Well, our daughter was admitted to Villanova biz school and of course we are very proud. However, it looks she will be receiving no merit money and I don’t expect to get financial aid either. She was also admitted to Providence, as a business major (with a 28K scholarship) as well Fairfield business school ($25K scholarship). We are visiting all three in February. But paying that mush more for Villanova seems outrageous. She wants to conquer Wall Street. 
Is Villanova worth over the $100K price tag over the four years? I’ve heard it is a pretty powerful name for Finance? What about the reputations for Providence and Fairfield in Finance??
If your kid gets no aid to Villanova, then you will be paying over $200,000 for her to attend. If you need loans, you the parent will need to either cosign or take out these large loans.
I can’t say that I think there is an appreciable difference between Villanova and Providence. I don’t know about Fairfield.
But I’m also not a finance guru.
We could wind up in the same situation as you. Villanova is my son’s #1 choice. He applied EA but was deferred. He said to me that he wouldn’t go there if they don’t give a significant scholarship. He was offered 10K from Marist, 19K each from Loyola and Susquehana and around 28K each from St John’s and Hofstra - he could commute to the last two. He was also deferred at Northeastern and SUNY Binghamton. We are waiting for the financials from Fordham. But it seems your daughter is in a similar category as my son. I wouldn’t pay list price for one of those schools when there are other good options. good luck.
Not sure I understand the question.
If you have the money and are just asking is it “worth it” out there in the corporate world my answer would be “it depends”. There are a lot of different career paths in finance, wall street, etc- some of which would value Villanova and others which would not. Your D might have stronger Wall Street options majoring in applied math or econ out of the Arts and Sciences school and bypassing the business program entirely. Many of the women “conquering Wall Street” have MBA’s from elite schools and did not study business at all as undergrads- they studied history and political science or urban planning or Asian Studies or engineering- all very relevant in their own way to “Wall Street”, depending on what she wants to do.
If you don’t have the money and are contemplating loans, the answer is no- not worth it.
And if your D decides she doesn’t like accounting and finance and operations research and all the stuff she’s taking in the business school and decides to major in early childhood education… having loans for Villanova will be a huge burden (again, unless you can afford it, in which case it’s your money, you decide how to spend it).
There are a lot of companies right now who wish they had a few employees who had majored in Russian or Chinese history instead of finance. The finance folks can definitely and positively describe how they market is going up and down based on natural gas, oil, China cutting back on manufacturing, currency fluctuations, etc. But finance doesn’t teach you WHY.
As a business matter, have her figure out how long it would take her to make up the $100,000 that Villanova would additionally cost.
Villanova: 24th
Fairfield 58th
Providence 75th
Also would she be more at the top of her class at the Fairfield or Providence…more competitive for internships?
You might want to check out this (epic!) thread, from a couple of years ago:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1615103-is-villanova-university-worth-it.html
You say your daughter did not get any merit money from Villanova, but did she apply for scholarships? They do have scholarships where you have to be nominated through your high school - not sure if it is too late for that. Seeing that she was accepted EA, I’m sure her stats are pretty good (as Villanova does defer a lot in the early round) so she would likely be a candidate for those scholarships.
IMO - Villanova has a better business program and rep than Fairfield and a higher caliber of students, but do some research and take a look at the starting salaries from each school, the job placements - (both types of companies and types of jobs ie; is your entry level job as an analyst or as a cold caller) as well as internship opportunities.
IMO it depends on your financial situation. If you are in the fortunate position where you can comfortably afford Villanova and it is your D’s top choice then you should go for it with no guilt. However, if the extra money for Villanova would put your family in a financial bind, make you take out loans etc. then I’d go with one of the other options. And congratulations on your D having such nice choices.
I don’t have much input on the Finance aspect, but on the question of whether it’s worth over $100,000 more than other schools, I just want to point out that not everyone loves Villanova as much as they might expect. Our family knows 3 students who started there last semester, and 2 of them are having the time of their lives. But one of them was really unhappy there and after the 1st semester transferred out to a college near home. One odd thing was that this was someone who others looked at a “typical Villanova-type kid”, my kids and I have known this student for 6 years and we were quite surprised to hear about the transfer.
Also this kid has 2 sibs who attended Providence and really had a great experience there.
Maybe your child will love Fairfield or Providence and your problem will be solved!
A few years ago when my son went through the application cycle for engineering programs Villanova ended up being the most expensive…It’s a great school and the campus is nice if you don’t leave it, but on top of being just plain expensive for what you get it’s in the middle of malls and pretty much suburbia…something none of my kids find attractive but that’s where the “fit” thing can tilt the expense scale. The kids seemed great, probably one of my favorite campus tours. If he would have LOVED it, it might have been a contender. I’ve not heard of Providence or F airfield because I live in flyover land.
@momofthreeboys Are you referring to King of Prussia and Plymouth Meeting Malls? They aren’t close to Villanova at all. Did you miss the really nice downtown areas of Wayne and Radnor? The area around Villanova is outstanding and easy to Philly.
@paparent106 I think Providence makes the most sense. Scranton would also be an excellent idea for merit and the business school is ranked in the top 25 nationally for finance, accounting and entrepreneurship. Scranton has an exceptional campus.
If you were asking about Lehigh then I would say its worth it.
I must have missed Wayne and Radnor. Too bad, because I, too, get claustrophobic in suburbia and I have no more kids to do college trips with…which is sad. I like nothing more than to get in a car for a week with one kid and drive all over heck looking at colleges :-). My sib has 4 kids just now arriving at college age and I’ve offered myself to do the tours! There aren’t too many ugly college campuses.
Nova has a decent and active alumni network on wall st, more so than the other 2 schools. So IMO it s only worth if 1) you can afford it with no loans or student loans and 2) paying for it does not ruin your retirement plans
I can’t imagine paying $100k more for Nova over other very fine schools …unless I was wealthy.
While Villanova has a decent reputation, it’s not worth paying full-price unless the family finances are so secure that money’s no object.
Are those offers conditional on maintaining a high cumulative GPA?
I’d check because St. John’s U has been known among the NYC area students I’ve known who attended or knew someone who did for onerous GPA conditions on scholarships.
Villanova is a just a few miles down Rte. 30 from Haverford and Bryn Mawr, on Philadelphia’s Main Line. Hardly typical suburbia!
If you believe the folks at Poets & Quants, Villanova apparently does have some cachet with Wall Street recruiters, but only you can judge if it’s worth the cost.
http://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2015/02/04/the-top-feeder-schools-to-wall-street/
@cobrat, it is all relative, $60K / yr for some people is not an issue (and I know, not for MOST people). @mom, Nova is well regarded in Metro/NY area and has a good and active presence on Wall St. It CAN help if going to the street. IF (key word IF) $60K does not dent your wallet, and your looking to go into finance in NYC, it IS worth it over the other schools OP mentioned. It is NOT worth it if it involves loans, delayed retirement, etc. (all IMO)
A reason why I mentioned something along the lines of unless finances are such that money’s no object.
Avoiod loans!!