Help my son decide for business school :AU,Stevens,Syracuse, Drexel…

Compare College Acceptances
, , ,
1

My son wants to study business with music minor.

American Kogod business administration major
No merit aid, didn’t apply for need based financial aid
Total cost 79k

Syracuse college of arts and science undecided(2. Choice and if he goes there he can try to transfer to Whitman for second year) 88k

Stevens - business and technology with 22.5k merit aid total cost after aid 65k

Drexel -Lebow college - business and engineering major with 29.4k aid total cost 56.9k after aid

He also have acceptances from Ithaca, Hofstra, Quinnipiac, Muhlenberg , Temple all with good merit aid but not considering these as they were safety kind of schools

Michigan state pre business with 7k aid and waiting for Broad direct admit invitation in April

He got accepted to berklee school of music as well but no aid so that’s out for sure

Diversity is important as well as the location. He wants to be in or near a city preferably
Not very interested in fraternities

Stevens is too close to home but near NYc and has good reputation, good job placement, male/female ratio is low

American and Syracuse without merit aid are more expensive than others so not sure if they are worth it. They both have nice campus Syracuse is known for social life however he will have to try to transfer to business school but not sure if that’s an easy transfer or competitive like in MSU broad

Drexel coop is attractive, more diverse compared to others , like the location

2

I’m going to push back on something you said about safeties.

Kids choose safeties every day. My kid chose a low level engineering school over Purdue. My daughter got into 17 and choose #16 rank wise.

My son, btw, works with Purdue and Michigan grads and my daughter will be in a post college program that’s loaded with Ivy kids, from a small regional.

My point - Ithaca, Hofstra, Quinnipiac, Muhlenberg and Temple being safeties does not mean they should not be considered - especially if they are direct admit.

I mean, would you rather go to Ithaca, or Quinnipiac and study what you want - or have the “stress” of going to SU, studying something you don’t want, and hoping to transfer in the next year. I’m an SU alum - but that’s crazy - and oh by the way, Ithaca would be fantastic (although it seems like you have to audition for the minor - and you might check that at each.

So if you have a budget, I’d eliminate AU and I’d eliminate SU.

And if cost matters, how are they in comparison?

and btw - Michigan State is no more prestigious than any school on the list, short of supply chain.

It seems like you like Drexel - so that’s fine - but again, not better than your “safeties” - but give you like the city and feel, you can go for it. Muhlenberg is small, Hofstra is suitcase…Temple is allegedly dangerous.

So you might go Drexel or try Broad, direct admit or not.

None of these schools are going to give you a standout outcome over the other - sorry - there’s no “better” amongst this list. They’re all solid.

Good luck.

3

Both sons applied to Drexel. One for the business school and one for Westphal. Neither attended but I was more impressed with LeBow than I thought I would be. Westphal is well regarded. I think they use the quarter system so make sure that’s not an issue.

A few students from our HS have attended. I haven’t heard anything bad other than the usual safety concerns on an urban campus.

It seems like Drexel checks the boxes. Have you visited? Syracuse would probably be the next best option but is expensive.

1 Like
4

Yes we attended a tour last year and admitted students day at Drexel. We know Philadelphia well as we lived there years ago. I know people who go there currently and they are happy. Coop is a plus but quarter system is different and I read some students complain as there isn’t much break in between quarters

5

Syracuse college of arts and sciences don’t have many majors my son is interested in. He would have to transfer to Whitman but not sure if it is competitive to get as a transfer

6

I don’t see the significant reputational gap that you seem to perceive between the schools you’re considering, and the “safeties” that you’re ruling out. Are you sure the more generous merit isn’t backfiring in terms of your perception of these schools? There’s nothing wrong with accepting a good merit offer! And a school like Ithaca or Muhlenberg or Temple could potentially offer more strength on the music side compared to your more expensive choices. Of course, only one of those is urban. So maybe it’s just Temple that deserves stronger consideration.

Yes, there are some grittier urban areas around Temple. But I have known high-achieving kids from OOS suburban areas who have taken the merit there and had fantastic experiences and outcomes.

For a student who wants a business+music combo in an urban setting, I would question paying a lot more for Drexel over Temple. Co-op is great, and Drexel packages it well, but Temple business students can do co-op too, if they want to.

image
image1612×916 116 KB

The music school is top-notch, and the minor requirements are flexible enough to be focused on the student’s particular interests: Music Minor < Temple University

(Temple also has its own satellite campuses in Tokyo and Rome, if semesters in either of those cities would be of any interest.)

Diversity-wise, Temple beats every other school on your list.

Would he be in the Honors Program at Temple? If so, note that it has its own Living Learning Community in addition to the academic enhancements.

Anyway…
No way would I full pay for Syracuse without even being assured of access to my desired major. And tbh, that sentence could end after the first eight words, but that’s just me.
I don’t think American, for business, is worth almost 80K/year either. (Even for poli sci, AU’s biggest strength, I would question that price tag; but for business I really do not see the value-added over Drexel, Temple, Stevens, etc.)

If he does get the direct-admit at Michigan State, that deserves to be in the mix too.

