Congrats! Exciting news!
Congrats to you and your S, @Lindagaf !
Congrats!!!
Very late to the party here but based on everything you’ve listed Gonzaga is an excellent option. He should get merit, it will be a question of how much. Definitely do EA for the best chance at highest merit amount.
We know a lot of happy kids there!!!
Thanks for all the nice responses!
Today he got an email saying he is eligible to apply for a scholarship. Am I right in thinking that they don’t offer the option to everyone? Is Indiana generous with scholarships?
Congratulations on his acceptance!
No, they don’t. He should apply 
(They love high test scores)
Ok, I’m a ditz. I had a look, and all accepted freshmen who apply by 11/1 are offered the opportunity to apply for a scholarship. Never mind, he’s still my special little pumpkin! (If you saw my “little pumpkin,” he’s 6 foot tall, sounds like James Earl Jones, and looks like the Incredible Hulk, except he’s not green.) :))
@MYOS1634 , we cross-posted. I’m not going to tell him that (apparently) everyone who applies by 11/1 is eligible. He said he would apply for the scholarship, so I will let him think he is special, haha. Any idea when he would be notified of a scholarship?
I looked at flights to Indiana, definitely going to visit, maybe in January!
Have you ever been to Bloomington? It’s one of my favorite college towns, and I’ve seen a lot. Also, the campus is so beautiful. It’s the place to go for the quintessential college experience. Also, if you have a chance watch the movie, “Breaking Away”.
Agree with @citymama9 – Bloomington is lovely. Often ranked as one of best 10 towns for retirement/living/other click bait reason. Affordable, lots of restaurants, etc. And IU is pretty! If he wasn’t admitted directly to Kelley and wants business, make sure he fully understands the process for making that happen. It’s not a slam dunk thing and kids are disappointed every year that they don’t get in.
Lived in Bloomington for four years of grad schools a gazillion years ago and loved it. Dig out the old movie, “Breaking Away.” It’s fun.
But he IS special :).
No - seriously, they love high scores, so he should apply because his odds are good.
Update:
My son is definitely leaning towards majoring in Econ, rather than business. He thinks he can do an MBA later.
Accepted to Denver with a substantial scholarship which puts it close to the price of Binghamton. He says he has zero interest, but I think he would like it if he visited.
He was accepted to Penn State, which he is happy about. No merit aid.
STILL waiting on Binghamton, which he should (according to Naviance) get into. (Also waiting on Michigan, but not really, because he won’t get in). He’s getting concerned about Bing, but they send out EA decisions until 1/15, so it’s not that surprising I guess. Some high stats kids in our school have been accepted. He’s suddenly much more interested in Bing, which I suspect is due to hearing that kids from our high school are happy there.
He got his IU acceptance packet and was offered a decent scholarship, which was a total surprise. He is applying for an additional scholarship, and we are definitely taking him to visit IU. My personal feeling is that it’s going to be an excellent fit for him, and that with the scholarship they are offering, it almost makes Penn State seem not worth the extra expense. Does anyone else agree with that?
He applied to USC. It won’t happen, but because of the legacy connection, he thought it was worth a shot. Gonzaga is out, sadly. He just said he can’t see himself in Washington state and that it’s a waste of his time and our money to apply. Fair enough.
Still applying to Lehigh. Interestingly, while working on his Syracuse stuff, he’s lost a little interest in Syracuse. He thinks it doesn’t seem to offer enough interesting courses in Econ. He says he will apply though.
Thoughts on Econ at any of these colleges?
You might glean some information regarding the economics departments at his current choices through this analysis: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html.
When comparing Indiana and Penn State see if you can find out where grads get recruited. I have a feeling that many from IU end up in Chicago and those from Penn State end up on the east coast, but I could be wrong. FWIW, the best thing I heard about Penn State is it’s alumni connections and career services. Worth exploring.
Accepted at Binghamton! Phew! He was getting a little concerned.
Now he’s thinking he won’t apply to Lehigh. He has four great choices, so I am guessing he doesn’t feel a need to apply to a bunch of reaches. He’s never been really interested in the reaches anyway.
Yay!!! Congrats!!
Congrats Lindagaf!
Yea!! Curious to hear about your IU visit…
Son and hubby visited IU this past week and had a great time! @gardenstategal
They went to the Speedway Museum and the IU v Purdue basketball game. They enjoyed the campus next day, despite awful weather. They liked the town and the trip to and from the airport was easy. The journey time was really manageable and not expensive.
We can afford these schools, but in terms of total COA:
Binghamton. Can’t beat the price. When my son is being practical, he says he should just go there because it’s so much cheaper than everywhere else.
IU. He’s been awarded a scholarship which makes it more affordable. He liked it. He doesn’t love it more than Penn State and Syracuse.
PSU. No extra money of any kind, apart from federal loans. So not super affordable, but he really likes it.
Waiting to hear from Syracuse. He understands that unless they offer a decent merit award, it won’t be happening. I am very sure he will get in, according to Naviance. We do not feel that Syracuse is worth the full sticker price.
He also has to wait on USC, which is a high reach, but both grandparents attended, so he thought it was worth a shot. He would only get financial aid. We are proceeding as though USC won’t happen. If it happens, grandpa might well pay some of the tuition.
He will almost certainly major in Econ, but definitely thinks business is possible. He is aware that an MBA is probably in his future.
Given the price, is Binghamton the best choice for an econ major who will probably go on to do an MBA, even though it’s the school that is the least likely to be a fit for him? Or should he consider that he could transfer into Kelley if he decides to change his major to business as an undergrad, and that he would likely be happy at IU? He did think the Econ offerings at Syracuse don’t seem quite as interesting as at some of the other schools. He would say yes to PSU tomorrow if he wasn’t considering the money, and waiting on Syracuse. Syracuse is a top choice.
Interested to hear your thoughts.
Transferring into Kelley is quite difficult. Even very strong HS students who didn’t get direct admit find it hard. So, he/you should proceed as if he were going to graduate with an Econ degree from IU.
IU sounds like the best value, a happy medium between Bing and PSU.
Fingers crossed on USC although it’ll likely make things more difficult.
Don’t think of an MBA. The average age for MBA students is 26-27, so by that time he’s be a grown adult and his company may well sponsor the MBA. So, factoring that in just muddles the choices.
If you can afford better fits than Bing, then it makes sense to pay a bit more for a good fit. How much more is something your family can discuss (with or without strings attached such as part-time job or specific GPA).