I’m interested in majoring in business/finance, but I really like small schools with small classes. I became interested in Bucknell, but I’m not sure if the partying/Greek life is right for me. My ideal college would be small to medium, finance major, and have an intellectual atmosphere kind of like UChicago. I have a 4.0, but haven’t taken SATs yet, so I’m really just trying to find some colleges based on fit without taking selectivity into account until I’m done with standardized testing. I couldn’t find many small colleges with business schools, any suggestions?
It’s hard to find small colleges with really good business programs because inherently business will force you to branch out and expand your borders. That being said, I’m sure there are plenty of good schools that are small enough to get the attention you want. Also, something to keep in mind is that at any prestigious top university, class sizes are still going to be small. While the total student population may seem large, the individualized attention is still prevalent. I can list some good colleges with business programs. Keep in mind that I am from the Northeast, so I don’t know a whole lot about schools out West.
Tufts
Northeastern (very good business)
Babson (Best entrepreneurial program in the country IMO)
NYU
UPenn
Wake Forest
Colby
Hamilton
Dartmouth
Sorry I couldn’t help more; all of the schools I’m applying to are big and science oriented. These are just some of the colleges, and I’m sure you’ll find a lot more. Remember to keep an open mind during the search though because you might find some college that you absolutely love that doesn’t fit what you thought you wanted in a school!
Good luck!
I don’t think Dartmouth and Tufts don’t have undergrad business. I have considered Penn. I like its preprofessionalism but of course Wharton is a super reach. I’ll have to check out Hamilton, Babson, and Colby soon I didn’t think any other LAC except Bucknell had business.
You can look at the University of Richmond and Wahington & Lee. Babson is good if you are ready to specialize in business and are not interested in a wide range of courses beyond that field. Hamilton, mentioned, has one of the country’s strongest economics programs, and offers a business course or two such as accounting, but does not offer a business major. Colby, also mentioned, does not offer business as a major. Bucknell was a good place to look, but will not work for you if you do not like their general atmosphere. If you might like a somewhat larger school, consider the University of Rochester. Several schools (Hamilton, Williams, Wellesley, Grinnell, Carleton, Amherst, maybe others now) have a relationship with Harvard Business School through an online program, and could offer you some direct instruction in the field through this.
Your choice of a college may depend on whether you are interested in the early and direct study of business, or in a range of subjects such as classics, religious studies, government, English, history and geosciences. As you determine this, you will know where to concentrate your search. Economics, not business, may be the most popular major for students going on to highly rated MBA programs.
I would consider majoring in Economics if I could still get jobs in finance. I know Princeton sends a large percentage of schools into the financial services industry even though they don’t have a business school. Are there any colleges with Economics instead that I should look into?
For economics, consider schools from this analysis: “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges” (from IDEAS, available online). Williams, Wellesley, Middlebury, Wesleyan and Hamilton are the top five colleges in terms of scholarly publishing by their economics faculty.
How did you come to decide the only social life at Bucknell revolves around greek parties?
BTW, even schools without national greek chapters have functioning “greek” systems. Many freshman boys learn fast that parties at sports houses don’t include them. Or that dorms compete against each other in a system like the English house system.
Don’t assume that parties along the lines of greek parties are limited to schools with national chapters.
“It’s hard to find small colleges with really good business programs because inherently business will force you to branch out and expand your borders.” @lefty163 What does this mean?
Small-mid-sized universities with good Business schools:
Babson College
Bentley University
Boston College
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western University
College of William and Mary
Cornell University
Emory University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Miami University-Oxford
Northeastern University
Pepperdine University
Syracuse University
Tulane University
University of Miami
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Richmond
Villanova University
Wake Forest University
Bucknell is around 50-60% greek though. That’s a lot more than most colleges.i don’t care if parties are officially greek or not. I just want there to be other things to do without feeling alone.
Economics or Business at small colleges
Connecticut College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Marist College
U of San Diego
Case Western Reserve University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Illinois Institute of Technology
Wofford College
Furman College
Belmont Abbey College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
I have a friend whose son is about to graduate from Carleton with an econ degree – he loved it there and he’s accepted a great job offer in the finance area from a major corporation. I’ve also been told that if you have eventual plans for an M.B.A. it’s better to major in something other than business undergrad.
On the other hand, Emory’s business school is extremely well-funded, with small classes, and the campus has a very liberal-artsy feel.
U. of Puget Sound’s school of Business and Leadership is one of their flagship departments.
Will smaller national universities also have smaller class sizes? I was thinking about Georgetown cause it’s small to mid size and has a great finance program.
@higheredrocks Do any companies recruit on campus?
Be aware that economics is significantly different from business as a college major, although some economics departments have business flavored electives like managerial economics, accounting, etc. (E.g. CMC).
The strongest economics departments are often math intensive, requiring multivariable calculus and other advanced math.
Absolutely, all of these schools will, but I’m not an expert. Check out http://carleton.ca/cc/ for career center information (it looks like they have strong internship and co-op programs as well). Go on to the Georgetown and other school sites and just search “career services” or “career center” – you ought to get a pretty good idea of recruiting on campus.
Economics is a much more difficult major than business. This is not a commentary on workload but rather complexity of the curriculum.
The math underlying business classes is elementary stuff.
@TurnerT I’m pretty good at math, so I’m not too worried about a math intensive curriculum.
Thanks everyone for the help! There were some great college suggestions.
What are your stats?
W&L is a terrible choice for someone who’s not interested in Greek Life as most social life there orbits around fraternities.
If you want a college sort of like UChic, look into William and Mary, Reed, and Carleton. However, I’m not sure those have business majors.
Note that students who want a top MBA program would study Math, Economics, CS, Philosophy, or any “traditional” major, not business, as top MBA programs don’t want business majors, unless they essentially had a double major in a traditional field as well as in business (Notre Dame, Wharton, Stern…).
@MYOS1634: W&L was initially offered as a suggestion (3) because the OP’s early criteria indicated a search for high quality smaller schools with an available business major. The number of schools in this group is extremely limited, and if the OP had stuck with this criteria, some compromises may have had to have been made.