Hello, I’m new to this forum and am a current high school senior. I’m looking to major in business and am curious as to the quality of business programs in Cali schools and which is the best. Now I do want to say that Berkeley is impossible for me as well as USC, and that’s because of my stats.
Arizona resident (possibly WUE eligible depending on school and major)
3.342 UW 4.0 W GPAs (this is my big killer for me)
Rank 43/411
AP/Honors course load
ACT - 27 SAT - 1310 two times, 1300 one time
Very strong ECs, 3 years in DECA, 2 as an executive chapter officer (1 as CFO, this year as President) accompanied by 3 years of the marketing class (marketing instructor/DECA advisor is usually a recommender)
2 years in Link Crew (freshman transition program)
1 year in JSA (Junior State of America)
Above average work experience
2 10-week internships at my city hall in the finance department (usually one of my recommendations)
Currently working at Fry’s for 4 months as a bagger
I’ve applied to all my in-state schools (ASU, NAU, U of A, GCU) and have been accepted with varying scholarships
Also looking to apply to NYU, Northeastern, and searching for more strong business programs, specifically in Cali but welcome to other recommendations
Thanks in advance!
What is your college budget/year? HS course rigor such as AP/IB or DE courses?
For costs and reputation, I do not think you can do any better than ASU’s Carey Business school.
Chico is probably the best WUE school in CA for biz. UNR and Boise State are also solid options.
UC Irvine and UC Riverside are good undergraduate business school. UCR takes juniors only. Being an out of state applicant, both UC’s will almost as expensive as the private schools you are applying to.
@Gumbymom I’m filing my FAFSA today but I’m just applying to possible schools and worrying about money later, I spend about 4–5 hours every weekend, if not more applying to third party scholarships. And I have an AP/ Honors course load
Most UC campuses don’t offer a traditional undergraduate degree in “Business Administration”. Berkeley, Irvine, and Riverside do. Also, all UC campuses offer “Economics”, and this may include “Business” as a minor option (like San Diego) or as part of Economics (like “Management & Business Economics” at Merced). Expect high out-of-state tuition and no financial aid.
All CSU campuses offer a “Business” major, so lots of options there. However, the most popular CSU campuses are “impacted” (relatively hard to get into) and non-WUE (high out-of-state tuition and no financial aid). As with Post #2, I like Chico State as a WUE option (although it’s hard to see most CSUs as better values than in-state option at ASU).
For accessible privates (other than Stanford or USC), the options are mostly Catholic: Santa Clara U (not to be confused with USC), Loyola Marymount, U of San Diego (not to be confused with UCSD or SDSU), or U of San Francisco (not to be confused with UCSF). All are respectable, my pick would probably be Santa Clara. U of the Pacific is a non-Catholic option. Since these schools are private, they don’t discriminate against out-of-staters in terms of tuition or financial aid. However, they aren’t particularly wealthy, and are not noted for generous aid.
Yeah I was looking into uni of San Diego and it seems like a decent school, I do acknowledge ASU’s WPC, I’m just trying to keep possibilities open. Also I wasn’t super specific about my major but I’m looking into finance, management, and marketing degree options at the moment. I’ll look into Santa Clara Uni, thank you @Corbett
Worst thing you can do is “worry about money later”. Why apply to unaffordable schools? Run the Net price calculators on all schools. UC’s and Cal states will give you no FA so expect $60K/year for a UC and up to $40K for Cal states. Many third party scholarships are not guaranteed for 4 years. Find out how much your parents are willing to pay now.
U of A has a very good undergraduate business school. I recall UA is ranked in the top 25 according to the latest US News and World Report ranking of undergraduate business schools. Likewise, I think ASU’s business program is around there too. It appears that you can save more money by staying in Arizona.
you certainly can, and perhaps should, apply to a few schools you probably can’t afford in the hopes they offer you some significant aid. Just be sure to have a fall back in mind. As others capture above, ASU is a good school and a fantastic value for in-state students… that’s a good fallback.
I confirmed that in the lastest undergraduate business school rankings by US News, UA and ASU are in the top 25 in the country. UA is either 22 or 23 and ASU is 24 or 25. With the exception of NYU, these two Arizona undergrad bus. schools are ranked higher than the other schools you are considering and also the ones suggested to you to consider.