S26 (Nor Cal) has admits to Fordham Gabelli (w/ scholarship) & PennState Smeal (No scholarship), so even cost. We are attending Admitted Students Day this Fri & Sat at both places.
Past posts seem to suggest Fordham option is better if the student has Honors program at both. S26 does not have Honors program at either of them. Which option would make more sense for a non top-10% gpa student?
We understand if student is into IB then Fordham works best in this case. He likes the placement at NY as a location but has not made up his mind about IB or AssetManagement or Markets Trading as a career industry yet. Would choosing Fordham be a bad choice if student later decides not to go into IB?
S26 also has admits to OhioState Fisher vs SMU Cox and has scholarship from both. He loved the OSU ASD and was ready to commit but when scholarship with Fordham came, he seems to have changed his mind a bit. NY placement is more attractive than Chicago/Columbus to him.
SMU Cox looks great wrt placement & campus. S26 seems skeptical wrt social, academic & placement experience for a diverse student outside of greek life at SMU Cox in Dallas. He wants to talk to someone and it has been hard to find. Maybe we’ll get lucky at their ASD on Apr 10.
There are more opportunities in NYC for most anything finance, so Fordham is an easy selection. Obviously if you are looking for a good school with a spirited campus life and strong sports scene, Fordham is less likely to be the one.
Fordham Gabelli sounds like the best choice here based on what you said - that he would like honors like program, likes NYC, diversity, interested in finance though not necessarily IB… Also, are you sure the Ignite Scholars decisions have been announced? (Vaguely thought it was later than Honors and Boyle but now uncertain so check - and your son should inquire about it, too, just in case, attaching his resume.)
Penn State is in a great classical college town and Smeal is obviously excellent, but the required classes will be large and it’s not a city so if those criteria matter to him I’d say Gabelli is the better choice. Another mark against PSU is there admission to finance follows a secondary process with enrollment limited to those achieving a 3.5 in their freshman classes.
He’ll know when he visits though, the vibe and environment are extremely different.
In any case, congratulations for excellent admission choices - isn’t it good to have an embarrassment of riches?
The SMU culture is so different from Northern California or NYC! I would say if your son isn’t drawn to that culture it might not be a good fit. Though, the direct admit to Cox is great, and if your son attends admitted students day he will probably get a sense of the place.
I definitely cannot compare it to Fordham but I believe other posters on this thread are very knowledgeable.
Kids get into IB from all sorts of schools - far more than people name - including Fordham, Penn State, SMU and Ohio State. The ranks track only certain firms - there are more - and there are more cities where IB is happening than NY.
That said, you will be somewhere four years day after day. You need to love it - so choose that school. If It’s OSU, that’s fine. Smeal might have more historic connections.
How do you know Fordham kids are getting the same level of jobs at NYU?
No matter where you go - it’s going to be tough and no one knows what the industry will look like in 5 years. Already, Nashville, Charlotte, Houston and more are the new outposts - and some stuff may disappear or go overseas.
So I’m choosing the school I like best - connecting with alums to find out how they got in (all four list alums on linkedin).
If me, and I wanted small, I’d go SMU over Fordham and PSU over OSU - but all four will be fine.
No matter what, the odds aren’t great and your student will have to hustle.
Had an intense visit to both campuses of Fordham and a drive to PennState with S26 and did tours, session etc and coffee chats with current freshman students as well.
Looks like Fordham Gabelli has it covered wrt Placement. S26 loved the NY location but a bit down on the size of the campus. We really wish they had done a mixer for the prospective students.
PennState campus, facilities are impressive. ASD sessions were good and student mixer was well received. There was no Smeal Business Building tour, we did a self guided tour and discovered an ongoing career event for Schreyer Honors that others were not welcome at.
Made us wonder whether all the great Finance & Business placement, clubs & programs that Smeal markets everywhere, is that only for ~200 Schreyer HC & Sapphire students and rest of the 1300 students are not part of an equivalent experience and thus on their own wrt to placement towards premium finance industry like IB, Asset Management etc.
Does anyone know what the typical non-top 10% student experience and placement out of Smeal is for a Finance Major? If not, how to find out apart from reaching out on LinkedIn to individuals.
Ask career services and i love the linkedin idea to ask kids about their experience. You can likely parse out who is Schreyer and isn’t because it’s likely on their profile.
In addition to career outcomes, I would focus on the campus life and core curriculums at the two schools. There are plenty of obvious differences. A happy student is typically a more successful student.
Please come back and let us know the final choice.
S26’s top choice turned out to be Fisher. He wanted a large campus in a city setting. With merit scholarship from OhioState he felt they wanted him too. Or maybe attending Buckeye vs Hoosiers basketball game on Admitted Students day sealed the deal.
Parents are saving the cost difference from Fordham into the 529 if a masters degree intentions surfaces in a few years if S26 wants to move outside of Columbus/Chicago placement area.
for excellent admission choices - isn’t it good to have an embarrassment of riches?