MU Financial Aid

[Lighthouse 84]

My daughter (class of 2014) had a 3.8 GPA with a 32 ACT - MU offered $10,000.

Very similar to my class of 2014 son.  He got $11,000.00.  We truly expected him to get more than $11K from MU.  But he also got $11,000 as a direct admit to the Kelley School at I4 so he's a Hoosier now.  Had MU given enough, he actually would have gone to MU.  He still follows the Warriors as much or more than he does I4 hoops.  But when MU starts with a higher tuition and only gives the same amount, picking between the #8 undergrad business school v. MU wasn't a difficult choice. 

[mu_hilltopper]

What is "direct admit"? (perhaps, versus waitlisted?)

[mu_hilltopper]

Off the subject, but semi-appropriate.

I have a sister (MU 85) that lives in Arizona.  Her step-daughter is a HS senior with interest in Syracuse, Purdue, ASU, and Marquette.  So they came to visit a week ago to get her a MU campus tour. 

I picked them up downtown and gave them a tour of MKE and MU.  It was a gloomy, rainy evening, and literally 10 seconds into the drive, I am plowing through a tornado of GARBAGE on Wisconsin avenue.  "Er, and here's the infamous garbage tornados of WI Ave..."  Great start.

I drive her up WI, thru the campus, pointing out the dozen new buildings since I left MU, down Wells, around to Michigan, pointed out the gorgeous law school building .. but .. it made me wonder, what does an 18 y/o kid care about any of these buildings?  She wanted to go to Syracuse (but was rejected) with the gorgeous campus .. MU is urban, and frankly, as I tour guided .. ugly.   Lots of concrete and buildings.  Might be nice in the Spring/summer, but 6+ months of yuck.

We drive downtown to the lakefront, no one is there, it's cold and brown.  We drive past Summerfest's gate and I think, man, this tour sucks.  Just a bunch of buildings and things that are closed.

I email my sister the next day and figure the tour was for naught, no kid from Arizona, touring in 38 degree cold and rain will find MU anything but craptacular. 

Instead, she tells me when the official campus tour was over they asked her if they should book a trip to Purdue.

"Nope, I love this school, I'm going to MU.  The end."      Shocked.

[Lighthouse 84]

What is "direct admit"? (perhaps, versus waitlisted?)

Direct admit is being immediately admitted to the Kelley School as opposed to being a general admit and needing a 3.3 or better freshmen year (I think that's the standard) to get in after freshmen year.

[warriorchick]

UW, I believe, doesn't have direct admit at all for business, nursing, or education.  That is one of the main reasons my daughter eliminated it from consideration.  She didn't want to risk that after two years, she would either have to change majors or transfer.

[warriorchick]

Off the subject, but semi-appropriate.

I have a sister (MU 85) that lives in Arizona.  Her step-daughter is a HS senior with interest in Syracuse, Purdue, ASU, and Marquette.  So they came to visit a week ago to get her a MU campus tour. 

I picked them up downtown and gave them a tour of MKE and MU.  It was a gloomy, rainy evening, and literally 10 seconds into the drive, I am plowing through a tornado of GARBAGE on Wisconsin avenue.  "Er, and here's the infamous garbage tornados of WI Ave..."  Great start.

I drive her up WI, thru the campus, pointing out the dozen new buildings since I left MU, down Wells, around to Michigan, pointed out the gorgeous law school building .. but .. it made me wonder, what does an 18 y/o kid care about any of these buildings?  She wanted to go to Syracuse (but was rejected) with the gorgeous campus .. MU is urban, and frankly, as I tour guided .. ugly.   Lots of concrete and buildings.  Might be nice in the Spring/summer, but 6+ months of yuck.

We drive downtown to the lakefront, no one is there, it's cold and brown.  We drive past Summerfest's gate and I think, man, this tour sucks.  Just a bunch of buildings and things that are closed.

I email my sister the next day and figure the tour was for naught, no kid from Arizona, touring in 38 degree cold and rain will find MU anything but craptacular. 

Instead, she tells me when the official campus tour was over they asked her if they should book a trip to Purdue.

"Nope, I love this school, I'm going to MU.  The end."      Shocked.

I always feel bad when it is a gloomy or otherwise bad weather day when there is an official prospective student event.  Even I think campus looks ugly then.

[LeftyWarrior]

UW, I believe, doesn't have direct admit at all for business, nursing, or education.  That is one of the main reasons my daughter eliminated it from consideration.  She didn't want to risk that after two years, she would either have to change majors or transfer.

My son is a freshman at UW this year.  He was one of about 100 incoming freshmen per year that received a direct admit into the business school at UW.  It was the deciding factor in why he decided to go to UW instead of MU.  He has been going to MU games all his life and had a very hard time rooting for UW hoops this year.  He went to about 5 MU games and 0 UW.

We were very disappointed with the MU scholarships.  He had a 4.2 GPA and a 34 on his ACT.  If my memory is right, he was offered $18K/year.  It was about the same as his cousin who had about a 27 on the ACT, so the ACT score did not seem to make a difference.  The University of Miami offered $29K and was his first choice until he got the direct admit to UW.  He really wanted to go to MU but it did not make financial sense.  I always wondered if we could have negotiated for more money but we never tried.  UW made more sense in many ways. 

[mu_hilltopper]

He was one of about 100 incoming freshmen per year that received a direct admit into the business school at UW.  It was the deciding factor in why he decided to go to UW instead of MU. 

Previously, I asked about what "direct admit" means .. so I thought I got it.  You're admitted to the program as a Freshman, instead of waiting a year (?) / getting decent grades to "get in" to that program.

I suppose it makes sense if the program is limited/small, where they only accept <100 students or something, as Physical Therapy was used as an example.

