(I’m not really looking for a debate on which is better, so I really hope this thread doesn’t go in that stressful direction.) I was just curious on what people decided to do for themselves and why and thought it might be helpful for others in the process of making that decision. This is the response for my teen:
Did you choose a Direct Admit or Non-Direct Admit Business School?
My teen chose Direct Admit.
And why?
My teen didn’t want to go through another application process after a year that gave her a 50/50 chance of being admitted into a non-direct admit school when she had the grades and SAT to get into a good direct admit school.
She didn’t want to end up in her second choice major at a non-direct admit school, which might have been biology, unless she really wanted to be in it. This would likely lead to a different career path for her that would’ve been outside of business.
Mine is at a non-direct admit. He liked this school the best from all his acceptances, and he is pretty certain that he will be able to get accepted to the business school there. Acceptance rate is pretty high as long as you keep your GPA up, get the business prerequisites done, and show involvement/leadership on campus.
My daughter was similar to yours- Only looked at/applied to schools that had the option of direct admit and only intended on going to the school that admitted her direct-admit. As it was, she was admitted direct-admit to several and went with her first choice.
My DD did not give any weight to direct admit versus non-direct admit and ended up choosing a non-direct admit school. With AP credits, she started as a junior by credits, and so after completing the required pre-business courses first semester, she was able to apply for her majors second semester freshman year and had no trouble getting her number one choices. She started as one of the top incoming pre-business students at her college and graduated as one of the top business students at her college. We were very confident she wouldn’t have any issues, and she didn’t. Everyone needs to honestly assess their own risks when making this decision.
Son chose direct admit only. And, thank goodness bc he did poorly his freshman year (for all the reasons, frat, etc.) and would not have been able to get it due to freshman year GPA; <3.0.
So most non-direct business schools are still really easy to get into. You just have to have a good gpa and do the things they say to do. UGA and TCU are two that I know are like this. However other schools, like UNC Chapel Hill actually have competitive business school admissions. So I felt comfortable applying to direct admits and the first type of non-direct admits, but I stayed away from the competitive type generally.
Interested in your take on other schools (like UGA and TCU) that are not direct admit but aren’t nearly impossible to gain admittance to business after Soph year? My child is looking at UGA, TCU, SMU, U Miami, U South Carolina, U San Diego, U Tennessee, U Minnesota, ASU, U Alabama, CU Boulder and Wake Forest. I know SMU, CU Boulder, U Minnesota and ASU DO offer direct admission to the business school and I’m trying to figure out if he should apply to these school direct admit or not direct admit based on how hard it is to get in as a sophomore/junior. He also wants to increase the likelihood of admission at each school so I’m curious which you think you would be more/less likely to be accepted to if you DO try for direct admit. Any ideas?
I can’t really help with most of your list but I know that Cox (SMU) is difficult to get into if you don’t apply direct admit. Wake as you know, doesn’t have direct admit but my understanding is that it’s quite a hard admit for a sophomore, the first year GPA average is something like 3.6 or 3.7.
CU Boulder has a direct admit but still likes to put people in exploratory studies and then transition into Leeds Business School. This should be fine as they provide support in exploratory studies.
Any idea what they are looking for in the direct admits? S25 has taken AP Stats and taking AP Calc AB this year. 31 ACT (retaking next month) Boulder is on his list.
