D got admitted into economics in UT Austin. No scholarship.
Direct admission to IU Kelley with $6000 scholarship per year.
Admitted to pre-business in SMU with $25000 scholarship per year.
The cost difference ranges from 5000-10000, which may be ignored since she is an international, meaning hard to get financial aid. We really appreciate what she has got.
Still waiting for results from UCI, GWU, William & Mary. But do not hold much hope any more.
We cannot visit any campus since we are out of US. Which school is best for her? Any suggestion is cordially appreciated.
Do you think your daughter would be happier at a smaller school with smaller classes? If so, then SMU would be best. Would your daughter prefer 4 seasons or is she okay with hot weather? If she wants to see snow in the winter and and falls and springs that aren’t too hot than she would like IU. What kind of environment is important to her? IU is in a great college town that’s not too small or too big. SMU and UT Austin are in major cities. If she seeks more diversity in terms of race and socioeconomics then she might find more of that at UT and IU.
@citymama9 Thank you for your suggestion.
D seems prefer to live in urban areas. We think UT is the best, academically speaking. Kelley is perfect except for the quite lower comprehensive ranking. The weather in Bloomington is nice (we live in a similar area) while it’s really hot in TX as we heard. We are a little bit worried about SMU’s academic rigor (Kelley as well). We love SMU for it’s a private school with much lower student to faculty ratio and excellent location, not to mention the generous scholarship.
So, it’s really hard for us to make a final decision.
What does she want to do/study? What goals?
Since she’s International, she’ll likely have to go back home, right?
BTW, often times, it’s the strength of the school in the major that matters.
You should know that rankings rank by their methodology, which may or may not be relevant to you. What exactly about the rigor about you worried about?
In the US, faculty don’t go off of something like the USNews or any overall rankings. The quality of the faculty at b-schools like Kelley and WashU Olin would be about the same, in fact.
My son also was admitted to those 3 business schools and we’ve visited each campus twice. UT Austin is urban with a VERY diverse student body. It appeared to me to be way more diverse than IU or SMU. From what I’ve gathered, the business school ranks much higher than SMU and slightly higher than IU. However, it’s a very big campus and most of the kids are from Texas who attend. SMU is a beautiful campus in downtown Dallas, but it definitely had the feel of being more “campus-like” to me than UT. I’ve heard it is more preppy with an upper middle class/ “wealthier” status attached to it, but I didn’t see a ton of that. IU has a beautiful college campus and the Kelley school is phenomenal as well. I’ve heard employers love to hire Kelley kids. I believe most of the IU kids get jobs in Chicago or Midwest area.
You mentioned a concern about rigor at SMU and Kelley. Did you mean that the programs might be TOO rigorous? Just wondering what you have heard or read about that.
@maplefall: try to have your daughter define what she means by “city”. In the US, it’s not necessarily “easily walkable”, not necessarily “animated at all times”, not necessarily “excellent train/bus system/ public transportation”, however it does mean high rises, parks, lots of restaurants, businesses, etc. Depending on where you’re from, you may want to explore that more explicitely. NYC or Boston are very different from Dallas, Austin, or Bloomington. Each has advantages and disadvantages.
Note: ask whether dorms have A/C.
Has she been admitted to Honors at any of those?
really depends on what she is looking for with the feel. I will say right now I compete directly with mcCombs kids and a few plan 2 kids from UT Austin. If she is not in the business school at UT I don’t think it is worth it. Between Kelley and Cox that is more of a best fit question. The entirety of SMU undergrad is the size of Kelley, so that is more just a question of what she is interested in class sie, whether, etc. Many of the kids I go to school with were in at ut mccombs, and chose SMU. They were not plan 2 or mccombs honors though - those are on another level. Great opportunities for sure wherever she may go.
Thank you all for your inputs.
@PurpleTitan UT has the strongest academics in business among the 3 schools. According to USNWR, the undergraduate business program in McCombs ranks #5, while Kelley #11 and SMU #45. The admissions selection (esp. for OOS and int’l) is much stricter at UT too.
@sundial2 As far as I know, the curricula at UT are more challenging than IU and SMU. This is due to: 1) quality of enrolled students (e.g. SAT score difference), 2) requirements by faculty. It will be more difficult to get a GPA 3.8 or higher in UT than in the other two schools. My point is that she might learn more from a rigorous program and its opportunities offered. Responding to your question, I am concerned that the programs in Cox and Kelley might be LESS rigorous.
@MYOS1634 In terms of location, actually Bloomington, Austin or Dallas is pretty fine for her. But Austin and Dallas have a good advantage for internships or jobs due to the booming economy in TX. She was admitted into Mount Holyoke with some grants too, but she has crossed it off. Probably she thought MHC is too rural and mono sex. Btw, she didn’t apply for any Honors.
