NYU vs. University of Wisconsin-Madison

College Search & Selection
21

NYU would be 70K. Run the NPC. It’s likely to be unaffordable because they don’t meet need.

You can’t just “pay quite a bit”. You’re allowed $5,500 in loans for freshman year. Everything else comes from the university or your parents. Institutional aid (money from the college you applied to) is the #1 source of scholarships.

HOWEVER, if you want to study in a big city, you have lots of good options. Your stats are good and you can probably get to 31, perhaps 32 on your ACT, and you’re lucky to be living in WI which is rural in many places (it helps for some universities to come from a rural, public HS) and has a reciprocity agreement with Minnesota.

So, for a terrific business school in a big city, you have Carlson at U of M and if you have a serious shot at Honors College. You also have Macalester, of course, which is excellent for economics and anything international, with access to the Twin Cities for internships.

In NYC, you have Baruch (apply by Dec 1st to Macaulay) and Fordham. Run the NPC on Fordham.

In other big cities: Rhodes, Simmons, Northeastern, Boston College, WPI, UPitt, USC, SDSU, Lewis&Clark, UPortland, USeattle, DePaul, Loyola Chicago, Northwestern, UMiami, FIU Honors, USF (Florida), Case Western Reserve, Davidson, NCSU, Saint Louis University, American University, Georgetown, Wellesley, Barnard, Agnes Scott.
NEAR big cities (close enough to go on weekends), you have Bowdoin, Goucher, Ursinus, St Olaf, Dickinson, Bryn Mawr.

22

Not sure what you don’t like about Madison, but taking that as a given, McGill could be an excellent choice. It feels a lot like NYU but is a lot cheaper. Still, I agree that Stern is a great option given it’s proximity to Wall St. If you can’t afford it you can’t afford it though. You’d better check if McGill requires SAT IIs.

23

@MYOS1634 Thanks for the list of colleges, I’ll definitely check them out. I don’t think my high school is considered rural as I live in a city of 45,000 and I have 2,300 kids at my school, but maybe?

24

Nope, not rural indeed.But if it’d been, it’d have been a little boost for you :).

McGill is cheaper, but it’s not quite a “college experience” in that it’s mostly a commuter school, unless you apply to McDonald’s campus rather than Desautels.
Your admission will depend on your your ACT/SAT2 results. They require English in 10th, 11th, 12th grade with strong grades (APs help but aren’t required),and SAT2 Math2 is good to have with a high score (650+ required).

25

Well, if UW repels you, then I would say McGill is better opportunity and value than NYU.

26

I would second McGill and Minnesota, but you should also seriously re-consider Wisconsin. And you should plan on getting that ACT higher if you want to improve chances of admission (it may be fine for Minnesota). Washington-Seattle is also quite good, but would be so much more expensive for a school quite similar to UW-Madison.

Many top in-state students have similar feelings as you in high school, but when they acclimate to Madison and what it offers as a major research institution, it can seem like a different world, with outstanding resources and endless varieties of experience. I would recommend it highly, as I would Michigan, Texas, Washington, and some of the University of California campuses to their respective in-state students. Despite your strong feelings, you should count yourself fortunate for having such a wonderful flagship at your disposal. Most states don’t.

I would recommend dropping NYU off your list. It is just not worth the outlay in your position.

27

You’re in-state for UMinny as well, they’re in a big city, and Carlson is pretty respected in the Twin Cities.

However, you don’t seem to know what you want yet and you really need to research the financial situtation.