DC is applying to mostly big state schools (UF Clemson South Carolina UGA UMD Ohio FSU Penn State Miami and UC’s) and has 4.61 and 34 superscore (weakest score is Math at 30)
Wanted Marketing/business but considering Advertising, Hospitality as two other options) as assume business is harder to get in? Thanks
Sort of.
Nobody can predict the labor markets five years out- but the ad industry has been contracting (making a short video for social media touting a brand requires less skill, is less expensive, and the number of eyeballs you can get for a small investment is unbelievable.) So I doubt there are any prognosticators who are predicting that hiring in the advertising industry is going to be MORE robust than it has been over the last few years. The industry already contracted when the magazine industry became a shell of its former self; when newspapers were replaced by handheld devices, and when streaming made linear TV a much lesser force in society. So what AI will do is anyone’s guess.
In general though, I think the highly specialized degrees are less flexible and a lot less interesting than a broader degree. The specialized degrees are heavy on content- which becomes obsolete very quickly- and light on analysis, theory, etc.
Think of every person you knew from HS that wanted to major in radio production. Heck, a ten year old can produce a professional sounding podcast from their kitchen table! You don’t need a degree in it…
So if advertising is the passion- maybe graphic design? Much bigger platform and many more opportunities down the road. Not quite so pigeonholed into an industry which is contracting? Already when I was working in consumer products (40 years ago) ad agencies were slowly (and then quickly) replacing functions like media planning, ad sales, etc. with computerized versions of what human beings used to do.
Although your student’s math score is relatively weak compared to their other ACT section scores…it’s not a weak math score in the big picture. Business schools can have relatively lower acceptance rates (and advertising/hospitality are in the business schools at some colleges.)
I am certain your student can student marketing/business if that’s what they prefer, and would encourage your student to apply to the major/school they most want and see where they receive acceptances.
You might add some more likely business schools like U Delaware, Tennessee, Pitt.
IU Kelley is a safety (assuming affordability) because your kid meets the direct admit criteria (unless they attended more than one HS)….why is IU not on the list?
Many majors require a minimum standard.
Are they even interested in advertising ?
Getting a degree bcuz it’s easy - not a good idea.
Hospitality - in some ways a wasted degree. You get some business but the degree, short of a school or two, opens little that you can’t do without.
A 34 superscore is likely fine. UF doesn’t admit by major. And she has a good chance.
Figure out the major she wants.
Can’t get into UF ? Then apply to Alabama too which is the same thing and also highly ranked in advertising.
If they want advertising ….do they ?
Major b4 school. These schools you listed, short of some UCs, have most all the majors.
No matter where they attend - they should study what they want and the math will be the same.
Don’t change your desired major based on admittance. There’s many sub schools that will get you to the same place.
With the stats you gave, the student can get into anywhere. The UCs don’t look at test and only a few schools offer business.
But math is going to be there no matter where the student attends big name or otherwise. If they struggle, there will be an alternative sequence or major.
Good luck.
Your child has good enough stats for many business programs and should be fine.
My daughter is a studio art and communications major, she’s hoping to get an internship in marketing or advertising this summer. She has dyscalculia and math is rough.
I would avoid graphic design, AI is really going to change the career.
You may want to look at marketing as a major, in some schools it’s separate from business.
Finally, I was a business major and terrible at math. I squeaked by Calculus but the rest of the business mathy classes didn’t really require a high level of math skill.
Just quickly agreeing that:
(A) That is not actually a bad math score!; and
(B) Something like Marketing might be a better idea than strictly Advertising. I think of Marketing as a broader field and the sort of thing that should continue to be a major division of business indefinitely (at least until we are ALL enslaved by our robot overlords).
I agree with others that he should study what interests him, not something else as a backstop. AND that he has a decent score.
Having said that, it’s easy as a consumer to think advertising or marketing are just about design, cleverness, and creativity because that’s what we see. That’s part of it, but the business side of it is often very quantitative – determining what is working requires lots of analytics and sometimes stats. Unless you’re working on the creative side, advertising/marketing isn’t a great way to avoid math. But majoring in it might be a good way to shut yourself out of other business fields which could be of interest.
Are you worried about the math content of the various majors once he’s in, or are you just worried about his math subscore being a barrier to admission?
I’m not hearing you say that he’s drawn to the field of advertising per se. I’d agree with others that choosing that field just because it’s less quantitative probably isn’t a good enough reason. Plus, there’s nothing about a 30 math ACT that suggests he couldn’t handle the math requirements of a typical business program. MIT Sloan or CMU Tepper might be rough, but he isn’t applying to programs like that.
