Transfer out of Purdue/Daniel's

Transfer Students
21

Finance could be somewhat more math and statistics heavy than other areas of business.

Usually means a non-flagship state university with a direction in its name, like Northern Arizona University, Central Michigan University, University of Southern Mississippi, University of West Florida, East Carolina University, Northeast Illinois University. Not all states name their non-flagship state universities this way.

But note that some flagships may not be that selective, so a 3.06 college GPA may admit to them.

Usually, there is less political activity at less selective or more commuter-based schools. However, the general political views of the students and the general area could affect some assumptions in social life or quality of life aspects.

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22

So looking at schools with following:

  1. Suburbs or rural / not urban - so no schools like College of Charleston
  2. Near Ice Rink
  3. Nothing too big
  4. I think lots of majors - business + because I’m not sure business is the final major for this student.
  5. Better weather

I’m not going to say easier school. There’s a kid who posted at Columbia that he’s bored. When I was in grad school, my roomie’s friend at Wharton had it way easier. He may be struggling at Purdue - it may be more difficult or it may be business courses aren’t his forte. I also disagree about competitive majors - especially at the types of schools he’s looking at - and many have Supply Chain and it’s a great major everywhere.

Hope this helps.

I’ll go state by state:

Florida

Rollins College is 10 minutes from a rink and has an AACSB accredited business degree. It’s an LAC with a business school, taking 50-100 transfers a year. They have business, international business and social entrepreneurship. It’s about 2500 kids.

U Tampa could work - it’s near downtown Tampa, on the riverfront. Many who try Miami, try there. It might be too urban. It’s 15 minutes to skating. Its’ 11000 kids. Honestly, not a huge fan academically. It was the first school my kid removed - their entire school chat was about getting high and I know someone who is an adjunct there. But it’s a popular school with a good rep and a nice campus.

Alabama

The first school I thought of was UAH. It’s 10 minutes to ice skating. Like Purdue, it’s most popular majors are engineering and that’s where it gets its wider audience but they have business - and the STEM won’t infiltrate business. It’s not STEM-Y to the point of Purdue. There’s 9K kids, 1400+ in business. They have D2 I believe and club hockey. Huntsville is considered a top city for young people to start.

U South Alabama is West of Mobile, about 17 minutes from skating. It’s about 14K kids.

Texas

Trinity U is a school, off of downtown San Antonio, very well thought of. 2500 kids, it’s own B school (like Rollins an LAC), and 3 miles from skating. Like many, they don’t show a minimum GPA.

South Carolina

Furman is another LAC type - with business - 20 minutes, 11 miles from skating. 2500 kids.

North Carolina

UNCW has about 19k kids, and is 5 miles/9 minutes from Polar Ice Wilmington.

Tennessee

UT Chattanooga is a very popular school - across a bridge from a small but vibrant downtown. Skating looks to be November - Feb so may not work but it’s 1.7 miles / 5 minutes. Lots of outdoors in Chatt. About 10K kids.

Colorado

It may be too cold - but I mentioned U Denver before - well respected b school. Denver has sun - but obviously cold in Winter. They appear to have skating on campus. It’s 6600 undergrads - you looked at Miami, well this is in Colorado but not dissimilar. They like a 3.0 but it’s not required per se.

Arizona

Like U of Denver weather wise, Flagstaff is a small city in the Northern part of the state - NAU is 21K kids so a bit bigger but not big time sports. 2 miles, 8 minutes from ice. 266 days of sunshine - but yep, they have Winter.

California

If religious (Catholic) is ok, you could look at a USD in Calfornia. 11 miles, 20 minutes to skate - a student population of about 9000.

I think it’s important that you don’t just find names of schools - but not too big and ice skating clearly stand out as needs - so I wouldn’t even consider anywhere without those options.

Good luck.

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23

OP- I have 35+ years hiring talent for big companies and I tell parents of HS and college kids two things that they don’t want to hear.

1- There is no major- NONE which is the golden ticket to a good and secure job/career.

2- There is no major- NONE which is “unemployable”.

If you were telling us that your son LOVED his classes, professors, the projects and assignments but didn’t like the weather, social environment, that suggests that staying in finance but transferring is the way to go. But I don’t take that away from your posts….

Don’t love anything that won’t love you back. The best advice I ever got.

If he’d be killing it as a sociology major- go for it! If he’d love a career working in public policy or marketing or human resources or selling biodegradable medical equipment to hospitals… he can do that. Really, he can.

