Is going to Ohio University a bad idea?

Hayden7543 · 01-08-2011, 10:22 PM

So basically here's me summed up:
32 ACT
4.1 GPA
Nice Extracurriculars

Accepted to: USC (California), OSU (Ohio) Honors Program and Fisher College of Business, Miami (Ohio), and Ohio University (Honors Tutorial College).

So I got into the OSU Honors Program and Business School and have $3,000 through a regular OSU scholarship. I have the opportunity to apply for more scholarships, but I doubt I'll get more money. So to go to OSU it'd be about ~$16,000 a year.
I also got into the OU Honors Tutorial College and would get full in state tuition so it would be about ~$9,000 a year.

So my question is, would it really be that bad to go to the Ohio University? Or would it be worth it to go to Ohio State?
Is it nieve to think that I'm limiting myself in my future career (and salary) by going to Ohio University?

gadad · 01-08-2011, 11:06 PM

Quote:

would it really be that bad to go to the Ohio University?

About 5,000 freshmen do it every year. There will be no career or salary limits by attending Ohio instead of OSU.

Hayden7543 · 01-09-2011, 06:50 PM

bumpity bump

Erin's Dad · 01-09-2011, 08:06 PM

As gadad stated, it is NOT a bad idea. Save the $.

kitty56 · 01-10-2011, 07:26 AM

My brother went to OU (granted, many years ago). He enjoyed his time there, did well, went to law school and has done extremely well career wise.

IUmom7 · 01-10-2011, 11:08 AM

OU is a beautiful campus...I was very impressed/surprised by how beautiful. If you can possibly do another visit and talk to some current Honors Tutorial students, I would recommend that. Again, I was impressed by what we heard about the Tutorial program...seems very personalized/intimate/challenging.

My D didn't choose to apply in the end--for various reasons. But to this day I think it would have been a great option. If you plan on grad school, that certainly would help you save for that. The HT program sounds like great preparation for grad school.

It does seem that you need to be very self-motivated and have a good idea what you want to study from the start. Now that I think about it, I think that is what made my D decide not to go that route--she had MANY interests and wasn't ready to pin down a direction. If you have a good idea of what you want to study, OU/HT might be perfect for you.

If you are less decided, OSU might be better, and is still a bargain at 16k a year.

Also have an acquaintance there--Val of a nearby HS. I hear she loves it and is finding it intellectually rich (not sure if she is in HT but I suspect she is).

gadad · 01-10-2011, 12:50 PM

Quote:

It does seem that you need to be very self-motivated and have a good idea what you want to study from the start.

Why would that be, and why would OSU and its campus of 50,000 students be better for someone whose not as self-motivated?

CaliAdVitam · 01-10-2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Accepted to: USC (California)

How have you been accepted to USC when they haven't even released decisions yet..?

digmedia · 01-10-2011, 06:10 PM

HTC at OU is an unbelievable environment to be in. You get all the perks and personalized attention of a very small college within the environment of a larger university. Sounds like a no-brainer to me (my son graduated from HTC in 2009 - best decision he ever made was to go there).

Caveats on HTC:
- Best choice for someone who is extremely motivated and knows exactly what they want to do; the more self-directed you are, the better; it is a terrible choice for someone who wants to hide in the last row through college and avoid the attention of professors
- It also might not be a good choice if you are not sure of your major; I hear transferring the tutorial credits can be tricky

With the HTC you get a lot of perks in terms of early enrollment, support for projects, and just plain working with a lot of talented students.

wildandyoung · 01-10-2011, 06:56 PM

Quote:

How have you been accepted to USC when they haven't even released decisions yet..?

I was wondering the same thing...

IUmom7 · 01-10-2011, 10:26 PM

@gadad--my comment about Honors at OU is just based on what I gleaned during a campus visit and interview my D had there. You need to declare a major going in, and be ready to function at a very high level, very independently, right off the bat. It's very selective, so I'm sure most students fit that just fine. In my D's case, she was not ready to choose a major, so that ruled that out as an option she wanted to consider.

I guess what I meant about OSU as an alternative was there were many directions/paths to take there, and you wouldn't have to KNOW, going in, which path you wanted. You would still need to be self-motivated, of course, as you would to excel most anywhere.

As digmedia mentioned, it is apparently difficult to change course/major while in HTC...maybe someone has actual experience & can speak to that. I just know that at the interview they were pretty firm about having to choose a major when you apply.

al6200 · 01-10-2011, 11:32 PM

What kind of business do you want to do? Look into the industry that you're interested in and see what firms recruit at OSU/OU. If money is a big deal consider going to a CC, doing really well, and then going to OSU.

alamemom · 01-11-2011, 12:48 AM

USC (California) has not released 2011 decisions. Are you a Questbridge applicant?

Hayden7543 · 01-11-2011, 09:48 PM

Hahah
@Everyone asking about USC

My bad, I didn't really realize what I was saying when I typed that

I have NOT gotten any recognition of acceptance yet from the university

brianv11 · 01-12-2011, 10:52 PM

I was curious how you found out so quickly about OU HTC? I just interviewed this last Saturday - have they already sent out acceptance letters? What program did you apply for?