A program you might consider at Clemson, which is adjacent to both business and advertising but also includes some science content, is Packaging Science. This is a highly employable and well-paying degree, and it can be made even more business-y by adding a business minor. I’m not familiar with admit rates by major at Clemson, but I know that at the California schools that offer Packaging - Cal Poly SLO and San Jose State - the major is a hidden gem that has a relatively high acceptance rate. It also offers a great student experience, with a very project-based approach. As you can imagine, the way products are packaged can serve advertising functions, but package designers also have to consider a variety of other parameters, from supply chain issues to the prevention of physical damage and spoilage. Can be very interesting work. If it’s an easier admit at Clemson, as it is at SLO and SJSU, it might be worth weighing as another business alternative.
Hospitality is very well regarded at South Carolina. If it isn’t a true passion, though, I’d be wary of considering that specialty at schools where it isn’t a particular strength - often the employment prospects can be weak and low-paying if the program isn’t particularly well-connected.
OP, if you are considered other majors solely for admissions purposes, please check out what’s required to switch majors or schools.
Sometimes, it’s really easy. And sometimes, it’s very, very hard.
I second that. The advertising business might have resembled Mad Men in the 1960s, but today it is integrally entwined with market research, which is very stats and quant heavy. Sure, there are still creatives producing the ads, but the business is driven by measuring increased sales in response to specific ad campaigns or promotions.
Not to mention so many people in agencies and at clients (very different roles) aren’t advertising or even business majors.
Yeah, and in fact I would suggest very few professions are left where going forward it would be fine if you were uncomfortable with using quantitative data.
But I think someone with a 30 Math ACT is not therefore unlikely to be able to handle that level of math in a professional context! And I think there is still often a distinction between the producers and consumers of data. That latter have to understand what they are looking at, but they don’t necessarily need to be interested in actually producing it themselves.
Adding context - a 30 is at the 95th percentile of all math takers.
OP will get into many business schools - and since they want marketing, they should go for marketing.
Florida doesn’t admit by major - it’s a tough admit overall, but they can study marketing if get in.
UMD, UGA (pre business), Penn State marketing, and Miami are all difficult admits - could go either way but could get in all. FSU will be an in. U of SC and Clemson will be an in.
They can direct admit to IU - safer than any school on the list and higher ranked than any school on the list - especially in marketing.
If they want south, they can toss in a Bama Culverhouse or Auburn Harbert for a safety.
But honestly, since they want “marketing” - which often intersects advertising - the math score is really not a concern.
Is the list appropriate - I’d say so - OSU Fisher, FSU are near assured, UGA, UF, Clemson, UMD, PSU - at least two will happen in my opinion but likely more.
But if OP is that concerned, add an IU (safety at a top school), Pitt, Bama, Auburn, Ole Miss…whichever - just do provide a level of internal security.
Given the major, the where isn’t going to matter much anyway.
But wanted to note a 30 nationally is OUSTANDING.
But when you read the CC, you’d think it’s cause for community college 
Without giving too much away to protect identity, my fine arts major husband who (god bless him) is not good at math, is very high up in marketing at a multinational corporation.
I asked him about this thread this morning and he said that beyond budgeting and the ability to interpret reports, he really doesn’t use math beyond pretty basic algebra. He’s never taken a Stats class even.
Maybe don’t tell the CEO!
To jump on the “you’ll be fine with the math” bandwagon, frankly most of the math required for business is not that difficult. Financial accounting is largely addition and subtraction, and knowing the rules. For statistics you need to understand the concepts and set up the data sets, but the actual calculations are done on computer programs. The hardest math you will do in your economics class is a derivative, which is actually plug and chug. In short, most of the math used in business (and life in general) you learned by your second or third year in high school.
Now, if you were an engineer taking calc 3 and fluid dynamics that would be a different story. My MechE major/business minor son refers to his business classes as “coloring within the lines”.
Along those lines, my BA History/BA Economics (ie econ without the hard math) sister sold print and then digital adspace for around 25 years. Her job required that she understand the performance statistics for specific campaigns, and she did just fine.
Thank you all for your replies!! I should have added more info. It’s a girl- does that help? Also, she isn’t taking AP Calc and is struggling a little in AP Stat. So my worry about business is if she is deferred, that would be hard to argue to get in. Not to mention, she doesn’t enjoy Math and her other ACT Scores are higher (36, 36 34) so I am trying to steer her to something else. I don’t know if it should be English, or Social Entrepreneurship or PR or Psych but she keeps vaguely mentioning business. I think a minor would be fine!?
IU on the list! She wants warm though
I think UGA also doesn’t admit by major either… my concern is if she is deferred- her math is weak and she is struggling in AP Stat.
Both but at this moment, getting in. I still think she would do better and enjoy another major. She needs to focus and read about them!