My son is having a really hard time making a decision. He has narrowed it down to 4 schools and he plans to be a business major. They are:
SMU Cox
Auburn(Harbert), plus honors college
William and Mary (Mason)
Virginia Tech (Pamplin)
He has visited all of these schools and likes them very much in different ways. Based on the tours he liked Auburn the best, but he could see himself at any of these schools. But he’s struggling with which business program is strongest esp because he doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do or what part of the country he will want to live after graduation. He has merit aid at Auburn and SMU but not at VT or William & Mary, so they will be $10K & $20K more PER YEAR respectively. That is a big consideration. But beyond that, if anyone has insight into any of these programs particularly with regards to internships, job placement and alumni network that would be appreciated!
All 4 have strengths. You said cost is a consideration…how much different is Auburn vs SMU? I think SMU would likely be the strongest business program of the four but others might say W&M. SMU is nice given proximity to Dallas and alumni base there for internships. Would guess it also has the best IB placement of the 4 though that doesn’t matter unless your son is interested in IB.
A lot here depends on what he wants to do. If he’s going to get a typical job - marketing, finance (not investments), supply chain, etc. - then all four are fine.
In today’s world, I don’t worry about where you go to school being where you end up. With the internet and sites like indeed and linkedin, you can and will end up pretty much anywhere.
VT is huge and W&M isn’t. Auburn is large but well contained and SMU is your smaller, wealthier school.
Any can work. Va Tech is known for the best food in the country. SMU is in the city. Or close enough to downtown. VT is in the sticks as is Auburn and to some extent W&M.
An argument can be made for any of the four - and just because a school has the best reputation (likely W&M Mason r SMU Coxof the four), doesn’t mean you need to go. Pamplin is also strong and Harbert will be fine in 90% of the situations. And he’s got Honors.
So he’s going to be there four years and he should choose where he fits best.
All that said - he likely can have a positive experience and get a great job out of all four. And all four may end up a great experience - so it could be that there’s no bad choice here!!
Is he direct admit to the business program at Auburn, SMU & W&M, or will he have to apply after sophomore year? How competitive is that admission?
That was my daughter’s consideration when applying and why she ultimately chose VT/Pamplin for business. At VT, if you’re accepted into Pamplin as a freshman, you are in and can start taking business classes from day one. Other colleges require the first two years of gen ed and then start with business classes as a junior. At VT, there are less gen ed’s required for business and they allow you to take one or two each semester and the rest can be in your major. When she was interviewing for finance internships, interviewers were impressed with how many finance & business classes she had already taken. Also, no foreign language requirement for business at VT. This allowed her to be able to go for a double major (and there are many business-adjacent options at VT to choose from - my daughter is doing finance and real estate. Also, no problems getting the classes she wants & needs (which was not the case for my oldest at UNC).
VT has excellent business career fairs twice a year (mostly targeted toward juniors & seniors, but freshman & sophomores are more than welcome to put on business attire and attend to start networking). VT business recruits heavily to DC & Richmond but my daughter also had interest from NYC and Charlotte (no matter what college is chosen, much of the networking is up to the student. It’s not hard to identify opportunities in the cities they want to be in.)
Also, I would respectfully disagree with the comment that VT is in the “sticks”. It is in a small town (Blacksburg) that’s located next to a bigger town (Christiansburg) and between the two they have almost every restaurant & store you could need (except a Costco & a Trader Joe’s but the townspeople have a strong lobby going to try and attract the latter).
Anyway, is it worth $10K more? No idea but I just wanted to share my daughter’s experience as a business major at VT.
In the sticks from a transportation, getting there POV. But all of these are sans SMU - and then W&M to Richmond or East to Norfolk and then Auburn to Atlanta…Va Tech is farthest from a major city (Charlotte) although you might count Roanoke.
I love Va Tech by the way - nicest large campus in America. And yes it has all. I was simply talking about from an access POV.
I agree with this. We’ve been visiting all the schools and all of them except SMU are not easy to get to. Auburn is easier that W&M and VT. We live in California, so all of them are a plane ride, but some require a lot of extra driving on the other end! It’s not a huge deal, but definitely a factor
My son is trying to figure out his plan as well. (We are from southern CA). So far, SMU Cox is in the running. Incredible program and really strong internship opportunities which is key for what he needs prior to graduation. Their reputation is stellar in all the big cities. My nephew graduated last year from SMU Cox and had a job offer prior to graduation to work in NYC at PW. We are going to Admitted Students Day next month to visit again!