be. Will I take general information courses my first two years before I choose my major? Is it even possible to take courses touching all of these subjects before I have to declare my major? How many general education courses are necessary in college? Is there a difference in how many gen. ed. courses you have to take based on the college?</p>

<p>Another question: I have recently gotten excited about Northeastern and their co-op program but I fear I might have too much enthusiasm. What is the difference from a co-op and an internship? Better opportunities with either one? More experience/better experience? How do people from like Stanford or MIT get real world experience without a co-op program? I know that experience is really beneficial to annual salaries for economics and finance majors so having those extra opportunities in college are important to me.</p>

<p>Before I move on here are colleges I am considering: Stanford, UC Berkeley, Northeastern, Georgetown, Boston College, Boston University, MIT, University of Michigan, UPenn, Villanova, Brown, Princeton, and maybe some others I may come across later. (Mostly east and west coast) It is also important to me for the college to do well in my interests. Class size is not a big deal as long as its not too small. I would like to be near a big city.</p>

<p>Another question: I plan on getting at least a masters degree after bachelors so what is the best plan to get into a good graduate school that also coincides with my interests? Double major engineering and economics then masters in business? Going to a less prestigious college so I can look better when applying for grad school? Consider other major options like major in business and engineering with masters in economics.</p>

<p>Another question: When looking for a job, if I have a MBA and double major in engineering and economics, would all three be considered equally? One more than the others? I ask this because I know that minoring isn't a great idea and is subordinate to a major so I wonder if it works the same way with bachelors and masters degrees. Does this link to having a double major at an ok school and a masters at a great school?</p>

<p>Another question: What is research like in college? I hear a lot about the research opportunities but I don't understand what it means? Do you go to the library a lot and use the internet? Is it about researching the real world with people and a company like in an internship? How do you make a thesis on something like economics where there isn't really anything to be discovered, just understood. Do you do it outside of class? Inside class? Do you even have classes when you research? Do most people do research opportunities in undergrad? Does it look good for applying to grad school? Is it better than an internship or coop?</p>

<p>Another question: Are teachers generally nice and helpful and actually people who teach? I have had my fair share of terrible teachers and I want to know how active I should be in trying to avoid certain teachers.</p>

<p>Based on the colleges I listed, which colleges have the best opportunities and most things to do? Which ones have more clubs? Which ones are more community oriented? Which ones have better opportunities regarding future jobs, salaries, and education? If you know a lot about these colleges please tell me which ones you think would be great for me and why.</p>

<p>That's it for now! Thank you so much for answering!</p>

<p>I am really hoping someone can help me because the information I am looking for is too broad to ask any one person. Please share your specific experiences and tell which college you went to so I can gain a better idea of what you mean. Please let me know if I am misunderstanding something or am using the wrong strategy for my college search. Any guidance and support is greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>If you want to know about me, my interests, or my goals, feel free to ask. I will be watching this post like a hawk.</p>

<p>P.S. - I know this is realllllly long and I know I could have separated this post into numerous threads but I am sure other people are looking for a concentrated pile of information like I am. Let's try and make this a very informational thread that anyone can utilize.</p>

2

<p>Wow! That’s a lot of questions!</p>

<p>The first thing you need to understand is that at the vast majority of college there are distribution requirements, so you’re going to study English whether you want to or not. While there are a few colleges where you can avoid that, they’re not generally ones with business and transportation systems majors.</p>

<p>I think you have the wrong idea about liberal arts colleges. The best of them will land you in the most elite jobs in the Country-business, engineering, you name it!</p>

<p>So let’s get the basics from you so that we might really help. Where are you from? What are your grades and scores. And most important: what can your family afford? That is the single most important thing to pay attention to when constructing a list of colleges to apply to. If your family is very well off and can pay $60,000 per year, then you get to be really fussy about class size and being near a big city. If they’re low income and you have spectacular grades it might work too. But the vast majority of kids in the middle have to look first at affordability.</p>

