debrockman

I have a very bright (Junior) son, grade accelerated, two-year advanced math, B/C Calc as a junior, very strong PSATs as a sophomore. He has had pretty good grades in hard classes at a blue-ribbon public high school....lots of AP classes. Top 10% (barely)...GPA about 3.5 unweighted, 4.0 weighted. Has done mission work on an Indian reservation... pretty conservative Christian kid. He's been athletic....Cross Country/CYO basketball.
He'd like to go to the best business school he will qualify for, but he's not a Marxist, so that will factor into his decisions. Where should he apply? If he wants to go to a top tier school...like Michigan or Brigham Young, how much higher do his grades need to get? Where he sits now, he likes Miami U. (Ohio), of course IU is in there. Opinions?

openedskittles

The GPA isn't as important as rank. It'll likely be very hard for him to move up to the top couple of %, which is where schools like Michigan and BYU fall in B-schools. What are his SAT scores? An exceptional score could be very helpful when trying to show he's better than tenth percentile on his applications.

debrockman

He's too young to have taken the SAT, but he had a 213 PSAT. Perfect Math score. 9th in the State on the state math competition. Most kids with his math aptitude are doing engineering or premed. He is considerably more analytical than most kids going to B-School, but that's what he likes.

debrockman

Also, his school is unusually strong. We live in one of the most affluent counties in the US. Lots and lots of smart kids.

OSUstudent

If you're considering Miami university you should also think about OSU.

I know that Ohio states business school isn't as high (according to the rankings in that other thread) as Miamis, but I guarantee you that more people will have heard of Ohio state than Miami university when he goes to job interviews.

openedskittles

^ Are you kidding? Miami is one of the original public ivies and of course the recruiters will have heard of the school when they're coming to it to recruit you. Personally, I'd rather go to Miami.

Also, the OP seems to be putting a lot of emphasis on the fact that the high school is full of rich kids. Your child did luck out in the regard that funding and safety were probably much better than at an average high school, but don't expect that to be some kind of magic GPA compensator. Some might even view that as a reason he should be making better grades.

Like I said, he'll need to demonstrate that he is better than 10th percentile for the "higher standards" idea to carry any weight. I knew a lot of kids who left for private high schools if their parents could afford it and their parents would say the private school just has much higher standards as an excuse for why their kid wasn't in the top 10%.

The truth is, a lot of affluent kids just have more money than sense and there are students graduating from the top 10% at these "higher standards" schools who retook the SAT four times to muster up a 1750. He needs to show he's smart and his school will not do that for him. It could also really help if he has leadership experience.

debrockman

Well, top 10% will get him into Miami or IU, certainly, particularly since he is grade accelerated in one of our state's best high schools. He is in the only school in the state where 2-year advanced math is even offered. There are only 7 juniors in B/C Calculus. Our math department is far better than the local private high schools....even the preps. Our HS has the highest math SATs in Indiana. He has scored 100% of every math standardized test he has ever taken. When he retook the PSAT this year after his 213 (which equates to 2130 on the SAT), he felt he had done even better. He takes the SAT this spring. His score, I'm sure, will easily be over 2000.

He loved Miami when we visited. Personally, I think that is the right school for him.
He loves sports, too, which is really amazing at OSU, but since he is so young, that huge school seems a little much for him. I think if he goes State School, it will be IU. He actually does quite a lot extracurricularly....he does mission work, tutors math, works, plays basketball, runs cross country, does math team.

