<p>Please note this is a serious question:
Why go to college if you want to major in business and want to own your own business? Undergrad at Stern is what 200k? Grad school is even more. Financially speaking, why should I put myself in all that debt? Undergrad salaries start at what 50k? So I spend 4 years paying that off. Than at the 5th year I make 50k a year. All that hard work for 50k a year. Now lets say I go onto getting my MBA, I will be making around 130k. MBA has loans as well, so lets say another 200k. For 8 years of school I am 400k in debt. For that 8 years of school I can learn a lot in the "real" world. I hear that an MBA isn't even necessary to become a successful business owner.</p>
<p>Maybe I'm just stressed out and not thinking clearly but this is something I have been thinking about lately.</p>
<p>Why spend 200k on a Stern degree?</p>
<p>Because a Stern degree will get you in the door of Goldman Sachs like no other degree can (except for a Wharton degree). And if you get the job at GS, you make $100k including bonus and whatever. </p>
<p>On the other hand if you didn't have a Stern degree you might not even have had the interview with GS which could have costed you the job at GS. :D</p>
<p>I agree, however, that an MBA is overkill for a business owner. I believe Donald Trump, Steve Forbes, Martha Stewart, Steve Jobs, JP Morgan, Carnegie, and Vanderbilt(some of the most successful entrepreneurs in US history) all don't have MBAs. Maybe DT has an MBA from Wharton, I'm not sure. I'll check and get back to you on that :D</p>
<p>yep. with a stern degree you should be making at least 80k your first year even if you aren't in a BB firm and that figure rises each year. I really hope you wouldn't be making 50k each year....because i don't think that's possible if you're an analyst. MBAs make something like 200k.</p>
<p>From your post it seems like you are contemplating not going to college at all and getting "real world" experience. definetely don't do that. As for Stern you will do very well for yourself after you graduate if you put in the effort. Stern grads do very well for themselves in the i-banking sector. It produces more bankers than other school except maybe Wharton. But if money is a really big issue for you, I would suggest you pick cheaper options because nothing is a certainty. but if you do put in the effort in Stern, you will do very well as some of the posters above me have already said.</p>
<p>honestly a lot of people are in a similar situation as you, including myself. yeah its no fun graduating with all the debt but just coming out of stern with a decent GPA you can easily start at $60,000-$100,000, and that will only go up anually. a stern education is most definately an investment and i believe it will open many doors that a degree from lets say a state school wouldn't...anywyas...i know you are prolly worried about the loans but don't ever second guess yourself!</p>
<p>The decision is really up to you. I think I'd feel a little better at night if I was majoring in finance at Stern than say, journalism at CAS. But $200k is quite scary, and nothing is ever certain. And sure, the loans are bad, but I think it's the accruing interest that kills you. If I went to NYU, I'd have to pay $8k+ in interest. That's insane.</p>
<p>Well, actually, it would be waaaayyy more than that, depending on how many years it took to pay it back. You can calculate your estimated monthly payments on SallieMae.com or CollegeAnswer.com. I just did it, and it's a big a turn-off. I don't know if an undergraduate education is worth that much.</p>
<p>I really don't understand why everyone questions the value of an undergrad degree. There is nothing that annoys me more than when someone goes "Hey, I can go to my local college, get good grades, and then go to Harvard for grad school" .....HAHA...uhh....no way. I'm not saying it's entirely not possible, I am just saying that you will probably have a MUCH better chance of getting into a top graduate school coming out of a Top undergrad. If a person went to Princeton undergrad and get a 4.0 + good test scores, I'd say he's almost guaranteed into a top grad school. </p>
<p>True, it's the graduate degree that ultimately determines you. But, it's the undergraduate degree / work experience that allows you to GET that top graduate degree.</p>
<p>Btw. the full cost for an MBA program is something like 90K, not 200k, which makes the total for a Stern/MBA education about 290k, of course, assuming that you get NO financial aid and NO scholarship at all. </p>
<p>If you do well in Investment Banking, you'll eventually get to the point where you'll be making more than 290k in bonuses each year. So really, don't worry about the money too much.</p>
<p>Why go to college if you want to major in business and want to own your own business?</p>
<p>I'm assuming this is really your central question and that you're really not looking to go work for a financial firm. I think, for you, if you want to own a business, you absolutely should have a business background. It'll teach you a lot about how businesses work, what sort of things you should expect in the real world, and probably give you an idea of the nitty gritty stuff like accounting and venture capital and whatever. In addition, no matter what, college is such an important time not only to learn academic stuff, but also to network and meet people. You'll probably get more chances to meet future and current entrepreneurs who will really be able to help you out. I think putting yourself in the environment that will prepare you best for whatever you want to do is worth the money.</p>
<p>What it boils down to... You might not necessarily need to MAJOR in business, but you should definitely take classes in it, so you should go to a school with a fairly strong business program even if you're not in it. I say this just because most business programs at colleges are kind of a joke - the blowoff major, basically, and you won't learn what you need to know. You probably don't need an MBA, but you might eventually want one (but that's a decision you honestly don't have to worry about for at least 5-7 years). </p>
<p>Finally, if you do want to consider Stern... don't forget that Stern sponsors entrepreneurship contests and stuff - you could start your own business in school with other people's money :)</p>