<p>I was admitted EA to Georgetown, a school that I absolutely love. I also applied Reg. to Claremont McKenna College in SoCal, another school I love, and found out yesterday that I've been admitted with a full tuition, merit scholarship. The money is an exciting component because I didn't apply for need-based aid to either school, so it'd be Georgetown for 60K or Claremont for nothing. </p>
<p>This choice is gonna tear me apart! I plan on majoring in economics, with a minor in government and am currently most interested in a career in banking or consulting. I feel horrible turning down all that money, yet at the same time I love Georgetown so darn much. What would you do? Any insights you could send my way would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>Georgetown is too great too pass up, particularly in the fields that you are considering as well as the opportunity to be on a great campus in a great college town in a fantastic city (culturally, professionally, intellectually and socially).</p>
<p>How much debt will you be in after four years at Georgetown? The $60K you mention? More? Less? Isn’t it nearly $60K a year to go there? Can your parents help? Yes, Georgetown is a fantastic school but CMC is a very good school as well and to be able to graduate debt free is amazing.</p>
<p>My family is able to pay for me to go to Georgetown without taking on any loans, so in that sense, I am very fortunate. However, my family does not have such resources that the cost would not be a burden–it would be. My parents keep reassuring me that they’d like me to make the decision without focusing on the money, but it’s just so hard to ignore that financial reality. </p>
<p>Both schools are absolutely amazing in economics and government. Would you say, though, that GTown gives a leg up when it comes to employment? How hard would it be to break the West Coast bubble with a degree from CMC? I’m trying to gauge the long-term value of both institutions, especially since I plan on getting an MBA or JD. Is it worth it to save the money? Thanks for all your help!</p>
<p>I love Georgetown. I have loved every bit of DC and the opportunities made available to me in this city. I love Georgetown basketball and the Hoya spirit. I love my professors and my classmates, but if I were you I would take the scholarship to another incredible school and save for your graduate education. Neither law school or an MBA program run cheap and not tapping your parents dry now will be a great relief in the future.</p>
<p>CMC is the clear winner, no school is worth quarter of a million for 4 years when the difference is existent but miniscule for these 2 schools. rest assured, they are both amazing choices.</p>
<p>even if you’re parents are making >400k/year, it doesn’t make sense do spend that much on college when you have an alternate AMAZING choice, money can be used for grad school or they could buy you a little something (car :o).</p>
<p>I love Georgetown, but posters have made ample mention that it seems a wiser choice to go to Claremont McKenna. Your parents are kind, but the difference between two solid schools is theoretically not worth $240K.</p>
<p>^I love Georgetown too, and I completely disagree. I can attest to the fact that attending a school for free (as I did before I transferred to Georgetown) is not by definition “wiser” if you are not having the best experience possible or achieving what you want to achieve during these critical developmental years.</p>
<p>Georgetown is great but it is not worth 240 grand more than mckenna. Statistically speaking , if you work for forty years before retiring and a gtown degree can gurantee you 10 grand a year or more than a mckenna degree, then do it, because in the long run it will pay off. However, if you go to mckenna for free and instead of simply not spending the money, you invest it in say, gold, then that choice will pay off the most. In short, gtown is not worth the money when it could be invested much more wisely. Of course a gtown degree is a great investment, but it is not the best and will not pay off in the long run compared to other potential investments. Remember, your college education for the most part is just an investment in your future, so make a good investment choice.</p>
<p>“I can attest to the fact that attending a school for free (as I did before I transferred to Georgetown) is not by definition “wiser” if you are not having the best experience possible or achieving what you want to achieve during these critical developmental years.”</p>
<p>Let’s rate the experiences of schools A and B on a scale of 0-1,000, with 0 being the worst and 1,000 being the best. If school A scored 985 and school B scored 984, and you had to pay 240,000 at school A and 0 at school B, would you argue that school A is the right choice? Essentially, making the right decision entails weighing the marginal differences of “best experience” while determining what choice makes sense in light of $.</p>
<p>To the above two posters: I think you have to realize that there is more to college and an undergraduate experience than the financial return of your investment. Maybe you both need to go to college first before you will appreciate this fact. Or maybe you’ll go to Villanova and never appreciate it…</p>
<p>…or maybe you will understand the principles of investment, seek and graduate with a great job. Instead you could be like medman and be inundated in debt and graduate with a low paying job because you couldn’t understand simple ideas such as return on investment.</p>
<p>I remember my sister citing an example from one of her classes a couple years back (at Gtown) that the professor proved that paying an extra 200k to attend a more prestigious undergraduate school didn’t pay off in the long run - which is ironic in the first place. Especially since CMC is a great school already, I don’t think Georgetown is worth 1/4 of a million more.</p>
<p>My opinion, perhaps, the hyperbolic excess of an alumnus who truly loved the place and holds his experience there as dear as that from his Ivy League grad school:</p>
<p>Georgetown is one of a true handful of schools where the decision is tough because the opportunity is truly priceless and beyond simple cost-benefit analysis. Whether you ever have a career at all or earn one nickel in your life, the chance to attend Georgetown is something that if you walk away from you may have regret for your entire life.Georgetown is the alma mater to something like a dozen current or future heads of state (two of the dozen or so female heads of state in the world today are alumni and the roylaty who have attended include the Kings of Jordan and Spain), a US President and a Supreme Court Justice, and alumni who have run everything from the AFL-CIO to the CIA to four current governships. It’s faculty includes several past heads of state and cabinet officers, and former and current Washington movers and shakers of all types. While you might not have class with a former head of state, you will have unprecedented opportunties with many true power players if you so desire.</p>
<p>You can have a successful career in banking from many schools but you can’t duplicate the experience Georgetown offers.</p>
<p>Also, why didn’t you apply for aid. Georgetown is need blind?</p>
<p>Claremont for free versus GU for $60K?
Claremont. That’s just too much debt to carry these days, especially for undergrad. Save going into debt for grad school, if you plan on grad school. Trust me, starting your professional life with a mountain of debt will wear on you more than you can imagine. And in a shaky economy that may never recover to pre-2008 levels, I would advise caution.
GU is the better school, and all things being equal, I would recommend it, but all things are not equal for you.</p>
<p>“Claremont McKenna’s curricular emphasis is on its social sciences, particularly economics, government, international relations, and psychology. About forty percent of CMC students major in either government or economics. CMC also offers an Oxford-style Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major.” (from wiki)</p>
<p>Seems like it would be a good choice for you in that regard. You’ll also get fantastic undergraduate education emphasis. I’d say it’s smarter to go to Claremont McKenna in many regards. First you’ll be saving so much money and as previous commenters have stated, the difference in education would not be worth a quarter of a million dollars. Also, think of what you could do with that money as well while you were at Claremont McKenna. You could use some of it (even just 5%) to help you fund internship experiences, overseas experiences, trips, etc. that would really develop you as a person and add to your resume. And if you’re planning to get an MBA, then you should definitely save the money because where you get the MBA matters more than where you are for undergrad.</p>