Yes and no - prestige matters. Are you trying to work on Wall Street or have a job in corporate finance. The world is littered with people from name your state U working in finance. And with most recruiting done on the Internet today and with hirevue the main tool for interviewing, a lot of the “prestige” access is wearing off. Even a kid who goes to name your state you can get an interview today - which is then evaluated by an algorithm in many cases.
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U Miami is prestigious - to a level. So you want finance but nice weather. Not sure the two go hand in hand - because most are going to be up North.
The CSS will determine need at those schools. If your parents are broke, they made a huge mistake sending kids to those schools as great as they are. But perhaps they’re not as broke as you think. So you’ll likely be full pay - especially if one has graduated by the time you start. So nice weather - U Miami is fine…but Florida State (much cheaper) equally fine. My daughter’s COA at Miami after $25K merit would have been $50K+ and FSU after out of state waiver about $22K. Miami will be a “smaller school” experience but FSU rank is higher in finance. btw - of all the private schools admissions team and responses - Miami was the worst…by far. Florida has a good business school but I’d avoid it because many first year classes are online - pre-covid - so that doesn’t sound good to me.
UGA should be on your list. It’s strong - and the Honors Program is beyond strong. If you like the outdoors, Washington & Lee - it’s expensive ($81K) but it’s worth applying for the Johnson Scholarship - full ride and 10% get it. It’s in the mountains - so hiking, etc. it’s a gem and a great school. Small LAC though (with business).
U of San Diego (Jesuit), Bama (big merit there), South Carolina, and Emory should also be on your list.
Finance and great weather don’t necessarily go together - but unless you want to work on wall street, forget the pedigree thing and frankly, for pedigree jobs, you’ll need an mba later most likely. Regular corporate jobs today require masters.
If you’re going start up or small, faster moving firms that aren’t held to the rules of yesterday, then that point is moot- not needed.
Good luck.
SMU
hi !! i’m a rising senior from california. there are some GREAT schools around here besides the UC system. the claremont consortium are some of the top LACs. Claremont McKenna (focus on finance/econ, poli sci so this might be a better choice for you), Harvey Mudd (focused on engineering), Pomona (doesn’t have a focus I think), Pitzer (focus on social sciences). I’ve also heard amazing things about Occidental from a friend.
I think prestige matters a lot for specific careers, like if you have an ambition to be a justice on the federal bench (at least the prestige of your law school), and not very much for others, though it can help at the beginning.
If your measure of success is income, then there are many paths that include degrees from state universities. You can also move from a state university to a more prestigious grad school, though you need the grades and recommendations for it. The path from prestige to prestige is going to be more straightforward than climbing the ladder.
I have worked primarily alongside technical people in software and biotech. There’s a difference between those with a very non-selective degree or certificate (though some are very talented and productive) and those with degrees from solid research universities. The difference between “solid” and “elite” is a lot less significant in my experience. In fact, while it’s not true of everyone with an Ivy degree or equivalent, you’re likely to find more prima donnas in that category, and this is potentially more liability than asset. Your degree will usually be unimportant by the time you have 10 years of experience under your belt, at least in tech.
I think for other careers, the network you can build at Harvard or Stanford would give you a huge advantage over going to say, Wisconsin-Madison and graduating with almost all As. But in the latter case, you’d probably be just as prepared for grad school.
I’m going to be frank in my view that many elite institutions are in the business of reinforcing or declaring privilege by fiat rather than providing an education of any higher quality than a public research university. But all the same, it can change your prospects. It won’t necessarily change your earnings potential. There are many ways to make money in this world, and not all of them require a pedigree of any kind.
Run the NPC on your state’s flagship university NOW and have a frank talk with your parents whether that’s affordable or not.
UC’s aren’t especially known for finance (UCB would be the most well-known for business) and are off the table if your parents don’t have 260K saved for your college costs.
Run the NPC on various colleges:
Michigan (Ross): if your family makes under 95K then it’d likely be affordable, if they make more it’s unaffordable;
Cornell (Dyson), if you live in NYS or have financial need then good deal, but if you don’t then unaffordable.
Indiana Kelley: merit aid only, worth pursuing due to your GPA/SAT score
William, Amherst = targets but need based only, no merit. Generous up to 200K income so if your family’s broke it may work.
Emory= very competitive merit
CMU (Tepper)= very competitive merit
CUNY Baruch = competitive merit
is stanford ridiculously expensive? or is like 70k? (which is a little above average) i think
My parents are upper middle class so we get no financial aid really. How does merit work?
Thanks for this advice. Do you know why warm weather and business/finance dont mix? I never really heard about that till your post but now im worried 
i like the sound of UGA but it sounds like social life might be dead (not a lot of parties). Also if i didnt get the scholarship then its 320k
I was commenting on the OPs desire for prestige - and saying it’s different for wanting to go to an Investment Bank vs. corp finance - not sure what he’s looking for - but he has the added hook of good weather. Most IB target schools are North.
