Am I a little late? Yes, but it’s crunch time and I still do not know where to go. Here’s the full story:
OSU comes with a lot of perks
-full ride
-directly admitted to business school as a finance major
-morrill scholars program
-Vibrant city
-strong football
-a top public university
-beautiful campus
Notre Dame has
-prestige
-it’s catholic
-great football
-alumnae network
-beautiful campus
-top business school
-pretty good scholarship money
Money isn’t that big of a factor, but a full ride is a full ride so that’s major. I’m conflicted because I applied as a psych major to both schools. I wanted to major in psychology on a pre-law or pre-health track. I’ve changed my mind and decided to pursue finance. Within a few days of alerting Ohio State in March, they admitted me into Fischer. Notre Dame says I have to apply to Mendoza after first semester of freshman year, and there is a huge chance I wouldn’t get in for finance. Should I risk not getting into Mendoza for ND? I also believe I would get a great GPA at OSU which is necessary to B-School in the future, and I would probably get a 3.6 at ND. Would that really harm my chances at a great B-School?
At OSU have no debt, but at ND I have a 22k debt.
I money is not a big factor as you suggested, it would be my advice. But if it would cause hardship or stress OSU honors.
If you go to ND, and end-up not getting into your major then you’re screwed. You have to either be stuck studying something you hate, or transfer and lose a ton of hard earned credits. You can only take a maximum of $27k in student loans, so re-taking classes at another school, could double screw-you financially. If you have a full ride at OSU and your choice of major, then I would call it a no-brainer.
@GigixMeow I don’t think you realize just how fortunate you are to receive a full ride to tOSU as a Morrill Scholar if you are still debating this. There are a lot of perks to being a Morrill scholar. And if you are interested in majoring in Finance and you have to apply to Mendoza after first semester and there is a chance you will not get accepted for that major, then why would you take such a risk? If you decide to go to Notre Dame and then decide to transfer because you did not get into the Finance major at Mendoza you will not be eligible to receive any merit aid as a transfer student to Ohio State and most other colleges because they offer merit money as inducement high school applicants (not transfer students) to attend. I think these schools are equal, except in football where I give the edge tOSU 
Prestige is really in the eye of the beholder. And Ohio State has a huge alumni network with hundreds of thousands of alumni spread throughout the United States. My son is currently in the Honors Program and in Fisher (without the “c”) College of Business and is very happy he chose both Fisher and tOSU. It has a really good leadership and engagement program which offers students opportunities for experiential learning and involvement outside the classroom. But you have to take inititative and seek out the opportunities at Fisher and tOSU given the size of the school and University.
@GigixMeow I’m a little confused. I thought you said in your other thread that your annual cost to attend Notre Dame would be $32k (so total cost over 4 years would be $128k). But here you say that at Notre Dame you’d have $22k debt.
If the difference in total 4-yr cost is truly $128k, then you should consider that money if you plan to attend grad school in the future, or your parents would struggle to pay it. If so, then take that into consideration when thinking about the honors program at OSU. Honors programs do have a nice set of benefits that can make a state school seem less big.
If the difference in total 4-yr cost is only $22k, then I would say pick based on fit. These are very different schools. How did you feel on campus – the size, the vibe, the culture, etc. Is Catholic identity a plus, a minus or neutral for you?
I have to disagree with the above poster though. While OSU is certainly a good school, Notre Dame is the better school. So if prestige does matter to you, for whatever reason, then Notre Dame has the edge there. And Notre Dame may have it’s equals in terms of alumni network, but no school tops it. Only you know how firmly you feel about majoring in finance, and whether you’d want to pursue transfer to Mendoza or if you have any interest in an econ major to pursue the same field. Or you may arrive at college and find your interest lies elsewhere.
@waitingmomla I have to take out about a 5k loan. My parents pay the rest which is 32K