@jamesk2014 As her parent, I know the value of private education, smaller class size, easier access to faculty and more resources, etc. If she ends up at UT, she will work hard to transfer into McCombs or keep in the major of economics and then enter into a master’s program in business. Do you think this is doable?
Rank matters! At least many employers or parents in our country attach much important on prestige of a school. UT is most prestigious among the three. Kelley sounds great but the IUB comprehensive ranking is bad. Interestingly, an IUB application officer visited D’s school for recruiting last winter; just a couple of students joined the activity while a few parents including myself showed up. These kids just regard it as a safety. SMU sounds more like a religious school though I know it has been mundane.
Another question: Do you think it is an advantage or disadvantage for a student studying with his/her acquainted people from the same region (e.g. from same county or even same high school) in college? It seems to me many US parents prefer to send their kids studying in a college of their own state. Is it only financially good? To me, I would choose a school with less acquainted people, like UT with only about 5% internationals. International students are more willing to interact within their own nationals. This phenomenon prevents them from understanding multi-culture and even improving their English quickly.
In the US, staying in state to attend a public university is often financially advantageous. Also, some parents and some students prefer to stay close.
Mccombs transfer i do not know enough about, have to imagine it is somewhat difficult or they would have admitted off the bat. And yes rank does matter - to an extent - I agree smu generally lags about 10-15 spots (has always been top 25 in business week) back of Mccombs. That being said SMU has great recruiting and for post graduate like the other two, so I wouldn’t discount it. Whatever best fit will be most important.
I’ll defer to you about your expertise about relative prestige in your country.
In the US, business people know what the tiers are and generally ignore the rankings (where schools move around all the time). I’d say Kelley and McComb are roughly the same tier. McComb may be a little higher. But she hasn’t been admitted to McComb.
She’s not in McCombs so you can’t compare McCombs to the others. Assume she’ll get a degree in Economics. Another issue is that she didn’t make or apply for honors at UT which puts her at a disadvantage. (The order of priority for opportunities, contacts, etc, would be BHP or Plan II ->McCombs->Economics with Honors->Economics).
Does she want economics or Business? Economics can be more flexible and can allow her to add some electives to personalize her profile. She may be able to add a Business certificate to it, develop expertise in US culture (through classes in American studies, African American studies, Hispanic studies)nifbshe plans to work for a TNC that does business with the US.
UT will also be much more diverse (ethnically and socio economically) than SMU. SMU business offers excellent contacts, networking, internships, etc. It is also rather homogeneous. So if your concern is internships and living in a big city, SMU would have the edge.
If you want diversity, UT has the edge.
In terms of political vibe, SMU is conservative and UT is liberal.
@ jamesk2014 @MYOS1634 It’s hard to transfer into McCombs. The average GPA last year is 3.9 for successful transfer, which I think is really difficult. But, on the other hand, D may study economics and then major in accounting or finance for graduate, as some friends suggest. How do you think?
SMU has a nice campus and generous scholarship, and easier to major in business. D may immerse herself in a close-knit community, keeping connections with her peers and teachers. Yet, it’s heard that there are so many wealthy kids on campus. This may be not good for study.
@PurpleTitan I agree with you that Kelley is a highly-ranked, prestigious business school. The big confusion to me and many others is that the overall ranking of IU Bloomington is much lower than Kelley.
@maplefall: That one is easy to explain: Look at the criteria by how rankings rank.
Look at how well Dartmouth ranks in any international ranking, for instance.
Or look at how well UIUC and UW-Seattle rank in USNews. Yet those are top schools for CS and engineering.
Look at how well A&M and Purdue rank in USNews. Yet those are top schools for engineering.
BTW, if she will get a grad degree, pick a cheaper undergrad.
I have better examples: Missouri, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and UIC are all ranked below IU by USNews.
Yet Mizzou is one of the top 3 journalism schools in the country. Cincy has one of the top design schools (and musical theatre programs) in the country. OU has one of the top meteorology programs in the country. UIC Nursing is highly respected. In each of those fields, those schools are considered powerhouses. For instance, design people could care less about Cincy’s USNews ranking. They care more about the fact that Cincy design grads are top-notch.
BTW, the USNews rankings can be gamed. I would not rely on them.
I personally prefer my tiers based off of alumni achievements:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1893105-ivy-equivalents-ranking-based-on-alumni-outcomes-take-2-1-p1.html
Those can not be gamed.
@PurpleTitan You are correct. There are just so many great colleges in USA. I wish our people may regard rankings more rationally.
Do well in undergrad cheaply and go to a brand name grad program.
That is my recommendation if you do not have a limitless amount of money.
You mentioned on another thread that your daughter was accepted at Mount Holyoke and crossed it off her list. What were her reasons?