Just answering (in my opinion) his question.
My kid is attending College of Charleston next year - 16th rank wise of the 17 schools she got into (including U of Miami that the OP mentioned) and even top schools like Washington & Lee. She chose C of C due to the “fit” - she radiated both times she was on campus and it didn’t hurt that a Prof and Dean made contact.
Turns out good for dad monetarily too - even gave her $9K after she committed.
I agree with what you said - but was answering the question asked. In today’s day, kids at less pedigree schools have a chance…not a great one…but a chance because with AI, the hiring net can be wider.
Not sure how we got from plagiarism to pedigree / finance / good weather…but we did 
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He wants good weather.
So you really think that good fit should be the first factor when choosing? i just dont wanna regret nothing in 10 years. Is ur daughter happy with her decision or does she regret not going to the top (as in ranking) school she had available
The “top” schools are typically need based only. There’s a few with merit - a Washington & Lee, etc. Most are need based.
Your parents could tell you if they’ll qualify for need based aid with a 3rd kid - just by updating their FAFSA. But I’m going to assume as you start another is dropping off so they won’t qualify.
Schools that are a tier…or even more than one - below - will offer merit to attract better students.
For example, nothing wrong with Arizona or Arizona State - you’d get a fantastic merit offer there. And you can go on their website and it will tell you based on your #s. Or Miami (of Ohio) - not good weather. Or Alabama - also a decent business school. FSU - you’d get an OOS waiver with a 31 ACT. U of SC.
Miami typically gives $25K - so your cost will be a tad over $50K. They give it because they know people are not going to pay $75K in droves - Stanford is different, people will pay.
My daughter got into W&L - they have the Johnson Scholar which is terrific - 10% get. But other than their full tuition scholarships or full ride (Johnson), there’s no partial merit. So we got none and it’s $81K a year - dad eliminated it.
Go to your 2nd level schools and below to find merit. You’ll find a ton of smart kids and a much more affordable education.
Want Florida and want private - they’re smaller - but a Stetson, Rollins, Eckerd but the bigger names - your UF (reasonably priced, hard to get merit), FSU, UCF, USF…all decent. Bama, GA, UTK, etc.
As far as I know Stanford and Duke are comparably expensive (I checked and Duke looks a little more expensive). But Stanford is a name that’s going to be recognized anywhere in the world. I doubt that’s true of Duke.
Viewing it as an investment, I think you’d have to be very successful to make back that kind of expenditure in earnings (finance could do it, but its a high-stakes bet). I would generally not make that kind of investment assuming I could afford it. For a few schools such as top Ivys, MIT, or Stanford, I could see doing it, not as an investment but as a feather in the cap. Other than that, there are many excellent public universities that provide more bang for buck.
UGA = University of Georgia. Top 50. Better than that in business. Huge greek and social life…not sure what you were thinking (which school i was referencing).
If you are into investment banks - don’t know if you are - finance can mean a lot of things - but they’re going to be hitting the Ivies, Michigan, the UCs, etc.
Those are the of the top schools - what’s your back up.
Listen, you will go to school for four years - day after day after day. Find the right school…network, work hard, and if things work out, you’ll be where you want.
If you want warm weather, don’t apply to Indiana just because they place a few on Wall Street.
honestly think that fit and budget are some of the most important things to consider when it comes to a school for EVERYONE. chasing prestige is noble and all but if you’re miserable at harvard, it’s still not going to work out for you.
edit: as @pbcparent indicated below, chasing prestige isn’t noble. i guess what i mean to say is that it’s something you theoretically COULD do. but it’s not the best course of action. to be honest it’s kind of foolish. apologies for my nonfunctioning brain today. it’s finals week
I don’t think it’s noble at all. It’s either strategic (like if you’re eying a SCOTUS seat in your future) or it’s elitist. You can go for it or not, but I don’t see how it’s noble.
i didn’t really know how to word it. guess it didn’t come out as i intended LOL. lemme find a better word
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No worries. I think my “elitist” came out as too severe anyway. Going for a top school is a sign that you want to achieve great things. Is there a word? Ambitious maybe, and that’s not a bad thing in itself, like going for an Olympic medal. But there’s usually no reason you have to do it.
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This is 100% well thought out - fit and budget should be 99% of what you are looking for. Probably 100% but I’ll leave 1% out for other things. A lot of things factor into fit - including budget, weather as the OP wants nice weather.
If you decide U of Miami is right for you, but can’t afford $50K, then it’s not the right fit.
btw - don’t forget, college costs more than the published COA - because kids do things that spend “more” money - hello starbucks, greek life, late night pizza, spring break trips, shopping, etc.
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yeah, probably ambitious. a little naive but ambitious nonetheless
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