I am quite conflicted with choosing a college. I would like to go into business administration or finance, with a possible minor in computer science. I got a full-ride at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and was named as a Trustees’ Scholar. The scholarship covers tuition for four years, room and board, meal plans, books/supplies, living stipends, and even free study-abroad opportunities. I am beyond grateful not only for the financial assistance, but also for the fantastic opportunity. Trustees’ Scholars get mentor help with local alumni and are invited to Trustees-only receptions which are perfect for networking. Sounds like an easy decision, right?
Well, I have also been accepted to NYU Stern with a pretty decent scholarship. The overall sticker cost is around $70-80K, which is insane, but I would be paying around $25-30K after the scholarship, grants, and work-study offers. NYU Stern is known for finance and having heavy connections around Wall Street. I am not exactly sure where I would like to work after college, but having an internship on my resume from one of the biggest business capitals certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Another one of my top choices is UC Berkeley. I received an early acceptance on Feb. 12, and I have been doing a lot of research since then. Needless to say, Cal has really grown on me. The cost for OOS is also expensive, but I received some money from gift aid and Regents. I will be visiting this school next week, but will not have time to visit NYU. However, I did spend four weeks at a musical theatre program with NYU Tisch last summer, so I have a pretty good idea of the environment.
I have made pro/con lists, and looked at the financial situation for each. My parents think the finances don’t matter as much as the fit, however I don’t know how guilty I would feel declining the full-ride. The costs of each school would be manageable. I love each of these schools and honestly wish I could go to all three. Or merge them together to create a “perfect” solution. Does anyone else feel this way? I would appreciate any feedback or advice!
Is UC Berkeley for Haas? I’m assuming so but you didn’t specifically mention it.
One major downside to Haas is that you enter Berkeley as Pre-Haas, and apply for Haas during your sophomore year. They take around 40% of the people applying for Haas but if you don’t make it, you get sent to something like Economics. Still a great program from a great school, but it’s not business administration or finance. Also, Haas doesn’t have a finance degree (or minor), though it does have a plethora of finance classes.
On top of that, OOS costs are very expensive and are offered little to no financial aid.
I can’t speak to UMKC, but there is a lot of value in being guaranteed a seat in Sterns, not to mention its ties to Wall Street at the finance industry … and, of course, costs … compared to Berkeley, which are around $60,000 per year. And that could be $60,000 per year possibly spent on economics, and not the business admin degree you want.
Hopefully this is food for thought. For me in my own decisions, Haas is my top choice … but I’m also a California resident and a transfer student, so it’s quite a different decision.
@briank82 You brought up great points. Yes, I intend to apply to Haas if I choose UC Berkeley. An aspect about Cal I liked was that it’s easier to transfer between different concentrations than at Stern. For example, I could petition to the computer science major in L&S after I completed the 7 lower division course requirements. Whereas if I decided I didn’t want to do finance at NYU, wouldn’t I be almost out of luck since that is what they are known for?
@SnapApp
There’s only about 50% chance that you will get into Haas. And you need a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 in CS 61A, 61B, and 70, not 7 courses, to petition for admission to L&S CS. So both are not guaranteed.
What is your net price at Berkeley with out-of-state Regents’ scholarship?
Is your target career Wall Street? Or something else?
@ucbalumnus around $29-31K, so it still can’t beat the full ride.
I would love to work on Wall Street, but I am willing to keep my options open.
@StevenToCollege that’s very true. Thanks for bringing that to my attention; so it seems like Cal comes with several risks.
NYU Stern is probably the best recruited for Wall Street. UCB Haas appears to be a minor recruiting target, but you still need to get into it first.
Here is an older post about Wall Street recruiting: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/14204944/#Comment_14204944