In summary… I would cross off Syracuse and American, give Temple a second look, and narrow the decision down to Drexel, Stevens, MSU, and Temple. (Your son should consider not overpaying for a not-manifestly-superior school to be his first business case study - what is the opportunity cost of that money?) How many of these schools have you visited? Can he go to admitted students’ events and form his own impressions? Good luck with the decision!

5 Likes
7

Exactly - even the safeties are solid. US News Rank is not a reason to choose a school. None of these are stalwarts - but all are solid - including the safeties. They’re all in the same league - although different type of schools - i.e. Muhlenberg an LAC vs. an SU or AU, etc.

To spend that much to go to SU is INSANE (and I’m an alum saying that) but you are not even studying what you want. And there’s no assurance you can be. And think of all the stress you have that first year trying to make it so you can. So the year is less enjoyable (trust me, I had to do this for Newhouse and wish I didn’t even though I made it) - and what if you don’t get in?

Because of the music minor (not sure if performance based), you should look into that at each school - how do you know, for those like Ithaca that require an audition, that you can even study music?

2 Likes
8

Yes I agree with you. SU isn’t worth taking the risk. Even if he was accepted to Whitman I would still think as it is the most expensive one.
All schools are good or similar but the ones I picked are better ranked for business school.
For auditions he would be okay as he has done it for Berklee and got in. He has a lot of experience in different areas (multiple instruments, music technology, song writing etc)

9

I think you are right about the relationship between merit and prestige. If I go by most generous offers or cheapest it would be Hofstra, Ithaca (both 35k), temple(38) then Quinnipiac (45)
All Drexel, Stevens and Muhlenberg are in the same range after merit

10

Agree that Temple should be reconsidered but Fox business school won’t cost much more than Drexel. If OP isn’t a state resident, Fox would probably be more expensive unless he received aid/merit. Hard to believe.

11

Are you looking at career outcomes?

Better ranked in this case means nothing.

What % of kids are getting jobs, at what salaries, and where. Ask each for career outcome reports. They don’t all provide - there might be a reason why!!!

If you are using US News, this is the methodology - it’s crap. It’s a popularity contest and nothing more. Look at outcomes. Here’s some linked below. For AU, switch to business on the links.

You should get outcomes from each and every school - and not use US News as a filter (unless you choose to). Not all have it and you should ask for even more details if this is a concern for you. Rank does not = getting jobs. Again, these schools are likely not far apart in regards to outcomes - companies hire by location and none of these schools stand out vs. another.

In the spring and summer of 2024, U.S. News surveyed deans and senior faculty members at each of the 532 undergraduate business programs accredited by AACSB International. All 532 programs were ranked.

These deans and faculty members – two at each AACSB-accredited business program – were asked to rate the quality of all programs with which they were familiar on a 5-point scale: outstanding (5), strong (4), good (3), adequate (2) or marginal (1).

Career Landings | Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business

We Know Success: Where AU Grads Land

Outcome Assessment | Hofstra University

12

OP is saying that son got enough merit to bring the cost of Temple down to 38K/year, vs. 57K for Drexel.

13

Drexel’s Business+Engineering would likely preclude Music and if he got into Berklee he’s likely serious about it and excellent, so I’d cross Drexel out. (Also, not sure it’s worth a premium compared to Temple Honors).
Syracuse would require an internal transfer which is far from assured and is way too expensive for that. So I’d cross it out too.
Michigan State can be in play if he’s invited to Broad direct admit.
My first choice would be American if you can afford it because of the location with the opportunity to intern one day a week in DC starting sophomore year, excellent Business school that nevertheless allows him to pursue music and, again, location is heaven for musicians.
My second choice would be Ithaca (good college town with Cornell, assuming a Berklee admit would pass the audition).
After that, Stevens or Muhlenberg depending on which one feels “right” to him.

1 Like
14

Correction temple isn’t that cheap actually my number for temple was wrong
It will be same as Drexel
I think it didn’t include the room and board initially
Sorry about the confusion

2 Likes
15

Ok. That wasn’t in original post. I would want to know if OP applied to Fox or Liberal Arts. Fox is about $10k/year more.

16

Thanks! I will check that as well but no I don’t prefer to go by us news actually
Drexel and Stevens have very high starting salary but don’t know all schools but this makes sense due to coop and Stevens being in NY area

1 Like
17

Maybe a list of all schools with overall COA would make this easier? Also, what is your hard budget?

1 Like
18

Drexel has music minor as well.
Is DC that good for music lovers? I don’t know much about DC but AU campus was very nice

At temple he is not in honors

1 Like
19

He was accepted to fox business school for finance and because of that my numbers were perhaps wrong

1 Like
20

That changes the calculus because Temple Honors really adds to the experience and guarantees 4 year of (nice) housing, which matters in North Philly. If in addition the costs are not in the 40-50k range then I’d cross it out.

Yes but the Business&Engineering major has virtually no space for a minor: there’s no elective possible freshman year, only one Spring Quarter Sophomore year (none Fall or Winter), perhaps 2 junior year.

DC has too many concerts by the best musicians for anyone to attend them all :star_struck: and I’m sure there are some on campus too.
Here’s what they say on their webpage, but your child could email to have more information :

And AFAIK the music minor doesn’t require an audition though the performing ensembles do. You may want to check whether these are open to non music majors (at AU and elsewhere).

2 Likes