3

<p>Yes! Thanks for helping me out. I am from California and I live in Vermont which is why my focus is on the west and east coast. I have gotten all A’s since freshman year. My SAT was 1920 but I will take it again. I take the hardest courses and fill up my schedule. I am around the top 10% maybe not by grade (because of those kids who take easy classes) but by overall strength. I have done some extracurricular activities but I am really making a push this year to do more. Some of my schools are definitely reach schools but I think I have a chance. And I think that Northeastern and BU are safety schools (tell me if you don’t think so).</p>

<p>My parents tell me that I shouldn’t worry about cost if I really want to go to a certain college. And if I couldn’t afford $50,000 a year, wouldn’t I get more financial aid so I would only pay what I could afford? Doesn’t it balance out so even the most hardshipped people can go to expensive schools?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your help!</p>

4

<p>It definitely does not just balance out. First of all, not all schools meet 100% of need. Secondy, your “need” is whatever colleges determine it to be. Go to a financial calculator and determine your family’s EFC. Third, most schools don’t guarantee a financial aid package without excessive loans, and you definitely do not want to go into over 20kish in debt.</p>

5

<p>Double majoring ease or difficulty depends on the number of courses or credits required for the majors and breadth requirements, subtracting overlapping courses and those you can skip with AP or other college credit on entry. Engineering majors usually have lots of course requirements, so doing a double major with engineering can be difficult.</p>

<p>Changing major depends on the school; at many schools, changing into a popular major requires applying to do so with a high GPA. Some engineering majors, economics, and business are typically popular majors that may be at capacity at many schools.</p>

<p>Regarding financial aid, schools vary greatly in how generous they are with financial aid. Many out of state public schools give little aid to out of state students. Try the “net price calculators” at each school’s web site. However, some schools, like University of Minnesota, are less expensive than others (even for out of state students in the case of public schools).</p>

<p>MBA schools have no specific major or course prerequisites for undergraduate study. They do, however, look for good work experience by their applicants.</p>

6

<p>Indeed aid does not “balance out.” The vast majority of schools don’t offer a lot of financial aid. It’s unfortunately one of the big college myths. Colleges are like cars, you buy the one you can afford. You and your parents need to do some homework here so you’re not going into it blind. You may well get into Northeastern or BU, but neither have a lot of money for aid.</p>

7

<p>Can someone please poke at some of my other questions? Thanks again</p>

8

<p>Research in college depends heavily on your major and field. Every field’s research is done differently.</p>

<p>For example, as a graduate student in recreation, my thesis will likely study how people perceive and connect with different methods of interpretation and education at a national forest recreation area. It will involve field data collection, interviews, recording, etc. - the goal is to better understand how effective various interpretive techniques are. A graduate student in history, on the other hand, would be reading various sources in archives and museums, examining field sites, etc. with the aim of developing an original historical study of a particular person, location or subject.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>There is plenty to be discovered in economics. Our understanding of the ways people, organizations and nations interact economically is complex, incomplete and always controversial.</p>

<p>The key to remember is that, especially at the start, you don’t go out and create a grand new theory to shock the world. Your thesis/dissertation is just a demonstration that you are capable of independent, academic-quality research. New knowledge doesn’t have to be earth-shaking or news-making. It just has to contribute something - even if that something is “well, there’s a good chance this is true, but a lot more needs to be done before we can really be sure.” The secret of science is that… we’re never really sure. There’s always more to be done.</p>

<p>Whether you decide to pursue research or not depends on your career interests. Research-based graduate degrees are generally (but not always) aimed at students who plan to go into teaching and research as a career - that is, become a professor. On the other hand, an MBA is a non-research degree - it’s an intensive two-year program on advanced business management techniques.</p>

