Great advice thank you!
Congrats to your daughter with the scholars program! Amazing!
It’s interesting that poets & quants has swapped their selectivity criteria to a diversity criteria at the colleges request. But I agree important to be around people who challenge you to be better.
IME, students will do the best where they flourish and are happiest, regardless of which school it ends up being. Happy kids get great grades which translates to great interviews and opportunities for jobs.
Wouldn’t this eliminate Clemson? Terrific sports but the area is nothing like Boulder for a college student. In fact it sounds like CU would be the best fit based on what you shared (except wrt food, I don’t know how good the food is at CU 
).
Seems like there is a 150 credit requirement in most places for the CPA exam…
What prevents an accounting graduate from taking any 30 credits of courses at a community college to get to 150 credits?
Does credit from AP, IB, etc. count toward the 150 credits?
S23 is in Colorado (CSU) and while he loves the outdoors and touring (he’s in Moab this weekend), it does require a car (or a friend with a car) and hours of driving. He often drives 3 hours on weekends to go exploring somewhere although there are also great places to explore within an hour or just a bike ride away. The idea of “close” out west is entirely different than the east coast.
That’s where he should go then! My son was totally set on going to another school until he visited CSU. And then he just knew. I have to say, he’s definitely living his best life out in Colorado. It’s so different than where we live and he’s loving it. I love that he’s getting such a different perspective. There is just something about Colorado for a certain type of kid.
Just be aware that off campus housing is very expensive in Boulder. Make sure you factor that into the finances.
But what % of accounting grads are sitting for the CPA vs. like my nephew did, just going into industry.
I don’t know the percentage - but I’m sure not everyone goes the CPA route.
Accounting, in general, is a great degree.
CU is at the top of his list right now.
Good question - need to look into that!
Thanks so much for the great insight! Great to hear how much your son is enjoying CSU and Colorado!! While academics is very important during the 4-5 years, personal development/lived experience is equally important! Thank you!
Great question to ask each college. In my experience, going the CPA/public accounting route provides many future career options and opportunities. Not the only way to go but a path with a lot of potential due to the exposure to so many different things.
Interesting that you mentioned Poets & Quants. One thing I like about their ranking is that they provide granular data under each ranking criteria, so that you can look at only the metrics that are important to you. For example, this data dump allows you to look at acceptance rate, average SAT, or % of NMS students, whichever that’s of interest to you.
P&Q stopped using GPA for a reason - because the numbers are everywhere and it would be difficult (if not impossible) for P&Q to normalize the GPA number each school provided. (Some provide weighted GPA, while others provided unweighted. Not to mention some colleges may recalculate GPA with their own formula…) However, historical GPA numbers by school are still available from the 2023 ranking here - Average GPA At The P&Q-Ranked Business Schools, from which you can get a sense of the incoming student quality at your candidate school.
Agreed GPA is very hard to use - guess that’s why the standardized tests are returning. From your link, I see the GPA’s from the schools that rejected my son at points much lower than his - so it can be a data point but not tell the whole story.
I guess it comes down to where they feel they can thrive to make the most of the significant time and money investment. Why the visits are so important.
I reminded myself of a saying I would use long ago - when faced with two choices - pick the one that will bring the bigger life. Everyone’s bigger life is different. For my son that might be the a solid education in the mountains.
This stuff isn’t easy! Thanks for the insight!
My daughter is in the business school at Clemson, finance/math with a focus on actuarial science. It’s been amazing, she has 3 great advisors (honors/business/actuary), has gotten every class she has needed, actually has enough credits to graduate this May but is loading up on actuary related classes to prepare for exams (takes her 3rd in may), had a lot of summer internship interviews and many acceptances here in the NYC area (she wants to come back here after graduation). Everyone is NICE. She’s never had so much fun in her life, and she had fun in high school. Lots of school spirit, outdoor activities (lots of lakes). Most move off campus sophomore year but there are so many rental properties close by, ranging from very affordable to the lap of luxury (most have their own bedroom and full bath, and pools). Those not in walking distance have either private shuttles or are on the CAT bus route. Weather is great.
A nephew goes there and it is a special place for sure!! “Nice” is such a spot on description!
So glad your daughter has had an amazing experience.
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