Honors vs Big Name Schools

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I was just wondering whether you guys thought that going honors at a regionally known university or attending a nationally known university would better prepare me for a JDMBA and beyond, or prepare me well enough for a potentially turbulent job market in four years. I want to do a business/engineering double major.</p>

<p>My basic stats are</p>

<p>3.66 GPA (Hope to get to 3.75)
Top 20 percent in very competitive class (3.9 required to crack top 10 percent)
SAT 1350 Composite, 2100 Cumulative
ACT 30</p>

<p>Honors programs considering:</p>

<p>Ohio Northern Honors
Miami of Ohio Honors
University of Dayton Honors
…and other schools that I could do honors with hopefully slightly higher stats than I posted</p>

<p>Also considering…
Lehigh/Bucknell/Lafayette/Union
Cornell
Wash U
Harvard (haha)
Vanderbilt
…and a few others</p>

<p>Don’t worry, I already have a chance thread. I am only wondering about hnors vs regular at these selected schools, or others that you think would fit my stats.</p>

<p>Anyways, thank you and god bless Barack Obama.</p>

2

<p>go for the big name school</p>

3

<p>Depends upon what you plan to study & whether any the schools listed offer special majors or courses of study that interest you. Miami of Ohio Honors College could be an interesting option that a well qualified student might prefer over many of your listed schools. If, however, you are an URM, then aim for the Ivies or the equivalent as a 1350/1600 SAT &/or a 30 ACT will work miracles.</p>

4

<p>Go to the best school you can get into and afford. For business, school matters.</p>

5

<p>Miami U Honors</p>

6

<p>If you’re planning to study business/engineering, I would go to a big name school. I don’t know much about engineering, but I do know a thing or two about business. In terms of future job opportunities, I think it’s always best to go with the places that have big alumni bases/intellectual reputations. Also, you might even be able to get into some of the honors colleges at some of these other schools. You should look into that.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the response!</p>

<p>Honestly though, The university of Dayton Honors has been my gut instinct for a while due to the fact that it is the #4 entrepreneurship school in the country, and also the ridiculous scholarships that I would get, but it is nice to get a knowledgable national perspective. Unfortunately, I am not a URM and I am also at a $97,000 EFC according to the collegeboard’s calculator, although that could change quickly if my family’s company goes sour. So, that’s why the whole Honors thing is so attractive, because my family might need to use my college fund to whether the economic downturn (if they have one for me). </p>

<p>Anyways, I also forgot to throw a few more schools into the mix that I might consider going honors at:</p>

<p>IU Bloomington
Bowling Green State U
University of Kentucky
Ohio State
West Virginia U</p>

<p>Also, I am not sure whether I could swing Miami of Ohio Honors, but I have a good shot at the Scholars program. ONU and UD are guaranteed, and not so sure on the others.</p>

8

<p>Indiana University is an excellent school, so their Honors Program/College probably is quite strong. Beautiful campus.</p>

9

<p>Don’t pay attention to entrepreneurship rankings, very, very few schools offer the major and it’s not going to be of help job wise.</p>

10

<p>Indiana has a great business school. If you get into the honors program there, I’d take it.</p>

11

<p>Dayton is a good school, a lot of spirit.</p>

<p>But go with the best school/money comb you can get.</p>

12

<p>go to the Honors Program!</p>

13

<p>I’m also considering the Indiana honors program. If you’re looking to study business, Indiana has a good reputation, and they take care of their direct admits. When I met with the assistant director of the undergrad business program, he was very straightforward about the advantages and disadvantages of Indiana. He explained that as a direct admit, it would be extremely hard for me to get kicked out of the business school, even if I had rough semesters (multiple C’s). Also, there are a lot of opportunities for scholarships and grants for business/honors students. Depending on the amount of money that I get, I’m definitely going to consider it. I heard a rumor that Indiana is going to up the ante with their selectivity in the coming years. I think the value of a degree from Indiana is on the rise.</p>

14

<p>Years from now, when you’re at a cocktail party and someone asks you where you went to college, you’ll sound silly if you mention that you were in an honors program so…</p>

<p>Go for the big name school!</p>

15

<p>Thanks for the advice, you guys. I didn’t realize that IU honors had such a good reputation.</p>

<p>Also, if there’s any other good honors programs that I could get into with these stats, let me know. I am open to all options.</p>

<p>If you want to get a better idea of what my stats are like, come look at my chance thread: Small-Town Junior looking for advice and chances for big-name schools </p>

<p>Thanks!
*</p>

16

<p>Dude, IU’s Business program is world class.</p>

17

<p>

If you’re just going to a school for how good it sounds when mentioned at a cocktail party, then maybe you shouldn’t even go to college</p>

18

<p>^haha yeah i loled at the cocktail party comment. im hoping the person was trying to be funny and wasn’t actually serious.</p>

19

<p>Just a couple quick questions…</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What are the general requirements to get into IU’s Honors college?</p></li>
<li><p>What are some other good options for a 1350 SAT/30 ACT/3.7 GPA business/mech. engineering major that has time to improve all of these stats above?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks.</p>

20

<p>It seems like a lot of your schools are in the midwest, so Purdue comes to mind for engineering. I don’t know what its business school is like, though.</p>

<p>Also, Miami dropped the Scholars program this year.</p>