<p>(I started my last reply before yours, stargazer, so…)</p>
<p>I love Yale, but I try to keep things in my head as practical as possible. It can be tough to do because of how optimistic I can get, but there’s an actual application fee to be paid which has kept me in check this time around. And thank you for being bluntly honest :). Being told the truth in this situation is far better then spending the money and emotional distress to get rejected.</p>
<p>I spend a lot of time in NYC (I’ve interned at a brokerage house for 3 summers) and to be honest this puts NYC lowest on my list. I’m very, very lucky to find myself not relying on college to get a job (even though iBanking’s a nightmare right now), and while NYC/NYU fosters an incredible cultural atmosphere and would give me tons of opportunities to pursue what I’m interested in, it’s lacking of a true campus with that traditional college feel make me a little concerned as to how much I’d like it. I love living there, but I think when it boils down to it, I’d rather take a few years to experience something a bit more traditional and then go back to the city to become a slave to the market.</p>
<p>Also, on the pricey school topic, money is something I’m considering but after it is all said and done. I know I just mentioned I’m not relying on college for my career after it (I’m lucky because of the network I’ve built with people in good places who like me, i guess), but in the event that a piece of my network fails or I just want to try something else, companies like Goldman Sachs or Google have never set foot on the campus of my state school (and won’t for awhile). While it might be cheaper to attend a state school, the (unfortunate) name recognition the companies like these look for would essentially pay it of if things went to plan. Name recognition is what has delayed the application process for an internship I’m trying to get at a pretty important social networking site because I continually have to prove myself through puzzles instead of getting straight to the interview like the students at the recruited school were able to do.</p>