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To address the costs first:
In-state tuition at the U of IL is $15,868/yr
Out-of-state tuition at Montana State is $23,042
As you can see, the difference is $8000 a year, or $32,000 for 4 years.
1. Now I brought up the OP living in Chicago more because of the distance. It is ~1400 miles from Chicago to Bozeman; 21 hours of driving, and keep in mind that's just drive time. It doesn't account for any stops. As my daughter likes to say, "You can eat in the car, you can pee out the window, but you have to stop for gas."
You probably have to stop for an overnight too unless you have 2 or more drivers, who can spell each other with someone driving all night. The least expensive air fare is $536 for a one stop 7 3/4 hr flight. https://www.google.com/flights/#sear...9;r=2018-04-15 https://www.google.com/search?q=chic...hrome&ie=UTF-8
It's ~130 miles from Chicago to Champaign. The stories of people driving Champaign to Chicago in under two hours are legendary.
2. It is February, close to March of the OP's kid's senior year in HS. He needs to be narrowing his options, not adding more to the mix. I see no advantage in going to an average, at best, school when he has gotten into several top-flight schools.
I've never been to Bozeman, though I've been to some other cities in Montana. I'd guess it's typical college town. I lived in Champaign-Urbana for 7 years. While it's nothing geographically, there is a lot to do there.
Sorry for the confusion; my numbers were based off cost-of-attendance (tuition, room, board, books, etc.) not just tuition.
Yes, getting to Bozeman is a haul, whether you're driving (a long time to be in the car) or flying (pricey, small, regional airport). That is certainly a point worthy of consideration.
On that point, we'll just have to agree to disagree.
At this point, I believe Ohio State, Penn State, Miami of Ohio are at the top of his list based on their business programs (see - it's not just about skiing!). Miami Ohio gave him a rather generous scholarship. Ohio State has the highest rankings for the business programs he's interest in.
Since I started this thread in 2016, he has determined he does not want to go into engineering but wants to study in the following areas: finance, accounting, supply chain, real estate, and/or entrepreneurship... He applied to these schools as a finance major.
We have scheduled additional tours/visits to several of these schools.
Anyone have any feedback/experiences with some of these programs?
My only advice is that your son be certain he is comfortable with the OSU vibe regarding rabid sports team support. It is pretty intense and may be difficult to avoid if too intense for your son.
My nephew went to CU (Leeds) and was in a combination bachelors/master's program. He is climbing the career ladder nicely.
Montana State is now the biggie? When my kids were in HS (in the same district as brown_dog_us) the two big out of state hot colleges were Arizona State and U of Washington. Montana State is ranked #204 National Universities. Not where I'd want to pay out of state tuition, certainly not known for their business schools.
I don't think most employers make hiring decisions based on US News rankings.
Graduates of any large 'state 'flagship' university or landgrant university should not have a problem finding a job unless their GPA is really bad.
Montana State is not a flagship. Hiring decisions aren't made based on US News rankings per se, but any of these other schools will look better on the resume.
I also said land grant university. Montana State is a land grant university and the largest university in Montana.
MSU in Bozeman is the flagship of the MSU system in Montana. Uni of Montana is a different system.
Public universities in more rural states are ranked lower because the rankings put a big emphasis on selectivity. Colleges in more populated states are going to be more selective because of the larger population. MSU is a big school relative to the state population.
For whatever reasons, MSU is ranked far below the other schools this student is considering. If you think hiring managers don't know that, think again.
Ok, but you haven't provided any evidence that hiring managers make decisions on how a magazine ranks colleges.
I recommend going to a college that is in the general region of the country that the student would prefer to live in after college. Employers in the region will be familiar with the college and a large alumni base living in the region can also help when looking for a job.
Those rankings don't tell you anything about the qualifications and ability to teach of the professors at the universities, and that is the most important thing in my view.
Ok, but you haven't provided any evidence that hiring managers make decisions on how a magazine ranks colleges.
I recommend going to a college that is in the general region of the country that the student would prefer to live in after college. Employers in the region will be familiar with the college and a large alumni base living in the region can also help when looking for a job.
Those rankings don't tell you anything about the qualifications and ability to teach of the professors at the universities, and that is the most important thing in my view.
And what 17-18 year old knows that? I never considered Colorado when I was in high school, yet I've lived here longer than anywhere else.
Actually they do factor that into their ratings. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's an individual thing, etc, etc, but in general, the ranking of the school does say something about the quality of the education.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business...matter/400898/ "According to their results, school choice matters the most for business majors. Those who attended top schools earn 12 percent more than their peers who went to schools that were in the middle of the pack. And grads from those mid-tier institutions earned 6 percent more than their peers who went to the least-selective schools."
It may come as some surprise to you that hiring managers are familiar with the top schools in their business.
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