<p>Hello,
I am currently a freshman at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas planning to major in Finance. I worked so hard during high to be the first in my family to go to college by being Valedictorian of my class, being Student Body President, and playing football and volleyball as well as other extracurriculars. After promising myself for years that I would leave Vegas after graduation, UNLV offered me a full ride scholarship that was too enticing to pass up instead of potentially going into debt at another school. Unfortunately, after being at UNLV for a year and trying my hardest to make the best out of my time there, I still don't like the idea of going there. I feel like in 30 years I won't be able to look back and say I'm proud of the education I got there. I was recently accepted to the University of Richmond which has a consistently top 25 ranked business school, but I can't decide if it is worth giving up a full ride for. It's certainly a more prestigious school, I guarantee I would be proud to go there, and I feel like I could get my full college experience there. Unfortunately, my parents make just a little over 100k combined a year so I don't anticipate they are going to give me sufficient aid. I don't want too much debt because I may or may not do grad school and want to be financially stable if I chose to do so. Also, I want the money my parents have earned to be used for their retirement, not on my education, so I fully intend on paying for school by myself. Does anybody have any input on my situation? Any commentary is appreciated. </p>
<p>As a current student at the University of Richmond, I think that there are pros and cons to transferring.</p>
<p>Pros:
-The University of Richmond does have an excellent business school
-Financial aid is excellent (but less so for transfer students)</p>
<p>Cons:
-You likely will incur some debt and, assuming you go to graduate school, the name of your undergraduate school will not matter at all. Furthermore, grad schools look for students from a diversity of backgrounds and if you can make yourself stand out at UNLV you might be more competitive in the applicant pool than you would be as an average student at Richmond (many students from a strong business school makes it harder to stand out)
-I am not sure how concerning this is to you, but many transfer students have a difficult time at Richmond and feel that they are never fully incorporated into campus social life or their graduating class. This is possible to overcome but takes considerable effort due to the size of the school.</p>
<p>Whatever your decision, I am sure that you will do what is best for you, but these are some things to keep in mind. </p>
<p>Thank you for that @mjd2015, that actually gives me a lot to think about. </p>