<p>Hi guys!</p>
<p>I currently attend Missouri Southern State University. I have just completed my freshman year and I'm majoring in finance. Because MSSU still feels like high school, I would like to transfer in the fall of 2015. I have a 4.0 GPA. I would like to attend a college in D.C., Massachusetts, New York, or Virginia. My goal is to work as a Financial Analyst. Eventually, I want to take the CFA exams. </p>
<p>University of Missouri, University of Richmond, Babson College, and Bentley University are currently on my list. By the end of my sophomore year, I'll have completed macro and microeconomics, financial and managerial accounting, corporate finance, and money, banking and financial markets. </p>
<p>I know that there aren't many smaller colleges that offer business, so I feel like my options are limited. All of the colleges I've listed above offer business, but I don't know where I'll get accepted and if I'll be able to afford tuition. I've heard that economics is more versatile. Is that true? </p>
<p>Please let me know what you all think!</p>
<p>It’s not necessarily more versatile but Econ is a good way to get into the business field. Make sure you check the Net Price Calculators at the schools to see what you might be able to get. They don’t necessarily work well for transfer students unless that is a specific question asked.</p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad: According to College Board’s NPC, UR should cost around $10,000 and both Bentley and Babson cost around $15,000. Those figures are for first-time college students, though. </p>
<p>I don’t even know if a degree from Bentley or Babson is worth the money… </p>
<p>I would send an E-Mail or call them to see if the NPC is accurate for a transfer. If not, that cost goes up quickly.</p>
<p>Sounds like you’re in-state for Mizzou, so that sets the floor for quality and price. If a school can’t beat the quality for the price, they should be out of the calculations. Richmond is an excellent option if you can afford it and get in. It would be worth a premium over Mizzou, particularly if you plan on leaving the state. If you plan on returning, Mizzou may be just as good.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 I want to work in NYC, Boston, or D.C. Mizzou was the only college that I got to visit, but I really like it. I’ve just always heard that one should attend a college in a city/area where one wants to live after graduation and there aren’t too many financial analysts in MO. </p>
<p>Would you recommend that I apply to Bentley and Babson or should I find other colleges? Tufts University is actually my dream school, but I doubt I could get in. </p>
<p>Check out Mizzou and Truman State (since they can’t be too far). They’re very different. Since youve already visited Mizzou, see if a smaller school may appeal to you by visiting Truman State.
In the Midwest, look into Butler, Bradley, Drake, Saint Louis University.
In the MidAtlantic and Eastern States, check out Clark, Baruch (in NYC), Bryant, Stevens, SUNY Binghamton and Albany, NCSU (Business school), Susquehanna.</p>
<p>@MYSOS1634 I would kind of like to apply to a LAC, but my accounting courses won’t transfer. I doubt the SUNY colleges would give me enough aid because I’m OOS. I need to find a school that (with grants) will cost no more than $15,000 a year. </p>
<p>
Boy, this is wrong on both sides. It’s true many students are able to find jobs where their college is (easier to arrange in person interviews) but it’s not the only way. My company draws on students nationwide at graduation time. And you really think there aren’t financial analysts in St Louis or Kansas City? Or financial analysts doing business operations in smaller cities in MO?</p>
<p>With that budget you need to stay in-state and throw a wide net when you graduate for options OOS. </p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad: I’m not sure how the University of Missouri’s business school is regarded, but I know that I can’t stay at my current college. It’s great that it’s not costing me anything to attend, but according to career services, nearly everyone who graduated in 2013 with a finance degree works as a bank teller. </p>
<p>I know that there are financial analysts in KC and StL, but I really don’t want to live in either of those cities after graduation. </p>
<p>My parents are divorced and my mom makes less than $50,000 a year. My dad is self-employed, but he doesn’t really work. Financial aid is really important, but I can’t be the only person who has to worry about costs. </p>
<p>My ultimate goal is work for a middle market investment bank like Piper Jaffrey. I just hope it’s attainable. </p>
<p>Wells Fargo (the old A.G. Edwards) and Edward Jones both have huge operation in St. Louis that hire financial analysts, but if your goal is to avoid St. Louis, that doesn’t really help. A Mizzou degree would probably work pretty well for Chicago or Dallas, Richmond is going to be better for the East Coast, but you can probably use either for any location, it’s just that some companies will be easier to gain access to from one school than the other.</p>
