I was admitted to BC’s business school (Carroll School of Management) and the Villanova School of Business. I have visited both campuses and really loved them both. In my opinion, they are extremely comparable overall, with each school having an edge in individual categories.
My question is… would going to Boston College over Villanova be a mistake? Or vice versa, would going to Villanova over Boston College be a mistake?
This is my final decision, and I want to make sure one school is not obviously better than the other. Both schools gave me similar financial aid packages, so price is not a deciding factor. Thanks!
There’s no wrong choice here.
Personally, I prefer Boston to the suburb of Philly where Vilanova is located, plus BC is a bit more diverse, so I’d go with BC, but that’s just me, you could argue differently.
Go with your instinct 
uh…price IS a deciding factor since you can’t afford either school (you really should include the facts when asking such questions).
Both schools would require YOU, the student, to take on $100k in loans because that is the amount that your parents won’t cover. (and that’s only if your parents are crazy enough to co-sign such loans…hopefully, they have the good sense not to). Your parents will pay for (I think) Suny Bing, so you’d have no debt there.
Anyway…your first three lessons as a “business major” should be:
Don’t make costly business decisions that won’t have a return on investment that would justify the expense.
Don’t make costly business decisions that won’t have a return on investment that would justify the expense.
Don’t make costly business decisions that won’t have a return on investment that would justify the expense.
Your parents certainly are not directing you to all this school debt.
Do well in UG program and graduate debt free. During those years, take advantage of every opportunity to enhance your skills, knowledge and abilities. Look into internship and co-op opportunities.
Count your blessings that you have parents that can afford to pay the costs for your in-state option.
My two kids will graduate debt free. They are getting great educations in their majors. I have worked for two Universities and received degrees from three states, and have two graduate business degrees. My parents helped me graduate debt free from UG degree, and H and I paid the way through the rest. H had UG student loans out of financial necessity, and we paid them off within first year out of college.
If a college can’t be paid with summer work + work study/part time year work + federal loans ($5,500) + parental contribution + institutional aid (college’s grants and scholarships), then it’s unaffordable.
If both colleges are affordable, then you can’t go wrong. If you apply the formula above, what do you find?
This is the problem…
I was accepted to Villanova University, Boston College, and SUNY Binghamton this year. I would prefer to attend the schools in this particular order, but the first two will be hard to afford. My parents said they can cover the SUNY school price and I would need to cover the rest, which I believe is extremely fair. I need some advice deciding what I should do. Here is the breakdown.
Villanova
-would cost $52k to attend after grants
-minus the $23k from my parents leaves me with $29k per year I would need to pay
-after four years that is $116k I would be paying
Boston College
-would cost $55k to attend after grants
-minus the $23k from my parents leaves me with $32k per year I would need to pay
-after four years that is $128 I would be paying
Binghamton
-would cost $23k to attend with in-state pricing
-parents would be covering all of it, so I would graduate debt free
To me, it seems like a no brainer to attend Binghamton University, as it is both avery good school and much cheaper than the others. I just want to make sure that either of the other schools doesn’t justify over $100k in debt when I graduate.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Even if the student can work/save to reduce, he’d likely only get Nova’s debt down to an outrageous $100k!!!
Thanks for posting this… it wasn’t in the OP, unless I missed it?
In that case, yes Binghamton makes sense… 100K in debt for undergraduate is INSANE!!! OP would be in his/her 50s before that much is paid back and woul be crippled by that debt. :s