I am an international student who has applied to the United States and gotten into the following universities:
Northeastern University - As a part of the NU Bound program (First year in Richmond the American University, in London), Cost for the first year is $50,000 and for after that is around $75,000 a year
Indiana University - Got into IU but not direct admit into Kelley - Cost $50,000 a year
Southern Methodist University - First year has to fulfill entry requirements to get into Cox Business School - Cost $48,000, after scholarship
Drexel University - Cost is $48,000 a year after scholarship
Texas A&M - Got in but not for my first choice, Was chosen for Economics - Cost $57,000
Penn State - Got in for the 2+2 program, 2 years in Altoona and then two years in University Park - Cost $49,000
Miami University Ohio - Cost $37,000
I was mainly conflicted between Northeastern and Indiana because of the difference in cost and the fact that I didn’t get directly admitted into Kelley but I am open to hearing any opinions about my choices.
Northeastern is notable for coop programs and getting students doing; it has less of a traditional academic approach. How does that appeal to you? It’s for some, not others. And what do you think about the year in London? Is that appealing or would you rather start at your school Day1? It is very urban, again a plus for some, a negative for others. How about you?
IU is an excellent, traditional US public state flagship university in a nice “college town.” Kelley is a top business school. I’m just not sure how difficult it is to gain admittance into that program once you are there. I’d want to have a good feeling for my odds, though I think it great when people bet on themselves, then work hard to win the bet.
SMU is another excellent school with an excellent business school. It has a nice campus in an important business center, with, I think, lots of internship opportunities. Dallas is culturally different from Boston, again one might be preferable to some, the other to others. Weather is a plus. Again, the specific entry requirements are important. A 2.8 or 3.0 GPA threshold is different from a 3.2 or 3.5 GPA threshold.
Drexel would be most similar to Northeastern. I’d prefer Boston to Philly, but that’s just my opinion. The Texas A&M and PSU deals, for you, don’t seem preferable.
Miami is also an excellent school. I assume you are accepted into the business school there, and you don’t have to worry about actually being accepted into the school. It is half the price of Northeastern for the last 3 years and considerably less the first year. How impactful is that cost difference to you/your family? For many it would be very impactful, some not.
I think Miami of Ohio is the nicest school of them all and if you got direct to business I’d for sure say that is the slam dunk! It is a well respected school with a good business school and great professors.
I would defintely not do a 2+2 program, so I’d forget Penn State and the price for Northeastern is ridiculous and I’m sorry but not a good value - it isn’t Harvard LOL. With the choices you have, I would not recommend Drexel because Philly is not a great city. It’s got a lot of slummy areas. LOL The weather is crappy too.
My thoughts for what it is worth –
My son is a business major and going to a school and not getting direct admit to business was a HUGE factor for him… spending all that money – over 100k for 2 years investing in a school with no guarantee and a LOT OF STRESS worrying whether it will work out was not something he wanted to do. It depends on how important the major is to you. It was very important to both my kids and both chose to go to a school where it was guaranteed because they knew if they got there and made all their friends, got involved in clubs and organizations, joined fraternities and sororities etc… then didn’t get in to business they’d be devestated and so conflicted. They didn’t want to have to transfer at that point and lose all their friends and everything they worked for but also didn’t want to be tempted to give it all up and have to be econ majors. So I know EXACTLY where you are sitting right now. In a year, you will be happy at whatever school you pick if you can follow the path you want to follow because they are all schools that will have kids and clubs you like and beautiful campuses with good professors… so don’t settle for a place where you have to take a major you don’t want or compete later. Because later you will have had weed out difficult classes and late nights with new friends and it will be much harder to keep good grades than it was in high school… so you won’t want all that hanging over your head freshman year. You will want to go have fun and explore and enjoy and not have to say to yourself oh I probably shouldn’t because I can’t risk my grades because I have to apply next year to the business school and everything I want is riding on this…
You worked hard to get to this point and you deserve to enjoy college and know where you are going to be and what you are going to be able to do. So if the major is a definite and you will regret not being able to be a finance or marketing or accounting major… then don’t give up on it. Take a choice that is direct admit to business.
