<p>So I was just wait-listed (basically rejected) from my state school (UVa) and now I have two options left. Either pay an extremely large amount of money to go to U of Michigan or pay only a fraction of that to go to another state school (Virginia Tech). I want to major in business. What would you do if you were in my place?</p>
<p>Option 1: Pay 200k+ over 4 years for a good undergraduate "name" and attend UMich and maybe get into Ross then maybe make bank. That's all contingent on getting into Ross of course...</p>
<p>Option 2: Pay less than 100k over 4 years for a mediocre at best state school and go to pretty low tier business school</p>
<p>Please help! Any input or opinions are appreciated!!! Thanks.</p>
<p>Honestly, I can tell you from the personal experience of my older kids, that while the name of your undergrad school may open a few doors or eyes, all that matters is your personal ambition and drive. You can go to any school, don’t be a party animal, forge relationships with professors, do relevant summer internships every year and have as many options as anyone else when you graduate.</p>
Were your parents comfortable with the costs for out of state students for UofM when you applied? If you have cart blanche to attend any of the schools you applied then make your decision based on fit.
Business at Michigan = Ross…it sounds like you aren’t an early admit and Ross doesn’t = “bank” anyway if you have to take out loans.<br>
For “business” you’ll probably want an MBA anyway - you can get into excellent MBA programs with good GPA and good GMATs if you have the ability to work and live in the city you will be obtaining the MBA. MBA programs like kids with work experience - your undergraduate degree is less important.</p>
<p>My parents would be able to pay, however, they just don’t think it’s worth paying for. So I need some realistic (not the small factors: great football team, great city, etc.) ways to persuade them. I guess I’m not fully convinced either that I want to go to UMich. It’s just hard to say whether going to UMich will be better off for me for my future…ugh</p>
<p>1) Not really, they assumed my decision wouldn’t come down to having UMich in the final fold. Cart Blanche? could you rephrase that?
2) Well, I’m still waiting on the Ross Early Admit decisions, but given the low acceptance rate, I’m not expecting much.<br>
3) I guess I should be more specific on the business I want to do. I want to major in Finance and hopefully go into Investment Banking, which I know UMich Ross has good connections to. If I went to a mediocre state school like the one I stated in my original post, and assuming I maintained a very good GPA, would I still be able to get into a top 10 MBA program? Also, if I attend that state school, the work experience I will get won’t be as good as the work experience from UMich right?</p>
<p>Most people work before getting MBA. It would be very unlikely for you to get an IB job from VA Tech, for what it is worth. On the other hand, IB is not the only career path.</p>
<p>Any course in Finance taking your situation as a case study would tell you to go to Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>However, you are also an 18 year old with a lot of other issues on the plate regarding college choices. The difference is basically that you will see more UVA caliber students at UMich than at Tech. Also being 18 years old, you may not stick with that choice of academic study, and the choices are much more at UMich, IMO.</p>
<p>Your family’s financial situation is crucial in all of this. Can they truly afford it comfortably, or is it going to hurt some important things they are planning? Is this an unplanned expense or something they were considering anyways? Some famlies, particularly in state like VA and MI that have such excellent in state options, count on their kids going to the school in state and it does cause a financial stir of sorts when a scenario costing 4x as much is presented. Will they have to borrow? How reluctant are they? </p>
<p>To answer a question of yours, I do believe the UM network in terms of business is one of the better ones. How much better than Tech’s, I don’t know. I have a brother and 2 BILs that are Tech graduates and two of them went to top 13 law schools thereafter, and the 3rd one is a successful executive at a major company. Tech was certainly no liability to any of them.</p>
<p>@oldfort What kind of jobs if not IB would I be looking at if I majored in finance at VA tech? I feel IB is a good career path because I tend to be very good with numbers and reading/writing in that sense. I know most people work before getting an MBA so my question is: do major employers look at the MBA school greater than the undergrad?</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse That’s what scares me. The fact that the students at VA tech generally aren’t going to be up to par academically with the students at Michigan or UVa (not to sound pretentious or anything.)