And folks on CC are tired of me telling the story of the best finance hire I ever made who was a geology major and had never taken a single finance class. He had created a model for predicting seismic activity (volcanos, tsunamis, etc.) for his senior thesis and after he interviewed it was all the MD’s wanted to talk about. Did he know how to do a discounted cash flow analysis? No he did not.

So you can’t predict what “flavor” is going to be useful to the labor market in a few years and AI is likely to be transformative in how companies hire finance talent. But someone who studies something they love and are really great at- that will always be in vogue.

And before I get flamed for dissing finance majors- a kid who LOVES the classes, finds the professors inspiring, and is totally turned on by the discipline- terrific. But the CC focus on “Investment Banking or bust” is not the reality in the labor market. Investment Banks hire physics majors and poli sci majors and mechanical engineers– and they get to determine their own hiring strategies like any other organization. So if the finance loving kid also loves figuring out cash flow strategies for the nurse’s union pension plan, or calculating auto insurance premium costs, or being staffed on the team that decided to take a price cut on Doritos (big news yesterday), or creating models to show the impact of raising prices on bus fares for a big city… that kid will have plenty of opportunities. But nobody can predict if they are graduating into a boom or a bust….

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24

Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida may be attractive to your son. Flagler does offer a Finance major.

Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

The University of San Diego (not sure where it’s located).

25

Earlier, you said he is overwhelmed, and then you say he is taking 6 classes. That is rough.

Is he receiving any financial assistance from you? If so, I think the hammer should have been dropped, and he should have been told he is only taking 4 or 5 classes and that it isn’t a discussion.

Is it too late for him to drop 1 or 2 classes?

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26

How many credits are the 6 courses?

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27

Thank you for this, and I agree. DH & I are both in banking and have lived through the hiring trends of the decades. We absolutely do not care if he changes to an A&S major, but have left that up to him. He has expressed concern about the political polarization in liberal arts, and the lack of that political slant was originally something he liked about PU and other state flagships.

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28

5 3c, 1 *1c

They are heavy workload courses

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30

16 credits is not an unreasonable amount, which corresponds to 48 hours of school work per week (including both in class and out of class work).

Of course, some courses could be over or under rated in terms of workload (indeed, some measures indicate declining workload over the years). However, business majors courses do not have as much of this reputation as engineering or science courses with labs, or performing arts courses.

However, for many students, the workload is higher for courses in areas they are less interested in than in areas that they are more interested in. So if business is not really his thing, business courses could be more difficult than courses in other subjects that he is more interested in.

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31

I found that MORE courses meant much more of everything– no matter how many credits.

One more professor, syllabus, sets of dates to track. Another review session; another paper/project to stay on top of. One more office hour appointment to make/keep or just drop by. And a revolving set of classmates to get notes from, set up a study group, etc.

Credit hours is only one metric. The number of discrete activities involved in an additional class can be huge.

I’d encourage my kid to drop before the deadline– surely there’s one class that has emerged as the most anxiety provoking in the bunch.

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32

The add/drop period with no consequences has already passed at Purdue. Any class dropped now requires advisor approval and will be listed as W (withdrawn) on the transcript.

FWIW it’s not uncommon for students to have five courses plus a 1 credit. Typically the 1 credit classes have no exams.

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33

Let me try again:

I think most kids, especially at less elite campuses, are more apolitical - or they don’t take it to the extreme. They’re not marching, etc. On the other hand, there is polarization in real life - so to some level he will always face it.

I do think most go to school to get educated - and then do other things whether attending sporting events, partying, working or research, finding mates, etc.

If you’re at NAU, you might be planning a trip to go skiing or to the Grand Canyon. At UNCW, it might be planning a beach day.

I think, at least at the list of places he could probably end up, he’s not going to be in an overly politicized environment. Perhaps the surrounds will be - you’re in Indiana, it’s going to be conservative in society - but I’m guessing not on the campuses.

34

Not for the GPA, but he will get a W on the transcript.

35

…(deleted)

36

is it too late for him to drop a couple of classes to lighten his load? 6 is way too many…

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37

I would consider taking one W.

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38

Hi momofboiler1. Thanks for all your help over the years. The class load appears to be too much for him. Part coursework, organization, executive functioning skills, interest…He’s not going out partying, he’s just floundering :’(

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39

Yes, for sure your son needs to take the right amount of classes that makes sense for him.

I’m very sorry that he’s struggling so much and hope he lands at a better fit when he transfers.

And big hugs to you. It’s so hard as a parent to watch our kids be unhappy.

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40

Both my kids had one - their first semesters. Both had great outcomes. I don’t think it’s an issue. He’d likely never be asked about it.

Any transfer school will note the credit amount he has and likely not bat an eye.

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