<p>I have a daughter that is intrigued by a few women's colleges, but most of them, of course, are centered on liberal arts. She is undecided in a major, but loves English, History and is thinking about business/accounting since she likes that also. Is there any school we missed that might have courses that would help her if she decided business was more "practical"? She isn't interested in Economics, and I'm advising her not to pigeon-hole herself.
Someone mentioned Simmons to me, but she heard differing views on the rigor of the school, although she loves Boston.
Any options we missed?</p>
<p>Simmons is the one that comes to mind first for business. She should pay them a visit if at all possible and ask about job placement for the majors that she is considering.</p>
<p>She should take a look at the list of women’s colleges at [The</a> Women’s College Coalition](<a href=“http://www.womenscolleges.org/]The”>http://www.womenscolleges.org/)
She may find some more good options there.</p>
<p>Most college grads getting the most elite jobs in business did not study business as undergrads. Most colleges recruited for the highest paying entry level jobs do not offer business as a major. The business jobs that in the last decade have been most in demand by top students love kids with a strong liberal arts education.</p>
<p>So a strong women’s college would be a good choice for a young women wanting a business career. Of them, Wellesley grads are most in demand.</p>
<p>Thanks, Wellesley is a great school, but the one with the highest SAT scores. Others seem a bit more forgiving or even “optional”. She only took 1, so we will see in the Fall.
That’s good to hear, re business careers, sometimes you can get a masters in a certain field but I think “taxguy” said you need a good base to do well, but I don’t want to misquote him.
I told her it might seem hard to be “undecided” but many “decided majors” change later. : )</p>
<p>I think tax guy was probably talking about accounting. That is one area where it makes sense to study as an undergrad if being an accountant is the goal. Jobs in areas like banking and consulting train on the job and hire the smartest kids they can find whether they are econ or philosophy majors.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s her quandry, she got intrigued with accounting when her cousin went into it (she found a job very quickly after college) and is doing well financially and getting a lot of experience. Her real love is History/Writing, but she knows she doesn’t want to teach and wants to see what develops when she is at school.</p>
<p>Look at Agnes Scott in Georgia.</p>
<p>I triple thumbs up for Wellesley (there is a Wellesley/MIT exchange program that allows you to take graduate classes at MIT Sloan).</p>
<p>I have a friend who went to Wellesley as an undergrad, then enrolled in a master’s level accounting program at Northeastern, where she took advantage of their coop program. (This was a fairly quick degree–no lengthy graduate school slog.) She graduated with a job at one of the top accounting firms (it was either Peat Marwick or Cooper Lybrand–this was several decades ago! 
), quickly passed the CPA exams, and after a few years went to work for the SEC, then transferred to a fairly high level job in DC.</p>
<p>Her major at W was not economics or math–possibly psych.</p>
<p>Many, many Wellesley women go to into business, and go to business school either right after college or later. Take a gander at the alumni magazine some time.</p>
<p>I am a current Wellesley student. I have a similiar dilemma as your daughter as I am currently in the process of deciding whether to stay or to transfer out to a business school. I came into Wellesley thinking I wanted to do something liberal artsie and realized over the last year that I enjoy practical, real life application of ideas better than theories, basically I would do better with a degree in something that has a clear track to a career. I got into Wellesley ED and never had a second thought about going somewhere else until I came to Wellesley. I will say that if I do leave I am not sure I could find an educational atmosphere that rivals Wellesley. It is so amazing to be surrounded by so many smart women that it is overwhelming at first. </p>
<p>Somethings to note: You can take classes at MIT/ Babson/ Olin/ Brandeis. However, Wellesley will not give you credit for business courses except for the first level accounting course. MIT Sloan is really difficult to take classes at unless you are a MIT Sloan student. Babson offers a lot of business courses that are a lot easier to get into. Taking courses at other schools can be difficult and time consuming because we have a limited amount of transportation to the other schools and I believe we have no transportation to Brandeis. So unless you have a car or a lot of time on your hands it can be difficult. MIT is the easiest school to take classes at because so many Wellesley women do it. Also, it can cause a headache in the spring if you are taking classes at other schools because we all start at different times and thus end at different times. Olin/ Babson start one week in january, Wellesley starts the next week and MIT starts the week after that. </p>
<p>Also in regards to Wellesley having high test scores: Test scores are just a portion of the application, Wellesley is looking for well rounded students. Most admissions office know that the SAT is not a perfect test and it really is testing your ability to take a test. If her grades are up to par, she has a fair amount of ec’s and writes a good essay than she will stand a pretty good shot at getting in. Also, take the ACT, Wellesley takes either and people who do well on SAT IIs and APs, but not SATs tend to do better on the ACT.</p>
<p>Sorry for such a long thread but I hope its helpful!</p>
<p>Barnard has arguably the best writing program in the country. The connection with Columbia will allow her to take classes in all her interests. What was stated above about business majors is true. I’m not sure of your daughter’s stats but Barnard is statistically the hardest womens college to gain admission then probably Wellesley. In certain circles, it doesn’t get more elite or prestigious than these two schools because of the incredibly strong alumni ties. </p>
<p>I think either sound like a good fit but I’m biased. Barnard 2013! </p>
<p>Also, I plan on majoring in Economics and Mathematics, so I’m on the same track. I too wanted to do business but after doing some research I found this is the best route. If she is thinking about grad school I especially recommend Barnard for this joint degree in econ and math becuase it allows you to take higher level math courses which I’ve heard greatly help with grad business school.</p>
<p>I can see business working with everything but accounting. I think undergrad courses would help a lot and many times you don’t need to spend money on a graduate degree with accounting, undergrad is enough, so you might need to factor that in. I know a company might pay for a masters often, once you start working which also saves money.
I suppose if accounting stays in the picture, a women’s college (except Simmons which she doesn’t like very much) would be out of the picture, but just “business” would be an option. I feel a college with liberal arts and a business school or good business courses would be best, but one day at a time, this rollercoaster ride is far from over!
SAT scores will be coming soon, past ones were okay, but not Ivy level, but math was high. Time will tell.</p>
<p>Wellesley is definitely a great school for someone interested in business. The liberal arts education provides a good basis for learning how to analyze and critique work; you get a really strong writing background as well. And, as mentioned before in this thread, Wellesley has cross-registration with MIT, which arguably has one of the best management programs. Also, there is cross-registration with Babson. So if your daughter is interested in business, she definitely has a wide variety of options at Wellesley. Wellesley alumnae also have strong contingencies at many top business schools, especially considering that most business schools are about 1/3 women.</p>
<p>One of my twins is interested in business and is somewhat interested in a women’s college. I think visiting will lean her one way or the other. She would rather have a more practical skill with a BA and then decide on grad school. She will have to take out loans and it would be nice to know she could stop at 4 years if possible. My niece went into finance/accounting and had her company pay for her masters. She owes them 2 years, but it was worth it for her.
Because my D loves to write and read history books, a strict business school was crossed out. Hopefully we will find a good match…it’s hard to know what you want at 17.</p>
<p>Good luck with your D’s search, Debruns!</p>
<p>Mount St. Mary’s College (Brentwood, CA)</p>
<p>Mills College. We just opened our new business school two years ago and there is a great graduate program she can enroll in if she likes it enough</p>