Is an econ degree from u chicago worth 60k?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>I would second <em>hyeonjlee</em>. If it was Chicago vs. Michigan, UVA, Berkeley, etc. I would say take the money without question. I am a harsh critic of the student loan bubble that is brewing in the US. </p>

<p>However, your option is Fordham, which for the most part is the expensive, private school equivalent of Rutgers, UConn, or SUNY-wherever for parents and students who believe themselves too good to be associated with a decent state school. Are there pockets of excellence amongst the student body? Of course, like at almost any mid-to-large institution. But in general, there is no comparison between the two either in terms of academics, post-graduation options, or general prestige.</p>

<p>Also, I find the 60K math to be a bit troubling. Cue7 is contending that paying this off will be a real burden. Yet, so too is graduating from a school whose job placement services revolve around one of the most expensive cities in the US and where a top job for a business major would be something like Big Four accounting or back-to-middle office banking support (where post-BA salaries are in the 50-60K a year range with little year-on-year rise before one gets an MBA). </p>

<p>Finally, attending Fordham presumes you are willing to study finance or accounting in lieu of actual economics. Front office banking divisions and consulting firms hire econ majors from Ivy caliber schools because they are relying on general intellectual abilities. An Ivy grad will have little concrete knowledge of what he or she is expected to do, but should be a quick learner based on his or her academic pedigree. In contrast, recruiting at Fordham is going to be for more concrete, skill focused jobs, which means you will need to take the classes that prepare you for such opportunities. Culturally, this is a huge difference. This needs to be made very clear: a true, liberal arts economics degree from a second tier regional school is next to useless as a job credential since it will teach you nothing of immediate relevance to the pool of potential employers that will be shopping the campus. When blue chip companies like Morgan Stanley or Google come to a school like Fordham, they are looking for the CPA track accounting major or computer science student with rock-solid IT skills. They are not looking for bright, well-rounded types. To be fair, this is a two way street. General Fortune 500 companies outside of cutting edge IT like DuPont, P&G, Chevron, etc. skip Chicago because its graduates are not going to meet their needs. </p>

<p>Lastly, while you can definitely get into a decent MBA program or law school from Fordham, top arts and sciences graduate programs definitely will mark you down a serious notch, even with visible merit scholarship. There is no group that seems to dislike middling private schools more than Ivy professors.</p>

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<p>I’m in the same position (60k debt per year), with a choice between Chicago and Wellesley/Suny Bing. Any opinions?</p>

<p>In your case, I’d agree with the gap between the schools being too large. If you’re sure about a career in business, then the “closing off of other doors” in non-profit work, etc. shouldn’t be too large of a problem.</p>

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<p>^How much fin. aid is Wellesley offering you?</p>

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<p>19k, so wellesley would cost 57k as opposed to 62K. Trying to figure out if the difference is substantial enough for me to give up UChi. :/</p>

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<p>scratch that, wellesley would cost 37k as opposed to 62k. ughhh.</p>

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<p>Mmm that’s tough. What’s your major/career aspiration?</p>

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<p>I’m looking towards an economics degree, and will probably choose a career accordingly. I’m just worried that Wellesley won’t offer the same sorts of opportunities in terms of research/networking.</p>

<p>Thanks for answering, btw. :)</p>

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<p>so the difference for 4 years is just $100k. i would go with UChicago</p>

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<p>^ Haha, JUST $100k.</p>

<p>Ultimately, it comes out to about $150k for Wellesley vs. $250k for Chicago. Pretty difficult decision.</p>

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<p>One thing always puzzles me. </p>

<p>It seems a typical medical student can rack up a debt on the full amount of annual cost without hesitation and, when he graduates, he could easily have $250k-300k in debt, at an age of 30 or 35. No one seems to question his rationality.</p>

<p>However, people would generally say “no” to a debt of $100k and $150k for an undergraduate at an age below 25, even though his job prospect and salary can be rather promising. For example: an econ major from UChicago or a business major from UPenn.</p>

<p>Any comment on this?</p>

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<p>Medicine is a blue-chip occupation where a salary of, at minimum, 120k per year is virtually guaranteed following graduation, with much higher sums readily available to those willing to specialize or relocate.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if this has been counted, but OP, are you talking about the straight cash you would pay out of pocket? </p>

<p>Are you including interest and payments you would already have to make for fed loans I’m guessing you will be taking out?</p>

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<p>I’m also interested in the question itsme2 presented.</p>

<p>Finance has so much more potential than medicine in terms of salary, especially if you can break into a bulge bracket where first-year pay can easily exceed $100k after bonuses. So why wouldn’t a $100k or so in debt debt be worth it for a world-class economics education at UChicago?</p>

<p>I am biased though because I was in the above situation and had to turn UChicago down.</p>

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<p>Daniel, you made the right decision since Chicago isn’t recruited better than Berkeley. In fact, you would be slightly better off getting a Haas degree instead of a Chicago Economics degree for getting the elite jobs.</p>

<p>[University</a> recruiting | Careers | McKinsey & Company](<a href=“http://www.mckinsey.com/Careers/Apply/University_recruiting]University”>http://www.mckinsey.com/Careers/Apply/University_recruiting)
McKinsey doesn’t recruit at Wellesley or UChicago but actively recruits at UCB.</p>