9

<p>

Your extremely general questions indicate that you haven’t done sufficient research about any of these colleges. Nobody here can do all your groundwork for you. Scour the colleges’ websites (everything from requited gen eds to lists of clubs and activities will be on there), research in several college selection guides (available in your public library or bookstore), and read a few months of posts in each college’s CC forum. Then you’ll know enough to pose specific questions in those forums.</p>

<p>As for whether college professors are “generally nice and helpful”–it’s impossible to generalize. They’re people, they’re all different. Every college has all kinds. </p>

<p>Finally, “logistics/transportation” is probably not a major at the schools you listed. Again, it’s all there in the websites–majors, minors, lists of courses required for each, etc.</p>

10

<p>For logistics/transportation, look at classes and concentrations within business degrees, but also take a look as Economic Geography. That field specializes in location and movement models along with multiplier effects, etc. A school with strong offerings in both those areas might be a good start.</p>

11

<p>

This whole site is a very informational site than anyone can use. It has question headers and searches to make it easy. You’re trying to replace an organized filing cabinet with a pile of papers all over the desk to dig through. You’d probably have much better results if you posted several questions with descriptive titles. Nobody wants to “poke at some of my other questions” because to do that, they’d have to read your whole thread and see which questions HAVE been answered in order to know what your “other” questions are.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

12

<p>

Make sure you have the cost discussion with your parents. UCB and UMich will cost you $55K+/year as an OOS student. Most of the other schools you list have great FA but they are also the most difficult to get in (<10% acceptance rate). And your SATs are very low for those schools right now. Make sure you look at UVM as a potential in-state choice.</p>

13

<p>As for your question about double majoring. I would say, “yes”, it will depend on the difficulty of the school as to whether you can double major. For one thing, some of the top schools don’t let you use AP credits…and AP credits usually make it easier to double major.</p>

<p>The ease of changing majors depends…If you’re not in engineering and you change to engineering, then you could end up having to go for more than four years. Or if you change a major halfway thru college, you may have to go longer.</p>

<p>What kind of stats do you have? GPA? SAT or ACT scores? </p>

<p>How did you do on the PSAT??</p>

<p>What state are you in?</p>

<p>==============</p>

<p>My parents tell me that I shouldn’t worry about cost if I really want to go to a certain college. And if I couldn’t afford $50,000 a year, wouldn’t I get more financial aid so I would only pay what I could afford? Doesn’t it balance out so even the most hardshipped people can go to expensive schools?</p>

<p>============</p>

<p>No, no, no. </p>

<p>You need to have a real “money talk” with your parents. </p>

<p>Are you low income? Or…middle income (up to about $75k)? Or…upper-middle income ($75k - 150k)? Or…upper income (more than 175k) ? (these aren’t official breakdowns, they’re just my own based on how I see schools expect “family contribution” to be.)</p>

<p>Does your family have a good amount of assets? lots of stocks? investments? second homes? rental property? savings accts? Do they own their own business? Self-employed?</p>

<p>You need to discuss the following with your parents…</p>

<p>1) how much will your parents actually pay out each year for college. $5k? $10k? $25k? $50k? more? less?</p>

<p>2) What your FAFSA EFC and your CSS Profie “family contribution” will likely be.</p>

<p>3) The schools that give the best aid are also the ones that are the hardest to get accepted to. These schools generally require high stats to be a good candidate for admission…yet, these schools will still reject many, many, many qualified candidates.</p>

<p>4) You need identify 2-3 financial safety schools…these are schools that you know that you’ll be accepted to, you like these schools, AND…most importantly…you know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered through ASSURED merit scholarships, small fed student loans, and/or family funds.</p>

<p>Many schools might expect your family to pay a lot more than they can pay. Most schools do NOT have a lot of aid to give away. Most schools have loans as their primary means of financial aid. </p>

<p>For instance…a modest income family could have a FAFSA EFC of $6,000. If the child chooses one of the many pricey privates that do not have a lot of aid to give, that family may be expected to pay the full $55,000 per year and may only be offered a $5,550 sstudent loan!</p>