<p>I've got about a week to decide which college I'm going to, and I don't know how to decide. I've weighed a whole lot of factors (including where profs. graduated from!) and I still can't decide. Below are profiles of my situations at each institution, and I hope you all might be able to give me some comments as to where I should go. </p>
<p>At PennState Smeal:
1. I will be a part of the Schreyer Honors College
2. Required to do a research thesis before graduation
3. prospective finance major w/ minors in math or statistics
4. can transfer 22 credits from college courses I took during high school
5. cheap! and a $2500 honors scholarship. no subsidized financial aid.
6. kinda like the campus, but not really. guaranteed 4 year housing in honors dorms
7. Business students in Schreyer are targeted by Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch</p>
<p>At Cornell:
1. prospective finance concentration @ the hotel school
2. given a $8000 presidential research scholarship
3. compared to hotelie admissions statistics, my SAT scores are above the median score for class of '09
4. no subsidized financial aid.
5. campus is nice, but waayyy tooooooo big! and unlike the free bus transportation at PennState, the Cornell loop buses are not free.
6. not guaranteed 4 year housing.
7. can transfer 18 credits</p>
<p>At Stern:
1. prospective finance major w/ minor or duel major in something
2. compared to admissions statistics, my SAT scores are at the bottom half of those of Stern '09
3. no subsidized financial aid.
4. no Stern merit scholarships.
5. But... I love NYC.
6. best dorms.
7. next door to Wall Street
8. can transfer very few credits for my benefit</p>
<p>After undergrad, I want to go into the industry for a little while, and eventually get an MBA or PhD. I'm very focused on the future as I try to decide which undergrad to go to. Which will give me the better employment options so that I will get the more prestigious work experience and thus get into a more worthwhile grad school? Which will allow me to get the better employment so that I can quickly pay off my huge loans?</p>
<p>I would narrow it down to Penn State or Cornell. With those two options, Stern doesn't seem worth the money. You can go to NY for grad school..... The choice between the first two is a tough one. Penn State Honors is tops, but Cornell has a stronger reputation. I happen to love the Cornell campus- even though it is big. Either choice is a good one.</p>
<p>If you plan on going to ibanking it should be between Cornell and Stern. Ibanking recruiting is purely done at the prestigious colleges. Penn State may be represented but you will be better suited to go to Cornell or Stern instead of Penn State.</p>
<p>the financial issue is a big aspect of my decision. I'm looking at approximately $130,000 in loans once I'm out of Stern. So.... if I can make it big after Stern, then this is not a problem. But if I sink, then I'll be in the hole for quite a while. I just don't know if it's worth the risk. If I didn't have this financial problem, then Stern would have been my choice weeks ago. </p>
<p>P.S. According to the Penn State Schreyer Honors College Annual Report for 2005, the college is an "official target college" for Goldman Sachs AND Merrill Lynch. isn't Goldman Sachs a big Ibanking company?</p>
<p>Just wondering, do you mind disclosing your SAT score? I'm interested in the same schools you got into. I'm wondering how much of a chance I really have.</p>
<p>Yes Goldman is a big Ibanking company. Regardless of that fact students at Stern and Cornell secure better positions at ibanks in larger numbers. In ibanking the most wanted jobs are in the M&A department, sale/trading (equities/FI), research (FI/equities). The others are not as well paying as those positions.</p>
<p>I got into the Penn State honors and Stern also. I don't know how many kids from penn state can actually go into the top i-banks, but if you excel, you might make it. I still think stern has better opportunities.</p>
<p>Yeah, I understand what you mean. You don't want to pay all that money to later find out that you're either screwed with no options or you discovered that you didn't need to pay all that money because you could have ended up in the same place from a cheaper school. But if you think about it, there will always be something to do after graduating from stern. Maybe your gpa will be lower than the rest of the class. Maybe you can't get into the top i-banks. But that's not the end of your business career. I think it will open many doors and not leave you stranded. Many people from stern are not i-bankers, but they are satisfied in other professions. So you really won't "sink."</p>
<p>But if you really don't feel you can keep up with the stern kids and think you will end up wasting money, then you should trying excelling at the other schools if you can.</p>
<p>The recruiting for Hotel School is not strong, If you want a good job once you are out of college and have no connection don't go here. You will be competing with A&s Econ Majors, AEM kids, and ILR kids, not to mention other hotel kids. I suggest you take your money and go to stern or psu.</p>
<p>morningbloom, I think I'm going to Umich, even over stern. It's not all because of cost. I just really like Ann Arbor, and I feel like I could stay there for 4 years. I actually visited yesterday, and it was a great place to be.</p>
<p>To narrow down your choices, I would say take out cornell and decide between penn state honors or stern so that you end up deciding between one top-notch business school and one in-state value school. Of course cornell is great, but if you put that in, you'll have too many factors to consider. Since both schools are similar, you should consider one of them and eliminate the other so that you could pick prestige or value. Stern is a better business school, and I think recruiting is better there. I honestly don't think you would be the dumbest one in stern. I know people who got in because of connections, and they're not so great. A 1410 actually puts you near the average.</p>