<p>I think the same is true at Bain & Co. as well; BCG hires a few Chicago grads here and there but UCB is the best by far for consulting.</p>

<p>You’re an utter fool if you think a BA in Economics at the University of Chicago will fetch you $100,000 more value than a BA in Economics from Wellesley.</p>

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<p>@zeeqi20:
Please choose Wellesley (if the 20k is going to be given to you EVERY YEAR and not just the first year). The difference might not seem significant now in terms of 20k a year, but Wellesley women are also recruited incredibly well (think Wall Street: finance, consulting, investment banking, etc.) and their Economics department is absolutely stellar. Opportunities at Wellesley are beyond amazing, and a little research will prove that. Their Econ department is among the strongest, professors are so accessible, and look into the Albright Institute. A Wellesley undergraduate degree will open doors for you and the alumni network will definitely make it so much easier to get a great job.</p>

<hr>

<p>It’s interesting how everyone is advising the OP to go to UChicago based on future job prospects which are NOT EVEN CERTAIN. What’s the guarantee the OP’s going to get a lucrative job coming out of UChicago? I say go to Fordham - UChicago Econ is prestigious, yes, but it is incredibly theoretical and quantitative and for someone who is considering doing business, I’m not sure how much you would like the program. Instead of considering prestige, look into the UChicago Core and Econ major and decide how well suited you are to tackling the academic rigor at UChicago. Grade deflation is high, students are competitive (especially within the Econ department), and it’s difficult to get a strong GPA at UChicago. You have to work REALLY hard. If you don’t get a good GPA, you won’t get a good job. You’ll incur all those costs and have the perpetual stress of paying them back later.</p>

<p>No one can advise you what to do here - you have to decide for yourself which school suits you better. I would say Fordham because the potential dangers in choosing UChicago far outweigh the potential benefits later on. There’s no guarantee you’ll get a good job (even though you very well might), and I personally would not want that kind of stress on me at this age. Imagine all the other people who don’t go to UChicago and do well. It’s not like UChicago is going to guarantee you a good job and it’s not like Fordham means you’re screwed for life. The reverse might be true. Either school can give you what you want if you’re willing to work for it, and work for it hard.</p>

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<p>All this talk about UChicago’s quality based on a McKinsey recruiting trip is laughable. James McKinsey was a Booth accounting professor, and the networks continue to be substantial (and at times informal). I know of numerous undergraduate friends working there now.</p>

<p>A quick Google of “mckinsey uchicago” tells me they hired 39 MBA’s from Booth last year, tied with Columbia for most hires:</p>

<p>[McKinsey</a> Doubles MBA Hires At Duke | Poets and Quants](<a href=“http://poetsandquants.com/2011/11/16/mckinsey-doubles-mba-hires-at-duke-haas/]McKinsey”>http://poetsandquants.com/2011/11/16/mckinsey-doubles-mba-hires-at-duke-haas/)</p>

<p>Sure, MBA’s are a different breed, but McKinsey is on campus constantly. And if you want to play the unfounded inferences game, I remember CAPS sending out an email to CCIB a year or two ago claiming they placed 20+ students at Goldman, more than any other U.</p>

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<p>Booth is a separate entity than UChicago and its reputation is different in the business world. Undergraduates at U of Chicago won’t be able to “leach” off of Both’s recruiting prowess and prestige since its meant for MBAs.</p>

<p>McKinsey was founded by a UChicago professor and Bain/BCG were founded by a Vanderbilt graduate but neither of these schools are major core hunting grounds for these elite companies for whatever reason.</p>

<p>

Mine wasn’t an unfounded inference; I just linked you to McKinsey’s recruiting site and UChicago doesn’t have a home page while every other university does.</p>

<p>Your statement about CAPS emailing CCIB about those Goldman numbers is an unfounded inference however. Princeton, Harvard, Penn, Dartmouth, Duke, Brown, Yale, and even Berkeley produce more GS IBD analysts than Chicago.</p>

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<p>Goldenboy:</p>

<p>Again, I think you’re underestimating how reputations can grow and change over time. When I was at UChicago undergrad, the business school had the same sterling reputation, but many firms generally avoided recruiting undergrads. They avoided the undergrads because, well, most undergrads did not “fit” with the mold of the banks and consulting shops. </p>

<p>Nowadays, unless I’m mistaken, there are many more uchicago undergrads who potentially “fit” better with the finance firms and consulting shops. In the future, these firms may very well increase their recruiting as UChicago undergrads better fit the firms needs. You need to account for this in your analysis, and project accordingly.</p>

<p>I imagine a comparable trend occurred at Penn some time back. For a long time, Wharton was head-over-heels better and more selective than Penn’s college, and bank/consulting firms pursued Wharton grads as hard as they do now, but didn’t recruit as hard with Penn’s College. Now, as the College has greatly improved over time, these same firms recruit much more aggressively at Penn’s College. </p>

<p>As this has happened at other schools, most indicators point to the same trend occurring at UChicago right now.</p>

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<p>Goldenboy8784, Booth is not a “separate entity than UChicago.” Booth, as the university’s graduate school of business, is 100% owned and operated by UChicago, hence its (ungainly) formal name “The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.” </p>

<p>UChicago includes several professional schools (incl. business, law, medicine), as well as graduate school of arts & sciences, the college, and more institutes and committees than I can count. Hope this clarifies.</p>