<p>I wonder if SMU is a viable option? They have a better reputation than Mizzou, access to the Dallas market, and decent financial aid. Don’t know how a transfer would work though. Might be worth looking into. I think you have a whole lot of options here, but a few phone calls might help start clearing up what is possible both transfer-wise and FA-wise.</p>
<p>@MrMom62: My mom’s boss’ daughters went to SMU. I think my mom would laugh if I told her I wanted to go there.</p>
<p>I made the mistake of telling her that Mizzou’s cost of attendance (but not necessarily how much I would be paying) went up to $24,000. She told me that I’m kidding myself if I think I’m going to go anywhere besides my current college. I think I could get the cost down to $15000 a year if I lived off-campus and only bought food and other essentials. </p>
<p>I would be able to graduate debt-free from MSSU, but to me, that isn’t worth it because the majority of graduates work in fields that don’t require a degree. I don’t want to live in southwest Missouri for the rest of my life. </p>
<p>
Then move after you graduate. You have no idea how much angst you avoid by graduating debt free.</p>
<p>If the career center indicates that graduates with the student’s major (which is considered one of the “rigorous” ones) only find jobs as bank tellers, as OP indicated, OP is right to say s/he needs to transfer.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I’m going to talk to one of my school’s finance professors next week about career opportunities and internships. </p>
<p>It would be great to graduate debt-free, but I’m not sure a degree from MSSU would open doors for me. Its business school isn’t even accredited by AACSB. </p>
<p>If you really want to transfer to increase your chances of escaping from SE Missouri, then you need to start searching for schools that will give you enough to do so. It’s an admirable and understandable goal. That might be SMU, that might not be. With your parents income only at $50K, I’m guessing that even with small loans for your last two years, you can do this without a tremendous amount of debt, but it will take some research on your part, as FA for transfers is different than for freshmen. Private are probably going to be more generous than OOS publics, but look into what Mizzou will offer.</p>
<p>I would start at the highest schools you think you have a reasonable shot at, plus Mizzou, and work your way down - don’t be too picky about anything other than getting in the best school possible and getting it paid for. If you have to go to a women’s college to do that, put up with it for two years, just find the money. Eliminate nothing from the list that will help you get to those two goals.</p>
<p>One other thing - it’s possible your mom knows this will allow you to leave the area, which is why she’s discouraging it. It’s not an uncommon passive-aggressive tactic among parents, claiming it’s one thing while really having another reason behind the pooh-poohing of the idea of going to a different school. If you’re determined, there’s a way to do this, but it’s all going to be on you.</p>
<p>MSSU posts their career placement data here…</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mssu.edu/career/pdfs/Grad%20Report%204%2030%2014%2010%2027%20Online%20Version.pdf”>http://www.mssu.edu/career/pdfs/Grad%20Report%204%2030%2014%2010%2027%20Online%20Version.pdf</a></p>
<p>After looking at the data; and as a very good student; you will most certainly have better career options with a degree from a school like Missouri or SMU.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, I would transfer even if it means assuming a bit of debt. </p>
<p>@MrMom62 My mom thinks that I believe my goals are too ‘lofty’ for MSSU and I think I’m too good to graduate from there. </p>
<p>At the same time, she wants me to be more independent, but she wants me to live at home. All of my friends from HS go to Mizzou or other colleges a few hours away. I’ve met some nice people at MSSU, but I don’t see them enough to actually get to know them. I get to MSSU at 7 and I don’t get home until 4. I don’t have time to socialize. </p>
<p>Mizzou and SMU are good ideas.</p>
<p>If you wanted to go out of state to a state school with a respected business program, a very solid option would be the U of Minnesota. And their OOS price isn’t too bad.</p>
<p>You’d have strong access to good jobs in Chicago, Milwaukee, and obviously the Twin Cities after graduation.</p>
<p><a href=“S”>quote</a>he wants me to live at home.
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<p>There’s your answer. She’s hobbling you for her own emotional needs. You need to have a talk and tell her you need to do this and you want her support, but you understand the financial constraints. Sounds like you need to be the adult in this situation.</p>