It’s unweighted, I’m not sure what my weighted GPA is. I’m fine with Wisconsin, just not sure about Wisconsin and finance together. My parents are not low income, but they do have priorities other than my college education from a top tier school.
Well…if your parents have sufficient income…you may find that those other schools just aren’t affordable.
Are your parents self employed? Are they divorced from each other? Do the own real estate in addition to your primary residence? If the answer is NO to these, run the net price calculators on the college websites to get an ESTIMATE of what your net costs would be. You need to be accurate when entering the parent financial info…you know…garbage in garbage out.
The one issue is that I know what I want to do in finance, and I’m not sure I’d be happy with another career in it. What do you think about just forgetting about finance altogether since it doesn’t really seem like a feasible option right now and going into another field such as chemistry/medicine?
They don’t tell me a lot of their financial information at all (it’s confidential) but they have told me that I won’t be receiving need-based aid anywhere I go.
With an ACT score of 34 and an uwGPA of 3.9, you are a great candidate for substantial scholarship awards.
If considering MBA school after 3 or 4 years of working, then you should consider graduating from undergraduate school with little or no debt.
Although the top MBA programs have feeder schools just as the top IB firms have target schools, you can still get to where you want to go with careful planning & excellent job performance.
But if I won’t be able to get a job at a top firm would it even be worth going into finance?
I’m assuming the scholarships I’d get would not be to top schools though?
With a high college GPA & finance & accounting degree, you should pursue Big 4 accounting firms as well as IB & MC firms. Big 4 do a lot of consulting–especially Deloitte.
Double major in analytics or anything IT or CS related if you do not want to study accounting.
Who said you won’t be able to get a job at a top finance firm? I didn’t read that on this thread.
You know…if you want finance, then major in something that will get you there. Do extremely well. Get some great internships, and great letters of recommendations.
How do your parents KNOW you won’t be receiving need based aid anywhere? Students with family incomes up to around $180,000 a year get some need based aid at the most generous schools (NYU is NOT one of those).
So, are your parents both professionally employed with higher incomes?
Remind me again…will they pay the full costs for you to attend Wisconsin?
I’m just really not sure if accounting is my calling. What if I just completely changed my trajectory and went for something like chemistry/medicine instead?
The money my parents and I have saved should cover the cost of attending Madison. Do you really think a finance degree from Madison is valuable though? Or should I go for something else more worth my time there?
Above you said you were absolutely SURE you wanted a career in finance. Now you are mentioning medicine.
It sounds like your end goal is a career where you make a lot of money. Is that correct?
It also sounds like you aren’t all that SURE about a career in finance.
I have already suggested Indiana-Kelley & Ohio State University–both of which have higher ranked undergraduate finance programs than does Wisconsin.
I’m sure that it’s undoubtedly my top choice, but I’m starting to become unsure that it’s the best option for my future.
You don’t know your options. Big 4 firms offer multiple career options & expose you to major Fortune 500 companies.
If that’s the best I can do is it worth it at all? The fact that it’s ranked higher than Wisconsin doesn’t really mean much.
I think, jmho, that when you start asking about changing to chem (and medicine!,) you just underscore how little you understand. And you won’t get far without the research and grasping.
What do you think top young IB or finance people make in Chicago or Austin, 50k? You dont even know the range of companies, (other than big names in popular media,) that pay large, do the same work.
Major in finance (or business,) do very well, get internships, etc. If you’re driven, those majors won’t let you down. The suggestion to add accounting isn’t for a career doing taxes. It’s the breadth and depth of knowledge. Take enough classes to understand and to get it on your resume.
This shouldn’t be just dreaming of future prestige and salary. Do the learning. Be in control. None of this is about falling into this career path. You earn it. You.
I’m sorry, but you may have unrealistic expectations. That is why I asked earlier what you thought a college grad in finance earns in his or her first year(s) of employment after finishing college.
I deal with this on a daily basis & encourage you to do more research on your own before pursuing or discounting any career path that is of interest to you.
Straight out of college, maybe 50-60k? Most people don’t go to target schools.