Full Ride at Emory vs. Brown -- help!

JeweledFlower · 04-04-2008, 12:15 AM

I have been offered a full ride at Emory (through the Emory Scholars Program) and have also been accepted at Brown. Brown has always been my dream school and I love so much about it, but I also really like Emory and know that I will do well there. At Brown my family would have to pay $30,000 a year whereas Emory would be free and I would get a lot of special treatment. So I guess what I'm wondering is what should I choose? Would being and Emory scholar, or a student at Brown give me more of an advantage when applying for jobs and grad school? I love Brown, but is it really worth $30,000 a year when I could go to Emory practically for free?
Thanks for all your help.

mtpaper · 04-04-2008, 12:24 AM

there are many threads similar to this - look around and you'll see that the general consensus is to go for the full ride.

You didn't specify whether your parents have the money or if they'd have to take out a loan....

Another option - start at Emory and then, if you aren't satisfied, you can transfer

JeweledFlower · 04-04-2008, 01:20 AM

Thanks for the advice, sorry, I didn't look too much.

$30,000 is A LOT for my family. We wouldn't be able to pay for it without taking out a lot of loans.

dcircle · 04-04-2008, 08:30 AM

i don't agree that there is any consensus on this. it is a tough decision. still, even $30000 is fairly subsidized. theoretically, one or two years of consulting could completely pay down the brown loans. however, you may have no interest in a high paying job. you may also just really like emory. it's tough.

woebegone · 04-04-2008, 09:57 AM

hmm i think you should consider whether your prospective career allows you to pay off your debt quickly. like dcircle said, if you are planning to go into consulting, IB, or other highly-paid industries, you should definitely go for Brown (since you probably have a better shot at these jobs there anyway). otherwise, you should probably consider if the Brown experience is worth paying off a 100K debt with a 40K annual salary. personally, i had to give up Brown to go to another college on a free ride. i can't say that i regret it, because i really didn't have another option; there was simply no way my parents could have obtained a 200K loan for my education. but i can't help but look back and think about the Brown experience that I have missed out on because of financial concerns. My opinion is probably biased, but I'll say if you have the means, and if you love Brown as much as you claimed you do, then go to Brown.

sly_vt · 04-04-2008, 10:24 AM

Emory. I love Brown, but Emory is a great school; its reputation is as good as Brown's (probably better in the south). You do not want to graduate with a huge debt. There are calculators you can run (ask in the financial aid forum) that will tell you the salary you would need to earn to pay back $120,000 in loans -- it would be huge, much much higher than entry level salaries. And if you go to grad school... that's even more debt.

Honestly, you shouldn't even be thinking about this -- it's a no brainer. Go to Emory for free.

dcircle · 04-04-2008, 01:46 PM

the salaries at top banks and consulting firms can be over 100K + bonus

if you go to grad school (potentially increasing your earning potential), low-interest and fully subsidized federal loans can be deferred

i really don't think the choice is that clear cut, particularly when viewed in the long term

sly_vt · 04-04-2008, 02:17 PM

We have no idea if the OP wants investment banking -- nor is it a good idea to go to college with the pressure on a student that s/he has to get an extremely high paying job when they graduate. What if this student falls in love with visual arts or classics -- why should s/he abandon his or her academic interest because of an onerous $130,000 loan on their shoulders?

I'm sorry, there is no circumstances that I can consider that a student should take out a $130,000 loan for undergraduate studies. Now, if the parents want to take out a large loan and don't have any retirement worries, then the family can make that decision. I still think that's foolish. But to advise a student to take out such a large loan is putting the rest of their financial life at risk. Emory is a great school -- so is Brown, but it's not worth $130,000 in loans.

tennischamp822 · 04-11-2008, 02:03 PM

Not worth the debt to go to Brown...Emory is quite comparable in every respect

ClaySoul · 04-13-2008, 09:44 PM

money is just money. money goes away with time. it flitters around. you earn it, you spend it, you owe it, you pay it off. it isn't real.

experiences are.

brown is worth it.

(and no, i'm not promoting financial irresponsibility, i'm discouraging dictating major life choices based on money)

samiamy · 04-13-2008, 10:15 PM

Alot to think about. Do you have younger siblings? I have a dear friend at present HAS zero choices as far as going to college right now. Older brother went to an IVY, parents took on ALOT debt over 50K+ to get brother thru, brother just graduated. Now my friends parents have split up, the dad pulled the rug out under him refuses to give a dime for him to go to the schools he got into. So nobody knows how life will twist and turn, and my friend swears it was the money issues that compounded the parents relationship. Now what can he do? Nothing.

ClaySoul · 04-14-2008, 09:37 AM

A lot depends on whether you NEEEED that scholarship to go or whether it would be really nice to have that scholarship. If it's anything but the former, go to Brown, end of story, imho

ClaySoul · 04-14-2008, 09:38 AM

unless of course you want to go to emory

Pinderhughes · 04-14-2008, 07:18 PM

This is a tough decision. I would say take the full ride at Emory. I would like to quibble with the assertion one of the other posters said that Emory is comparable to Brown in prestige or quality. It isn't. I have yet to see a single measure of quality that has Emory near Brown in prestige or quality. U.S. News doesn't count, because Coca-Cola money raises Emory's financial profile in the financial resources weighting of the U.S. News formula.

pmyen · 04-17-2008, 04:16 AM

Brown is a great school but I would check out Emory. Stay overnight at both places if possible. My son attends Emory and has had a terrific experience there. A student from his h.s. had a similar situation as you as she was admitted to Harvard and Emory, and ended up deciding on Emory. She has been very happy there. I grew up in NE, and had several good friends who attended Brown. There are differences in the campuses, surrounding cities, climate, areas of strength, and to some degree, the types of students attracted to each place. My son majored in the humanities; however, he was struck by the fairly high percentage of students who were preprofessional, particularly premed and business. Emory has a strong undergraduate business program. My impression is that Brown tends to attract a higher percentage of creative and artistic people who see college as a chance to explore. Its open curriculum certainly allows them to do so.