My son has been accepted to the undergrad. business schools Penn State, Fordham & Miami Ohio. But after merit aid, Miami/Ohio is $20k / yr. vs. $40k / yr. for the other two (full retail for Penn State and $25k merit aid for Fordham).
He would pursue business / finance as well as NROTC (was nominated for the US Naval Academy but not appointed).
He likes the two more expensive schools better, of course, and I’m not going to make the decision for him based on price.
Help! - any comments or feedback on any of these schools that could assist with his decision?
Will a Miami / OH business degree carry as well in Boston or NYC? Does it even matter if went into the Navy for 5 years after college anyway?
Don’t know enough about Miami of Ohio to say but considerations re the other schools:
Fordham – the obvious plus for most students in business is its NYC location. Most students can get internships during the school yr as well as over the summer, so by the time they graduate – they have a pretty solid resume already, which only helps them get a real job. BUT is it really worth it for your son? If he’s NROTC, he’ll be pretty busy during the school year and over the summers with Navy training, so I’m not sure that he’ll even have time for anything besides school and Navy. And then when he graduates, he’s headed straight to the Navy; somehow I don’t know that Fordham’s alumni network is all that tight that it’ll be helpful to him after he leaves the Navy – though who knows, maybe it is. Also keep in mind, whatever they’re saying the price is at Fordham – you’ll end up shelling out more simply bc NYC is so expensive. Everything from eating out to traveling to another part of the city to living off campus if he ever chooses will cost you. Not sure that it’s worth it.
PSU – it’s been doing better and better from a recruiting perspective every year. They’ve worked hard to get a lot of NYC companies on campus every year. Obviously with PSU – no chances of internships during the school year for anyone due to location, so he won’t miss out on that. Paying for PSU full freight seems steep given what it is. I mean – yeah it’s a decent school, but let’s be honest it’s not that great of a school overall. If you do go down the PSU road however, what you are getting is an enormous and very active alumni network that your son will have access to after the Navy years are over. PSU students/alums with marketable degrees do well in getting jobs simply bc there are a lot of them at every company you could think of – NYC and much of the east coast – and for the most part they are very excited about their school even decades after graduation. So once the Navy years end, he won’t be floundering re what to do (as many young officers do) bc he’ll be able to call up PSU grads in fields that interest him and likely will land somewhere based on those connections. So you have to decide whether that’s worth 40k/yr.
If he goes into the Navy for 5 years after school the school name will matter little. Experience leading people and experience in a technical field will matter much more.
Has he been to the three schools? My son and I were both quite impressed with Miami, and especially the Farmer school. He wound up at our state flagship (Maryland), but Miami was a close second, and he was accepted at multiple good business schools. What impressed me at Miami is that everyone seemed very happy to be there, and we visited in the dead of winter. If it matters, there are many, many attractive girls there. My son even noticed and commented.
I would vote for Miami. Why spend the extra money since he is going to Navy anyway? When he gets out, his Navy experience will carry the day, not where he went to school. Miami is a hidden gem, and the kids are happy there. My child has had an amazing experience. They have a great alumni network, and I have been pleased with my child’s experience there.
He chose Penn State and loves it, decided against ROTC. Unfortunately the most expensive school he got into, after accounting for merit aid. We are out of state residents.
He fell in love with the campus and the “rah-rah” school spirit. The Smeal business school has a good rep., so that sealed the deal. Also, the alumni network is 500,000+ strong and they seem like a real family, so he felt that would help after college.
Wow, surprising… Miami is off the charts when it comes to curb appeal. When my kids and I visited, one kid was asleep in the back seat, and when we approached the campus, kiddo woke up, looked around, and said, “this is where I want to go.”
I loved Miami, especially the generous merit aid, but the more I suggested the more he resisted. It was a good lesson on psychology for me. I did not force the decision, perhaps I should have, I know he would have loved Miami too.