Hey everyone! I was accepted to these fine schools, but unfortunately, none were my top choice, so this makes my decision much harder. I have visited all of these and enjoyed them all, but they are so different (or similar in the case of UVA and UNC) that it is hard to make distinctions. I’m currently undecided but plan on majoring in math/economics/possibly business. And all of these schools have terrific programs in those areas. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
Is one of them in-state, i.e., markedly less expensive than the other options?
Or are you east coast? That cost of travel to LA might limit UCLA? or the opposite for the others?
@Todd87 Money is not too much of a factor but obviously I don’t want to spend too much if it’s not worth it. I’ve heard that about UCLA before but they are still consistently at the top of rankings, so I will do more research into the problems they are having.
@LucieTheLakie all are OOS (I’m from Ohio though so travel costs are also a consideration)
@HRSMom I’m Ohio so all are somewhat far (except UM) but drive-able except for UCLA. Distance is not too much of a problem though.
Thanks for your help and consideration!
I can’t speak for other schools, but I do have a little bit of experience with UVa and can say that it has not only a great business school but also a great reputation and prestige. I’ve heard even of students getting into Harvard but not UVa out of state (especially for business), so congratulations! Additionally, if you want to do graduate school UVa is a great choice because undergrads from the same school are given a little boost in admissions.
I’d have to say Mich then. Tho I do love UNC too!
@Todd87 lol say unquestionable one more time. Oh, and you’re completely wrong. You sound like Kanye talking about Kanye. “I am UNQUESTIONABLY the greatest musical talent of this generation. I am UNDENIABLY the next Mozart.” These are universities, everything is questionable. And if you do well at any of these institutions, you will get the job of your choosing. Universities don’t get you the life you want, you do. A 4.0 is viewed the same way at each of these schools generally. One might like UVA the best, another UNC. At that point it’s all chance. So, OP, where do you see yourself being passionate and successful? Go there.
@ThisOneKid @Todd87 It really will be a tough choice. I am visiting all four again this month on accepted students days, so hopefully that will help. Todd, would you say for sure that jobs in east coast big markets would be easier to get coming from UM? And that UCLA would lead to jobs on the west coast? That would definitely be great info to have.
And I could honestly see myself being involved and having a great time at all 4 and they are all so great! It is so hard to choose but right now I have Michigan and UVA towards the top. We will see after the visits.
- Firstly, I admire @Todd87 's passion for UMich but disagree that it stands head and shoulders above the others. All four of these are basically even. I agree that USWNR rankings are not the Bible, but in any case, these 4 are all close enough to make any difference in rankings irrelevant. For what it's worth, the Times International Rankings has UCLA at 16 and Mich at 21, UNC at 63 and UVA much further down.
The only place where I’d say UMich is definitely ahead of the others is in engineering, and arguably its graduate B-school.
I wouldn’t worry about UC money problems - they won’t impact your college experience.
In terms of pure prestige, go with UCLA or UMich. But UVA and UNC are great choices too.
If you hope to stay and work on the West Coast, then pick UCLA.
I will echo what the others have said in that these are all great options. I am partial to UNC because of my D’s experience there. She loves the school and the town.
Did you get a "gut feeling’ during your visits?
Does the fact that you said you may major in business change anyone’s mind? If not direct admit to business school, how easy is it to transfer in later at these schools? If you doubt this will happen, then choose away! Congratulations on having great choices, and money to attend.
Go Blue.
@anonymous26 I did get a gut feeling, but now looking back I’m pretty much flip flopping between the four every day. Some days I really like UVA and others I can’t imagine myself anywhere but UCLA or Michigan. And then other days I only want to go to UNC. I know I’ll be happy wherever I go, so it may end up coming down to what kind of day I’m having!
@2muchquan I didn’t apply to direct admit at any of the four. I do plan on applying when I get there though. Transferring into business at any of them is hit or miss, but I’m not worried about it because staying in Arts and Sciences would also be fine by me. UCLA doesn’t even have an undergrad business school, only majors within Arts and Sciences. I will look into transfer admit rates to business schools within each college though. Thanks!
To Todd87,
Do UM people ever figure out why all the high ranked UM MBA & UM alumni can never turn around a dead city like Detroit?
To bigrings98, if you aspire to go to graduate school or professional schools, all 4 Universities will help you get there as long as you do well. If you don’t plan on going to graduate school, figure out where you want to live after college and pick the school in that area.
^^^^^
The rankings for business are very close for the UMich, UVA, and UNC(in that order)and they are all in the top 10. So don’t worry about rankings.
Your best bet it terms of employment opportunities would be UMich or UVA. UNC however does have a great business school and if you prefer the environment there you should go to UNC. UCLA is out of the debate as most west coast schools are not strong for business. It really depends on where you want to be as the schools are so similar. If you want to live in the south, UNC is for you. UVA and UMich cater towards northern offices such as NYC.
