My son’s friend was admitted to Indiana University Bloomington and 4 other private colleges: University of Denver, Clark University, Drexel University, and Quinnipiac University.
He plans to major in business. He is also considering working in the East Coast after graduation.
He has not been directly admitted to Bloomington School of Business program yet. He will need at least average B after the first year to get into that program.
Which one should he choose? He is a full pay student. Money is not an issue.
Each school has something attractive to me. It’s hard to help him make choice.
How much private colleges will help him from falling through cracks?
My best advice is not to give your son’s friend any advice. There are lots of variables at play here – the size of the school is one, not being a direct admit into the b-school at IU is another. Let the student and his family decide what is best for him/her.
Agree- stay out of it, it’s not your kid so you lack much inside information. Needing certain grades to apply to a business school is not uncommon. Those with the ability shouldn’t have problems. If a student can’t get the grades they shouldn’t major in that subject. Flagship U’s have a lot to offer. Students tend to become part of the smaller group that encompasses their major- not falling through the cracks. Being private does not make a school a better environment. Having the ability to navigate a large school is a skill- not having handholding is an asset that transfers to real life.
Does your son’s friend have parents? If so, I would say your input is probably not needed and should be withheld unless his parents ask you for some reason.
For name recognition I would go with IU. Their business school has a good reputation. Plus- who knows where the student may choose to work a decade from now. Likely from Indiana and being closer to home can be a benefit. I assume they are not in Bloomington, otherwise they would have more college knowledge. Checking with the HS student’s guidance counselor could be useful. Someone had to come up with the college list. Going in with the parents to find out why these colleges were chosen could make it easier to understand and explain to the parents.
The kid is a B+ student in a relatively good private HS. He could have done better if he has not been slacking. Some of the reasons are: his parents were not able to help, he did not understand the importance of GPA, he spent to much time on sports and friends.
My son wanted to go to University of Maryland. It was his first choice, and is in state. However, we both agreed that he would go elsewhere (funny - Indiana was most likely 2nd choice in his case) if he hadn’t been a direct admit to Maryland’s business program. How disappointed will the kid be if he doesn’t get into the Kelly school? Just a factor to consider. Another thing to consider is how sure is he that he wants business? My son was also admitted to another school that has a very good business school, and he got a great scholarship there. However, if he changed his mind, the quality of the program’s didn’t seem to be as good (in our opinion). Just a couple of things to consider.
He was thinking about Indiana U. for 2 reasons: if a student cannot make B average in the first year then it’s hard to be in business major. Also other business schools are also competitive and require minimum GPA. If he changes major then he can transfer after 2 years. For Clark U: it belongs to the group Colleges That Change Life, but I am not sure about the real impact. For Drexel: Coop program and location.
What would have swayed my kid is that two of the colleges you mention have D1 hockey programs. Sometimes it can be things like that that tip the scale.
I’d go with Clark if he’s a slacker and tends to party too much. UI is pretty risky for this type of students and the business school admission (for those who aren’t direct admits) is quite difficult and can’t be counted upon. Quinnipiac and UDenver would be in-between.