Carnegie vs Emory vs Berkeley vs UChicago vs UMich vs USC vs Wake

College Search & Selection
1

Hello everyone!

I got into four schools this application season (and waitlisted at three), and I wanted the College Confidential community’s input on the pros/cons of each university. Please comment about whatever you can and make a pitch for a school. I know this is a difficult situation (albeit a good one) and I’m looking for people who have had experience in my position and your rationale for choosing why you did. I know the basic info about each place, but I want some more thorough (comparative) analysis. The academic programs/post-college opportunities matter much more to me than location, size, diversity, etc. I need to come to a definitive conclusion by May 1st, but I have to wait until May 15th for the waitlisted results. I have visited all of these places (except for Wake) and I know I’ll be happy at all of these places, which doesn’t help!

I have arranged them alphabetically and noted what I would major in and how much money I would have to pay, although I’m flexible academically and from a willing-to-pay middle-class family ($120k/yr). Waitlisted ones are asterisked.

Carnegie Mellon - Pre-Business (Banking/Computer Science/Finance) (Tepper School of Business); $25k/yr
Emory University - Pre-Med/Pre-Health or Pre-Business (Goizueta School of Business); $42k/yr
University of California, Berkeley - Pre-med/Pre-Health or Pre-Business (Haas School of Business); $42k/yr
*University of Chicago - Economics or Computational Biology; 25k/yr
*University of Michigan - Pre-Business (Ross School of Business); 42k/yr
*University of Southern California - Pre-Business (Marshall School of Business); 33k/yr
Wake Forest University - Pre-Med or Pre-Business; 25k/yr

Why can’t I just go to all of them? They are all so amazing!

2

I know you said the academic programs and post-graduate outcomes matter more, and of course they do - but the thing is these schools are so similar in academic rigor, selectivity, and post-college opportunities that I think you should judge on other areas. You won’t be at a disadvantage coming from any of these places, so since that is comparative across the schools I think you should make your decisions based on quality of life factors.

The first thing I would do is since you really can’t decide, bring it down to finances. I know that you said your family is willing to pay, but $40K+ per year is a lot for a family that makes $120K. That’s a third of their income! So I would eliminate Emory, UC-Berkeley, and University of Michigan. From my perspective that also eliminates two schools I would have anyway - Berkeley and Michigan. I tend to favor small-to-medium sized universities personally.

Waitlisted ones shouldn’t really be part of the calculus yet. You aren’t accepted, so you can’t choose to go there. You won’t find out until May 15, which is after the decision deadline, and you will have to deposit somewhere. So for that reason, set aside USC and University of Chicago.

That leaves Carnegie Mellon and Wake Forest. From there, it would simply be about fit and selection. Personally, although I am a Southern girl, I would pick Carnegie Mellon - partially for its greater name recognition, and partly because I am a techie who loves stats and CMU seems like a really ideal place to be for that. I’ve heard great things about Pittsburgh as a city, and CMU students seem to be interested in and involved in a lot of cool projects and such. I’ve also been reading some articles lately about return on investment and CMU often lands in the top schools for return on investment (given post-college salaries).

I will say that your majors intrigue me. Pre-med/pre-health and pre-business are not majors; pre-med is a prerequisite curriculum for medical school, and pre-business sometimes exists as preparation for a business school you have to transfer into (like Goizueta). But you wouldn’t major in that. But I am also curious because the majors you picked seem to be a hit list for particularly remunerative careers post-college rather than having some kind of overarching theme of similarity to them. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m just curious about the logic behind it.

Personally, were I going to Carnegie Mellon, I would major in decision science, statistics, or human-computer interaction. If I majored in either of the first two I’d probably minor in CS

3

Thanks @juillet .

The logic behind choosing my major is not as lucrative as it seems. I’m pretty interested in business but maintain an equal desirability for learning the life sciences. I’m not sure how well these two go together, but I’m currently looking at healthcare management as a possible career cluster that I’d explore once I graduate. On the other hand, I may scratch that idea altogether and dive into palliative/academic medicine. I’m just unsure. Part of the reason I listed pre-professional tracks (instead of school-specific majors) was because I’m not sure about the specificity of my interest (which attending university will partly help me with) and wanted to provide a scope/heuristic for those advising. I do not want to restrict myself to a specific major so early, and so I have listed a general area of interest. Maybe I am a little misfocused (so my mother says!), and I haven’t really felt a super compelling affinity or compassion to anything (sounds super nihilist). One overarching theme is mathematics/data analysis, but I’m not sure if I really enjoy that because I like it or because I excel in it. CMU is super math-intensive. Looks like some more experimentation is in order in college!

The finances point is very relevant, and I would like to note that I have applied for more merit-based scholarships and appealed for more need-based aid at Cal, Emory, and Wake. For some reason I can’t distinguish between the subjective factors because I could see myself thriving and enjoying myself in any of those environments. I feel like the X-factors for each university is awesome and incomparable in its own right.

Carnegie is definitely one of my top choices right now, but the major drawback I have heard from many people is that Pittsburgh is a city on the decline. However, as you noted, a CMU degree provides the greatest return on investment, and its recognition allows it to be a reservoir for other national tech hubs (silicon valley, etc.). I’m not sure if Cal’s proximity would help here too. I know their engineering program has done some really cool things. I’ve also heard that CMU’s social atmosphere doesn’t compare to the other schools (ironically, from my alumni interviewer!). I wouldn’t want to completely divorce myself from a liberal arts education, and I would enjoy partaking in political discussions and community gatherings (which CMU may lack). Again this is just me playing devil’s advocate.

4

Even if Pittsburgh were a city on the decline (which is pretty much the opposite of what I’ve heard), you’ll only be there for 4 years, and you don’t have to make a career there. CMU has national recognition - most of these universities do.

Honestly, my own second choice would be USC. I know that you’re on the waitlist there, but it’s not terribly more expensive than your cheapest options; the social life there is well-known; they’ve got lots of school spirit and it’s in a desirable location (with great weather!). However, they’re still recognized for excellent academics.

5

Does the 17k/yr difference really feel impacted once you’re out of college? I don’t want to rule out potential options just because of money - to my family a great all-around college experience outweighs its fiscal cost. We are just not certain the degree to which the comparison is possible since it’s difficult to quantify it. Why oh why is this so tough/stressful?!

6

juillet’s reasoning sounds good to me.
Eliminate the most expensive schools and the wait-listed schools.
Take it down to CMU v. Wake.
Visit Wake, then choose the better fit.
Subjective preferences are fine at this point.

If Chicago does come through at $25K/year, reassess.