@Todd87 Made a typo but fixed it.
Not only USNWR but also Forbes and Parchment, all using different methodologies, assign rather high rankings to all 4 of these schools. There is no clear cut winner among them. The OP’s own choices and efforts in college are likely to make a bigger difference to his future outcomes than differences in department strengths. So he should feel comfortable making a choice based on net cost and personal fit.
I’d lean toward UNC for the simple, practical reason that it is ~$8K-$10K/year cheaper than the others for out-of-state students. North Carolina has a milder climate than Michigan’s, and it isn’t as far from Ohio as UCLA. In addition, UNC allows cross-registration with several other area universities (including NC State and Duke).
If you believe the USNWR graduate department rankings (which are based on subjective peer assessments), then UCLA or Michigan may have somewhat stronger econ or math departments than UNC. You’d have to ask yourself whether any quality advantages trickle down to undergraduates, and if so, whether they are worth an additional ~$32K over 4 years.
UCLA is out because most west coast schools don’t have good business schools?? Wow is that a head scratcher, guess they haven’t heard of the haas school of business (UCB).
As you know UCLA doesn’t have an undergraduate business school or major but Bus Econ. Some argue this is a better major because it is more math centric and employers like that over a general business degree. Not sure how accurate but something to consider. I do know that UCLA is very well regarded and respected around the world.
As far as opportunities west coast vs east coast, all of those schools will provide them and comes down to how well you do and if you make the most of the opportunities you have been given. Go with the school that makes the most sense financially and is the best fit for you.
I will add that if you want to ultimately live and work on the west coast, go with UCLA. There are opportunities for IB on west coast just not as many and more buy side. Pimco, Blackrock etc. Silicon Valley provides lots of careers both in and out of high tech; VC firms in Bay Area. Silicon Beach is growing near UCLA in Santa Monica, lots of exciting startups being created.
BTW, I didn’t attend UCLA so I am not a biased alum, however, I am a biased Californian.
Throwing in my two cents as a Michigan Business Major.
Placement at Ross is mainly East Coast followed by Midwest, then seattle (Microsoft likes Ross undergrads).
Were currently building a new business building, as well as updating everything else. I’ve visited UVa, and I can confidently say that Michigan’s business campus and resources win out here. However, UVa and UNC do hold a slight edge in investment banking due to their location. Furthermore, Investment banking simply isn’t the biggest priority here at Michigan.
UCLA is still experiencing economic issues (drought, etc), their libraries had their hours reduced as of last year, so unless you want West Coast post-grad, I’d advise you to pass it up.
Furthermore, keep in mind that at Uva, you have to spend 2 years taking pre-business reqs, and there is a chance you won’t be accepted. UNC is the only school I didn’t apply to, so I can’t say anything about it because I didn’t research it.
I might be biased, but I honestly think Michigan is the best choice for you here. It’s got the best overall business program and resources, as well as a surfeit of other top ranked programs in the quantitative and economic fields. Plus, it’s close enough to home for you so that you can visit home during breaks (this is A LOT more important than you might think right now)
Feel free to PM me or post here with more questions!
Ross is definitely the best B-school of the four (though Bloomberg puts Anderson just a few steps behind), but are you a direct admit into Ross, and if not, how competitive is it to get in? (I don’t know the answer, but probably others do or you can research it.)
All in all, Mich is probably the best overall choice unless you want to live/work in sunny Cal. But if you’re going to Mich because of Ross, take the above question into consideration.
@bigrings98 @ThisOneKid @Todd87
I’ll be honest here. Todd87 is pretty spot when it comes to UMich. I disagree with the absolute nature of the statement, no school is “undeniably” anything. However, for econ/business, UMich is probably your best bet. The recruiting at UMich for Investment Banking or any of the finance companies in Chicago/the East Coast (where most finance related stuff is, assuming that’s roughly the area you’re interested in), is going to be much better than the west coast (UCLA) and better than UVA or UNC (weaker brand name and brand name matters a lot in business, finance, or even law.
And sure its nice to bathe in this utopian light of anybody can succeed from succeed from any school, which is no doubt true, but brand name helps. And better academics and recruiting also helps. Especially in the field(s) it seems you want to go into. Believe me, I’m in tech and there’s no other field where the institution you go to matters less. Tech is all about you and your experience, skills, and personal drive. But the institution still matters, and to be honest, go to UMich and you’ll thank yourself later when you go to the career fairs and you see way more companies recruiting. And the quotas for the school are much higher making many more job opportunities more accessible to you. My dad went into marketing/business/finance and did his MBA at a top 3 business school, and has told me the same thing - brand name, recruiting, and access to companies matters. And you aren’t really sacrificing student experience or anything - Michigan has great spots, great school spirit, a great college town. And even if you switch to something else like engineering, it’ll still be phenomenal.