<p>I was accepted directly into U Md Business School and into the College Park Scholars Program. I have no guarantees about the Mich business school and this year they've changed the application time to spring of Freshman year.....just when I'll be rushing for my frat!! I know Mich is the better school.......what major would i take if I didn't make it into the bus school??? Eco?? Org Studies? POli Sci??</p>
<p>If you don't make it into the B School, you can major in whatever you like, be it Economics, Political Sciences or Org. Studies.</p>
<p>Alexandre, should I even have a dilemna, as afar as which school to go to?? Can you describe the rigor to get into the business school at Mich?</p>
<p>First of all, is there a financial restriction or difference that I should be aware of? </p>
<p>Secondly, what do you want to accomplish with your Business degree?</p>
<p>Getting into Michigan's Business school is tough. Most successful students have 3.5+ GPAs at Michigan. That is not easy to achieve. But roughly 40%-50% of the internal applicants get in, so the odds aren't bad, but you have to do well while at Michigan to get into the B school. I guess it depends on how hard you are willing to study your first year.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response, Alexandre. I know the career placement is good at both schools...do you agree?..do you have a preference, as far as overall experience?</p>
<p>I have not seen statistics on placement for Maryland students. I don't think Maryland placement is as good as Michigan. </p>
<p>As for overall preference...mine is irrelevant. Each individual will have a different opinion. I would visit both schools if possible and then make a decision based on all the facts you have before you.</p>
<p>UMD has 2,800 undergraduates majoring in business at College Park and Shady Grove, Md. How do they accomodate so many business students? It must be tough for the placement services.</p>
<p>We met witha business advisor last week, at the school ,who indicated they only accepted about 300 students from a pool of over 700 apllicants ( in school and transfer). This years group will have it more difficult and the following year, students will be able to apply in directly from HS!! The requirements are getting tougher and tougher as they get more and more selective.</p>
<p>I visited both schools and loved them both. Financial considerations play some part but based on quality of life and overall reputation, Mich is winning!!</p>
<p>There is a thread on UMD's Smith School of Business on the "US News college forum" that may be of interest to you. The poster, mw1516, is a current UMD b-school student:</p>
<p>mw1516 (21603.2):
"I'm a University of MD business student right now and if you want to get into the Smith School of Business, all you need is a 3.0 gpa and completion of most of the pre-req courses. No activities or essay is required. However, I would recommend you to transer simply because the Smith School is not what its all cracked up to be. There are a lack of jobs for graduates because the career center is terrible and unhelpful. This is partly due to the large amount of business students, making the administration focused on shuffling students in and out as fast as possible. In fact, many companies don't even recruit at UMD and instead go to lower ranked Towson University because that school has better connections with the large companies in Towson and Baltimore (T.Rowe Price, JP Morgan, ect.) Companies come to Towson weekly to seek prospective students for internships and full-time jobs. UMD on the other hand is located in low income College Park...I suggest you transfer if possible, don't make the mistake of staying at UMD. Every other school you listed has a much superior business program but more importantly, better job placement and career experience."</p>
<p>mw1516 (21603.11):
"The Smith School ONLY admits freshmen with SATs of over 1300 into it and they account for less than 10% of the Smith students. It even states that on their website for gods sake! From the Smith website "The average SAT score for an entering Smith freshman in 2003 was 1360." Where do the majority come from? They get admitted in their sophmore and junior years and all you need is completion of 75% of the prereqs (ie accounting I, business stat) and a 3.0 gpa and you are in. And yes, Towson University gets students into firms in Towson and Baltimore because they have strong relationships with many of the companies."</p>
<p>GoBlue81 (21603.14):
"You must be referring to Smith's Spring 2001 Admission Standard ... which is still applicable to all current UMD students up until 2007. You can indeed get in with a 3.0 cumulative GPA! New Fall 2005 admits, however, must meet the more stringent Fall 2005 Admission Standard. Looks like they will become more selective later on.</p>
<p>As you pointed out, freshmen directly admitted into Smith come in with a much higher GPA and standard test scores. However, to stay in the school, they have to demonstrate 'satisfactory' progress...which is a meager 2.0 GPA or better; and for the Gateway courses, a mere "C" or better!!!</p>
<p>Smith has 2,800 undergraduates in College Park and Shady Grove (4,000+ total including MBA, eMBA and PhD students). This is a very large b-school (compared for example to Michigan's Ross with 600 undergrad). This is a school that ranks #20 un undergrad business. How do they accomodate so many students? How large is their placement service?"</p>
<p>mw1516 (21603.15):
"Exactly, you pretty much summed up the admissions criteria. Not so rigorous for a ranked business school eh? As for how they accomodate so many students, I can only describe their process like that of a processing plant. They attempt to get you in and out as quick as possible. For example, my advisor once tried to get me to take extra credits so I would graduate early. As for placement service, it is basically non-existant, you are on your own."</p>
<p>You can find out most of the "facts" from the UMD Smith website.</p>
<p>i have to disagree with all the complaining.</p>
<p>i think the reason UMD can accommodate so many students is because we have a great facility with plenty of space and classrooms, and plenty of faculty. i have plenty of friends in the business school who are 5th year seniors, and nobody is forcing them to go anywhere.</p>
<p>a good advisor who sees that you might be able to graduate early should inform you of your options. some students might financially prefer to graduate early--i don't see why an advisor suggesting extra credits is a bad thing.</p>
<p>placement service? well, you're only on your own if you choose not to visit the career center, or subscribe to any listserves, or attend any recruiting sessions. maryland has no "placement service" per se (personally i'd like to search for my own job, thanks...) but plenty of resources available if you seek them out.</p>
<p>and as far as the 2.0/C average thing goes.....well, so what?? why should a student have to perform at a higher level in order to remain a business major?? that doesn't speak poorly on the school, that speaks poorly on those students who choose to squeak by with barely a 2.0. remember that a C is average. there's nothing wrong with letting average and better-than-average students keep doing their thing.</p>
<p>as you can see, i completely disagree with these viewpoints and challenge you to find a good number of business majors at UMD who feel the same way the person writing that discussion did.</p>