<p>Hi, if you could guide me on the below decision. My son got accepted into Carnegie Mellon, NYU Stern Business school, Davidson college, William and Mary, SMU, Baylor, Occidental, Oregon Clark Honors, Grinnell college, UCSD for his undergraduate. He wants to study Economics. He got some scholarship from SMU, Baylor, Grinnell and Occidental. Any suggestion?</p>
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<p>Is he amenable to attending an institution that’s very socially conservative and religious like Baylor or SMU? If not, it’s may not be the best place for him. </p>
<p>Also, does he care whether he attends large universities like UCSD, Baylor, or SMU or small LACs like Occidental, William & Mary, Davidson, or Grinnell with populations less than 3000 students?</p>
<p>Also, it seems like he’s applying to schools with extremely different environments. Grinnell, Davidson, and Baylor are located in small rural/suburban towns. UCSD, NYU Stern, Occidental, and SMU are located in large urban areas. William & Mary is located in a small city. Does he have a strong preference?</p>
<p>If he’s going into business, being in a big city like NYC could help him very much. Stern is looked upon very highly based on the little amount of research I’ve done.
Great acceptances. Congratulations :)</p>
<p>Would agree with above post that for business NYU Stern Business School cannot be beat. Excellent reputation globally and he would be in New york which would present a lot of opportunities for internships and employment. Second choices would be William and Mary and Carnegie Mellon. Personally, I think William and Mary is one of the most underrated LAC’s around. Beautiful campus, impressive faculty and a serious student body. In academic circles it is well recognized as among the best. Graduates are well placed when it comes to graduate school.</p>
<p>Wonderful acceptances. What can you afford? Also, given that his list was composed of schools with such different environments, did he give any weight to the issue of fit? Would he be happiest in a large university in a major city, or in a small town, smaller-school atmosphere?</p>
<p>NYU is a notoriously expensive school, in part because the city itself is so expensive. Can you afford to send him there? Certainly, Stern would provide nice opportunities to someone who wants to go into finance or a similar field. What does your son hope to do with his Econ major?</p>
<p>My niece was accepted to Oregon Clark Honors and UCSD. </p>
<p>She visited both and decided on UCSD.</p>
<p>She’s been very happy there so far.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the acceptances. If finances are not an issue, let your son choose.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. My son prefers not to go to a large school in the interest of having generally smaller class sizes. However, he does not mind having a few big classes in college. He does not have a preference for a city/town type, as he sees positives in urban, suburban, and rural areas. He has really narrowed his choices down to Stern, Carnegie Mellon, William & Mary, and Davidson. He is not yet completely sure what he wants to do, but has a lot of interest in economics. If he studies that, he would go on to pursue graduate level study in economics and then go into a research field. He feels that CM, W&L, and Davidson would be the best for this path, but he’s not sure which one would be the best out of those. Furthermore, he does have some interest in finance as well, which is why he is interested in Stern, and he recognizes the value of a degree from there. He is also under the impression that if he goes to Davidson, while the academics is very strong, his degree would not be recognized outside of the South. He was wondering if William & Mary might have this issue in its respective region. He also wants to know which school, if he pursues an career in economics, would give him the best chances of getting into a top graduate level program. My son would also like to know a degree from which school would carry the most weight throughout his career. He is also concerned about how happy students generally are at each school.</p>
<p>Have you been to Davidson? If not you should come take a visit. I live very nearby Davidson. The campus is beautiful. The weather is nice. It’s in a charming town with nearby amenities for anything you could possibly need. The students there seem to love it. I believe they have a very good track record for grad. school placement. Many Davidson students are from far flung locations.</p>
<p>Thanks to PackMom. Have you or anyone here heard anything about “grade deflation” at Davidson college?</p>
<p>Davidson and William & Mary cant be beat for happiness of students and great undergrad experience and education. Good luck.</p>
<p>Don’t know about grade deflation. Do know that Davidson has an honor code that is taken very seriously. They have take home exams and are on their honor to never “cheat”. Have also heard that Davidson students have good success with medical school admissions.</p>
<p>W&M always rates highly in student happiness (how that is actually measured, who knows?).</p>
<p>W&M students have excellent grad school results, and the school is very highly respected. Routinely rates VERY high in commitment to undergraduate teaching and since it has fewer grad programs, the professors are committed to the undergrads in terms of being available and offering research opportunities. W&M flies under the radar sometimes in terms of the general public because it is a state school, but it is VERY unique in terms of size and its undergraduate focus. W&M is very highly respected in graduate school admissions and employers that are looking for high quality undergraduates.</p>
<p>That said, if you want to go to school in NYC (or somewhere similar), obviously W&M is not the right choice.</p>