Also, they wouldn’t need to take out loans, but it would be very sudden to them that they have to shed out so much money so quickly. Essentially, they can afford it, but not very comfortably…which could be a problem.</p>
<p>I guess if I go to VA tech, there might still be a chance I could transfer after 1 year to UVa which would be perfect…but there’s a big IF in that…</p>
<p>The Ross Business program is highly ranked. I think that it is a hard transfer though if you are not a pre admit. I probably would not allow my son to attend an undergrad program that was so expensive and one that would give the family so much undergrad debt. I would be more on the fence if he at least made it into the business school. Transportation to and from the school for OOS is also expensive. Working hard at your state school will enable you to get into a good MBA program or to get into a job that will perhaps pay for your Masters degree. Good Luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Every industry has finance folks…from hospitals to manufacturing to retail etc. Cart blanche in your case means you are unrestricted where you applied and unrestricted where you accept. My kids, as example, do not have cart blanche…they need to attend a college we can afford without damaging our retirement monies. I wouldn’t bet the bank that kids at Virginia Tech are of a lower caliber than at Michigan. You are desirable to Michigan because clearly they think you can succeed in LSA AND you are an out of state student who doesn’t have huge financial need. That’s not to diminish you but acceptances are about a host of factors not simply GPA and ACT. You probably have a number of things that interested Michigan. Good luck making a decision I am sure you can be successful at either place.</p>
<p>You are not guaranteed admission into Ross, right? Do you know what the standards are to apply to Ross next year? And what the chances are to get in?</p>
<p>EVEN IF you got into Ross, IB is not a guarantee, nor is it “all that”. Many kids dream about the big money, and then find that the demanding 80 hour weeks are not for them, or they don’t like the philosophy/ethics practiced at some places…others may thrive in IB.</p>
<p>I will give you examples of 3 of my friends’ kids:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>went to Georgetown, got an IB offer and works in it for 2 years now, he doesn’t hate it, but he is not happy, it’s not what he expected, not fulfilling, etc. and is looking to get out.</p></li>
<li><p>went to VTech, graduated 6 years ago, got a job as a business analyst in Home Depot corporate, worked there for 3 years and then started his own business.</p></li>
<li><p>went to Denison, tiny-nobody-heard-of-school, graduated 6 years ago also, got a consulting job offer at <strong>Big-name-consulting</strong>, rose rapidly within, and they paid for his MBA at a TOP-Ranked school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Weigh all your options, I’m sure you will do well no matter what you decide!!!</p>
<p>Oh, and definitely do everything you can think of to get off the UVA waitlist, if the school interests you. Put together a “portfolio” of recent accomplishments, another heartfelt essay of why UVA is your first choice, etc.</p>
<p>“Honestly, I can tell you from the personal experience of my older kids, that while the name of your undergrad school may open a few doors or eyes, all that matters is your personal ambition and drive. You can go to any school, don’t be a party animal, forge relationships with professors, do relevant summer internships every year and have as many options as anyone else when you graduate.”</p>
<p>While I wish this were entirely accurate, in reality it isn’t in this case for the OP. EllexInc want to go into finance and IB. Where you go to school for that career path makes a large difference, especially for that first all important job.</p>
<p>Many people do investment banking for the exit opps, not because they enjoy working 80 hours a week. It sets you up fairly well. Also, Ross sends a significant amount of their students into consulting as well. </p>
<p>I think a lot of kids come into Ross saying that they know definitively that they want to do IB, but realistically a lot less end up doing that than you’d believe. Many go into Corporate Finance, Sales&Trading, etc. while a lot of others go into Consulting (management, and strategy), and then there’s marketing and also accounting too.</p>
<p>I would recommend you go the VTech route since it sounds like your parents would be stretched sending you to UM. If UVA still interests you after a year at VTech you can try to transfer in.<br>
I remember reading somewhere that around 80% of students change what they thought they wanted to go into during their college years.</p>
<p>At the moment you’re working under the assumption that you will be accepted to Ross. There are many, many people who do that. I’d guess that about a third of LSA is pre-business, with another third pre-med, at the beginning of freshman year. This makes about 1700 people who are looking into Ross, with about 250 slots to be filled (considering that pre-admit slots are already filled). </p>
<p>About 1000 of those end up applying, meaning 700 do not get decent enough grades in their first year (< 3.0) to think they have any shot at acceptance. Mind you, these are all students who were bright enough to get into UMich in the first place. So, even considering the fact that there are 1000 applicants, they are all fairly self-selective and unless you have a 4.0 and legitimate leadership qualities shown in your freshman year, you will not be a sure admit. </p>
<p>Therefore, if you come to Michigan there is a good chance that you will end up spending a LOT of money to major in something that you aren’t as interested in, and where the returns will not be immediate or as great. Go to Virginia Tech and do very well, ideally you’ll be able to transfer into UVa, as they found you to be a good enough applicant for their waitlist.</p>
<p>It depends on one’s socioeconomic situation. For those who come from a wealthy background, attending an elite institution is almost expected. In such circumstances, spending $200k on a global top 20 university like Michigan makes perfect sense. Furthermore, if one wishes to break into an elitist industry such as consulting, IBanking or Politics, again, attending a top university makes sense, but only oif within reasonable financial hardship (no loans over $40k).</p>
<p>For all others, I do not think it is worth paying $200k on a college education, even for elite institutions such as the Ivies, Cal, Chicago, Duke, JHU, Michigan, Northwestern, MIT, Stanford, UVa etc…</p>