If Miami University of Ohio offered direct admission as a business major, then that is the best choice among your options due in large part to the low cost.
Seconding the above: if you got direct Admission to Miami Ohio’s business school that’s where I’d go. It’s highly reputable, the college is great, excellent undergraduate teaching, and your best value.
I think you need to also look at possible internships, jobs, and where does your son want to live and work after college? Boston is a great city for the above, while Oxford is frankly, in Ohio. In addition, 50% of students are Conservative or Very Consevative which might be great or not so great depending on yout politics. Northeastern is going to be much more liberal and progressive. It sounds like your family needs to do much more research and what is most important to you and your son’s college experience. I like reading the student reviews in Niche which gives some great insight from actual students.
Cheaper isn’t always better and there is a reason all of the other colleges are ranked much higher.
@parentintstudent:
It’s almost impossible to get into Kelley if you weren’t a direct admit.
Miami Ohio (where I assume your son Alo got into the honors college) has a highly ranked business school - look at the ranking of undergraduate business.
SMU and Northeastern are the other two choices.
@socaldad is right that it’s conservative and preppy - lots of students from private schools in the Northeast.
It’s also known for drinking excesses. If your son doesn’t drink he should probably request a Substance free/healthy living Living Learning Community (if he got into Honors he would be in the Honors LLC).
The campus is pristine, the town walkable. The business school’s reputation and alumni help with internships (an international student should only have one, so as to save OPT months).
Northeastern is much higher ranked but is it worth twice as much?
However URichmond in London is not going to be rigorous at all and London is expensive (do you have any other choice?)
And the difference between Farmer and D’Amore wouldn’t seem to make it worth it. So the bigger question is co-op: co-ops aren’t part of CPT/OPT which would allow OP’s son to do the 5-yezr program with lots of co-ops semesters AND retain a full year of OPT. That’s the main difference.
@MYOS1634 Thank you for your reply!
By any chance would you know the percentage of students that get into Kelley from IU? I had read somewhere that around 50% of students get in. Also, I wanted your opinion on whether it would be impossible to get in even if I worked really hard throughout my first year.
About two years ago they went to a system where most admits would be direct admits. Unfortunately I don’t have the exact percentages but it’s certainly not 50% would be admits who get in. Look at the minimum grade required in Finite Math then look at the course final grading percentages per section: you’ll clearly see most don’t meet the standard. Most other business pre-requisites are weedout, so that only the top 10-20% “survive”. For in-state students, IU is such a great deal that it’s worth trying because even if they filled yet have a good fallback at value cost. For OOS who are not direct admit, it’s a very risky choice, one unlikely (statistically) to pay off.
I wouldn’t say Northeastern is much higher ranked at all-it places well within Boston due to the co-op program, but outside of Boston, likely similar to most other places under consideration.Outside of college confidential, very few people know or care if a school is ranked number 37 or 73. The top 20 or so have different outcomes, but the rest don’t.
Where do you wish to work afterwards? If Boston, clearly Northeastern is best. If in Dallas or investment banking in Houston, SMU. If you want Wall St in NYC, Indiana/Kelley is the only semi-target school on your list.
You might want to post your Kelly questions directly on the IU board. There is a poster who is pretty active on that board and is in Kelly and has provided a lot of good feedback on his experiences. From what I know, to get into Kelly if you are not a direct admit you basically have to have all A’s and B’s to have a chance from your first year classes.
With respect to getting internships or a job in the Boston area - remember you will also have to compete with all the other college students in the area and that includes Tuffts, MIT, Harvard and Boston College which are all ranked higher than Northeastern… it will not be an easy way to go either. It is a lot of money to pay for a college which in it’s city is not at the top of the heap.
@fbhsmom Thank you so much for all your opinions. I was just wondering after I graduate from Miami, what would you say is the difference in the quality of jobs in comparison to say a NU or IU?
@roycroftmom I’ve heard that Boston is one of the places to be for finance/investment banking, would you say that there is a big difference between Boston and Texas in terms of jobs available and their quality?