I am a HS Senior about to apply to colleges for a Bachelor’s in Finance. However, I have an interesting set of circumstances playing into my decision.
My parents paid entirely for my brother’s Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering - it was in-sate at U of I with no scholarships (cost about 20K/year). However, they say that this was because it was an “investment,” and they are convinced that it isn’t worth paying for a business degree because “it’s essentially the same anywhere”. They expect me to get at least a full tuition scholarship.
Does anyone have any evidence to refute or support their claims? Should I take a full ride to a state school and believe that it will be the same as going to a more elite school? Or should I take out loans if I can’t get a scholarship to an excellent school?
Right now I would be looking at University of Georgia for a full ride (hopefully!) and Emory for a more elite school. If anyone has any school/scholarship specific recommendations, I have 35 ACT, 4.0 GPA, and class rank 1 of 300.
Thanks in advance for anyone’s input!!!
“Or should I take out loans if I can’t get a scholarship to an excellent school?”
As a future finance major, you should be able to do the analysis here. 1) Your ability to obtain loans (without your parents co-signing) is very small - not enough to cover an OOS or private that hasn’t given you a major scholarship. 2) The ROI on getting a finance major at, say Wharton, vs. free at U of I is just not good enough - and especially not good enough for your parents to go into debt. Save the money for a prestigious MBA once you’ve been working for 4-6 years and have the kind of professional track record that top schools want to see 3) With a 35/4.0/1 in class rank, you will get where you want to go no matter where you go to school. It’s not about the brand name. It’s about what you bring to the table.
I’m speaking as an MBA from a top school, by the way. We had people from prestige schools - about half the class - and the rest from everywhere else. And a significant percent had non-traditional backgrounds - meaning they hadn’t studied finance/econ or business as undergrads or worked in one of the usual feeder jobs like analyst at an investment bank or consulting firm - which is where those prestige schools tend to send a lot of people.
Have you heard of the Emory/ Oxford scholars program?
http://college.emory.edu/scholars/
@whenhen Yes I have heard of it and looked into it somewhat. I will definitely apply to it, but I just want to be realistic because I understand Emory already has a great student body and their top scholarships will be incredibly competitive I’m assuming. I just want to have all of my options planned out for whatever happens.
Do you happen to know anything about the program itself? How selective is it?