LeftyWarrior .. I don't get why being "directly admitted to the UW business school" would be a "deciding factor".    Doesn't the business school admit pretty much everyone who makes it to UW?

Still confused.

-- That's pretty strange that a 27 ACT student got near the same scholarship as a 34 ACT student, since 27 is roughly MU's average, and 34 is elite.

[GGGG]

LeftyWarrior .. I don't get why being "directly admitted to the UW business school" would be a "deciding factor".    Doesn't the business school admit pretty much everyone who makes it to UW?

The UW business school accepts some as direct admits, but others who are selected to the UW but not to the business school, are considered "pre-business" majors until they complete a pre-business curriculum.  Even then they have to apply for admission to the business school.

[mu_hilltopper]

The UW business school accepts some as direct admits, but others who are selected to the UW but not to the business school, are considered "pre-business" majors until they complete a pre-business curriculum.  Even then they have to apply for admission to the business school.

Gotcha .. question: Do any pre-business get rejected?   (I'd imagine if you got rejected, your grades are so bad you're likely looking for a new life path anyhow..) .. So .. why would direct-admit to business be valuable?

[warriorchick]

Gotcha .. question: Do any pre-business get rejected?   (I'd imagine if you got rejected, your grades are so bad you're likely looking for a new life path anyhow..) .. So .. why would direct-admit to business be valuable?

My daughter was told at UW that the nursing program was so competitive, there were applicants who had a 3.7 average through the first 3 semesters of college that didn't get in.  I don't know how hard it is at Kelley or the other programs at UW.

[GGGG]

Gotcha .. question: Do any pre-business get rejected?   (I'd imagine if you got rejected, your grades are so bad you're likely looking for a new life path anyhow..) .. So .. why would direct-admit to business be valuable?

Pre-business kids do get rejected.  They can major in something else or transfer to major in business.

A direct admit is valuable because then you don't have to take the pre-business classes nor do you have to go through the application process.  I believe most direct admits have a ACT around 30.  It's not easy.

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/7/8355247/college-admissions-terrible-preferences

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Gotcha .. question: Do any pre-business get rejected?   (I'd imagine if you got rejected, your grades are so bad you're likely looking for a new life path anyhow..) .. So .. why would direct-admit to business be valuable?

lots do.  they are the people that end up with their degree in human ecology.

School of Human Ecology

    Community and Nonprofit Leadership
    Human Development and Family Studies
    Individual Major
    Interior Architecture
    Personal Finance
    Retailing
    Textiles and Fashion Design

[mu_hilltopper]

Wow, I (clearly) had no idea the UW School of Business for undergrads was that competitive. 

I don't recall something like that in the late 80s for MU.  As I can recall, you didn't get admitted to the B school, you declared a major and that was that. -- Has that changed?

[warriorchick]

lots do.  they are the people that end up with their degree in human ecology.

School of Human Ecology

    Community and Nonprofit Leadership
    Human Development and Family Studies
    Individual Major
    Interior Architecture
    Personal Finance
    Retailing
    Textiles and Fashion Design

Yeah, they called that "Home Economics" back in the day when my mom majored in it.

[GGGG]

Wow, I (clearly) had no idea the UW School of Business for undergrads was that competitive. 

I don't recall something like that in the late 80s for MU.  As I can recall, you didn't get admitted to the B school, you declared a major and that was that. -- Has that changed?

For business?  No.  But Physical Therapy has a similar process to UW's business school.  At some schools you can get direct admit to a College, but you have to hit certain GPAs to declare a certain major.

[warriorchick]

For business?  No.  But Physical Therapy has a similar process to UW's business school.  At some schools you can get direct admit to a College, but you have to hit certain GPAs to declare a certain major.

There is no direct admit program for the physician's assistant program at MU, either.

[Coleman]

Weighted GPAs bug the sh!t out of me. I can't take any number over 4 seriously. It means nothing to me

[Eldon]

Weighted GPAs bug the sh!t out of me. I can't take any number over 4 seriously. It means nothing to me

Where do the weights come from?

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Where do the weights come from?

Honors and AP classes. in a weighted GPA system, honors classes are based on a 5 point scale so an a is a 5.0 and in APs an A is equivalent to a 6.0

[forgetful]

Weighted GPAs bug the sh!t out of me. I can't take any number over 4 seriously. It means nothing to me

I agree.  Any scale over 4.0 should be abolished.  They exist to try and force kids to take AP courses.  A schools ranking is largely based on how many AP tests their students take as a percentage of the class size.

Some schools go so far as to pay for the tests for their students. 

[mu_hilltopper]

I agree.  Any scale over 4.0 should be abolished.  They exist to try and force kids to take AP courses.  A schools ranking is largely based on how many AP tests their students take as a percentage of the class size.

Some schools go so far as to pay for the tests for their students. 

I don't know why you'd suggest anyone is forced.   It's an enticement to take a harder class, and be rewarded. 

Possibly receiving college credits via AP classes/credits .. could be a quite significant reward, monetarily, and time savings later in college.

[drewm88]

Honors and AP classes. in a weighted GPA system, honors classes are based on a 5 point scale so an a is a 5.0 and in APs an A is equivalent to a 6.0

That's not universal. The idea, yes. Your numbers, no.

[chapman]

Weighted GPAs bug the sh!t out of me. I can't take any number over 4 seriously. It means nothing to me

Agree, it's stupid.  Might help high school rankings, but even more complicated that some high schools allow students to take actual courses at local colleges which don't count towards GPA.  I brought in 18 credits when I actually went to college, of which my high school paid for completely.  Including books, so technically I made money since I could pocket from selling them back.