debrockman

opened skittles....I did find it kind of funny that you say that he has to show he's smart.
A's in B/C calc as a junior, 9th in the state on the Rose Hulman Math exam, grade acceleration, two-year grade acceleration in Math, A's in A/P Chem, Perfect Math PSAT....I think he's demonstrated that he's smart. He's probably in the top 2,000 math students in the country. He has an unweighted GPA of 3.6 and a weighted GPA about
4.1. Our school uses a 93 - 100 = A grading system. The only reason he had a C last year in a quarter of Spanish was because he refused to participate in the teacher's "Bravo" point system....he thought it was "political". I just rolled my eyes. He made A's on every test. Then he turned around and got the highest grade in the school on the National Spanish exam. Oh, he's smart, all right. But he definitely isn't concerned about making the highest grade in the class. He's a coaster, for sure. It may cost him a U of Michigan Business School admission. I guess that is something he will just have to learn. Miami has a 5-yr. Accounting program which qualifies you to sit for the CPA. He's thinking he might do that in addition to their "China Business Program" and then go to IU for grad school. Truthfully, he wants to live in Indiana. There's really no reason to go to an Ivy League school with his "life plan". Michigan would cost us twice the price of Miami.....and with the state of Michigan in the "state" it is in, I worry about the U of Michigan's future. They are talking of privatizing which will raise their costs even further...and they are already a 50k school. I think they are going to be in trouble. My opinion. Additionally, Ann Arbor is very very liberal, which is not something I think my barely 17 year old high school grad will really be ready for.

OSUstudent

I still say give OSU a shot.

Again, although the Business school isnt ranked as highly as Miamis, the University is all around ranked much better.

OSU's business college is also among the best schools in terms up getting their graduates employed (Fisher College ranks #1 in the nation in placement success by the Financial Times. 90% get a job within 3 months of graduation) and said graduates advancing within the company (I believe it is ranked second in that).

OSU is in the top 20 public universities.

Miami doesn't make the list.

Also, in the likely event that your son will change his major in the course of his college career, OSU offers the most opportunities by far.

With a big school comes big opportunities. You should really check out OSU and see how all of their programs are ranked well, and all the different types of extra-curricular activities and other academic programs there are.

debrockman

OSU....I totally appreciate your love of OSU. It is a great school. One of my best friends went to OSU for engineering and still goes back all the time. Loved it. No doubt a great school with a ton of opportunity. It is hard to justify OOS at OSU, though, when both Purdue and IU are in Indiana and will cost us half as much. That one just boils down to a financial decision. He can go to UK as in-state because my husband is a medical school alum, but IU's B-school would be better. He can attend MU cheaper than OSU because of how well MU rewards students in the top 10% with high test scores. I think we are probably hoping for honors at either IU or MU. Purdue is a possibility, but when you go to Purdue and don't major in engineering, people assume you can't "hack" engineering....which isn't the case. Based on test scores, we are hearing from every engineering school in the country....it just isn't what he is interested in. He's a finance/accounting and politics kind of guy. He wants to grow up to be the next Mitch Daniels.

ifailedcalculus

If he's in-state and money is at concern...than IU. He's already going to be a direct admit to the business school, not to mention all the merit he will receive...GPA, PSAT,SAT ...

look no further.

debrockman

I don't know that Kelley Direct admit is a slam dunk.....believe it or not. This year will really decide that. If he puts in some effort, that would probably be the case. If not, he'll have to apply as a sophomore. I would definitely encourage him to get himself into an honors dorm. You are totally right in saying that Kelley is a huge bargain for an in-state Indiana kid.

openedskittles

I'm sorry if my comments offended you. I merely meant that saying he goes to a good high school means nothing, because he's the one applying for college, not his high school. However, it seems he is making use of the opportunities going to such a good school provides, so I'm sure he will do fine and might just be an auto-admit at Kelley.

Kelley is a great school with a top 10 finance program, and if that's what he wants to do, then it will be very hard to justify going anywhere else, especially since you have in-state tuition.

bballkid2592

I was wondering...as a finance and accounting double major which would be the best route for getting best job opportunities (assuming that I am doing sufficient as far as education). I can't get into any IV's straight cause my gpa is too low, everything else is in order though. But from the following routes...which would be ideal. I would prefer drexel for first two years because i know people there and i have Extra Curriculars that i really want to a be part of that are there.

From:

Drexel To Wharton
Drexel To Harvard
Drexel to Yale
Rutgers to Yale
Rutgers to Harvard

debrockman

openedskittles....no offense taken
His high school is meaningful in Indiana. Everyone in Indiana knows that the schools near IU, Rose Hulman and Purdue are loaded with really bright kids whose parents work at the universities; and Hamilton County has two really strong high schools. Good grades at those schools mean a lot. Boone County also has a really strong HS. But you are correct in saying that most admissions people outside of our state would not have that same understanding.