Location: Suburban, close to a growing city with proximity to business opportunities but not overwhelming. Size: Smaller. More realistic to get into based on stats and school history. Ability to confirm your major by sophomore year. Study abroad opportunities with an international school I actually wanted to apply to. Top-ranked business school. Not overly focused on athletics. Strong outcomes (I was able to speak with admissions in person about their data). Easy to double major while staying on track. I spoke with a ton of people there, and it may sound silly, but they seemed very kind and intellectual.
Before someone attacks me, I have not signed the ED agreement and I’m really trying to let go of it, so please…
I’m doing it! I checked my school Naviance and I have the second-highest stats out of everyone who’s applied – honestly looking really good. Everyone’s done EA though, and I’ve never shown interest so who knows.
Okay, I can see your reasoning now- Emory would be a good fit in terms of vibe. And yes the business school is pretty good. But with the nature of IB placement, the issue is clear: the schools that place well are either unaffordable or not a cultural “fit.” This really comes down to how set you are on IB. There are schools that will be more like Emory, but affordable- but no IB track record.
I’ll say this though it’s cliché: you will find your people anywhere. You’re Asian and Catholic? Cool, there will be student affinity groups for both. Not into sports? Not all of your classmates will be, either. There are ways to make a big school feel smaller.
It’s a bit of an outlier but close to home and does place some in IB - but won’t be cheap - have you considered Babson. Selectivity wise it’s not far off an Emory. And its outcomes are fantastic.
You can co register classes at Wellesley and Brandeis.
Not sure how merit is. But you might look into it. It describes some of what you are saying but closer to home.
I actually think there is no religious affiliation. My kid’s catholic school sends multiple kids there every year. For finance, it really punches over its weight class.
This answer your question. The school (like most other colleges) has ways to deal with spiritual life. But that is not the school emphasis.
Founded in 1911 by what is now known as the United Methodist Church, SMU is nonsectarian in its teaching and is committed to the values of academic freedom and open inquiry. Today, with a student body of over 11,000 students from every state in the U.S. and over 90 foreign countries, SMU is a university for students of all faiths, as well as a school where open discussions of faith are welcomed.
And this:
Our students come from diverse economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Among students reporting a religious affiliation, 26 percent are Catholic and 18 percent are Methodist. Also represented are other Protestant denominations and religions such as Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.
There is a Catholic Campus Ministry on the SMU campus.
From your latest posts it seems as though the $250k loan question has been sufficiently answered and that you’re now looking for some schools you can apply to RD that might give some merit aid, preferably in the northeast, that can help lead to a position in finance.
From some of @Catcherinthetoast’s previous posts, I think some of these might be targets/semi-targets for IB, and most of these also offer merit aid.
All I did to demonstrate interest was emailed the AO once about a major change, and I got in with the highest merit - I don’t think DI is particularly important
I spent 25 years as an M&A attorney and work with IBer’s every day from all over the country and Europe. Although I’d like their paychecks when deals close, I would not want their jobs. And deals fail all the time, leaving low income years. We just had three die in the last six months with the same bank, meaning our team and their team have very down incomes this year. It’s a tough grueling, thankless, business and there is no lasting affect. No one remembers or cares about your work after the close and they all think it’s just boilerplate. Many I know work 16-18 hour days for years and years, often sleeping at the office, having the firm cancel vacation plans and missing much of their kids lives. At least at the very big shops, which are the only ones you “need” a prestigious degree for. Not to be a downer, but I hope you spend more than a couple of days shadowing before you pull the trigger on this lifestyle.
I know easily a hundred IB’ers and just did a quick review. The vast majority went to state schools or small privates that really don’t move the needle for UG. Maybe half got an MBA and half of those were from state schools. Only a couple were Ivy Leaguers and a few more T30 schools. Looking at smaller shops (where the pay is lower but the life is better) and the vast majority didn’t go to a T50. When I think about those who are the most successful; it’s because they are great sales people and nothing else.
All that to say, no way would I borrow $250k (principal) to become an IB’er. Also, you should be borrowing the money if you are looking for a high paying gig, not your parents. They might have to cosign or take parent plus loans, but the financial numbers you mention are not close to enough for them to be straddled with that debt. $220k gross is good, but not paying that level of debt good. I assume they are mid 40 to 50; saying they will have $1mm in retirement in ten years means they are behind and would be sacrificing their retirement to give you an expensive college when you could do just as well going in-state.
I’m not saying this to be mean, but you need to be real about this and not put that stress on your parents.
Before borrowing any amount of money, make sure you know how much the repayment will be.
My daughter borrowed about $15k. She’s an engineer, and has been lucky to have a pretty good paying job which she started just after graduation. She also has a BF with a good paying job to they could share expenses. She benefited from the ‘covid pause’ on student loans and while her payment was only about $150/mo, she could put that into savings and then they got lucky again and were able to buy a house at a less than 4% interest rate. By the time the student loan payments started again, she was in her house, had many years in at her job, and had a raise.
But that isn’t guaranteed. She got lucky (but worked really hard too). Her sister who graduated into the same job market and covid wasn’t as lucky and was thrilled to have the pause in payments,but is now struggling to pay her loan (and it was slightly more at $20k, but she’s not an engineer).
I can’t even imagine if either had $250k in loans, or if they only had $50k and I had to pay the rest.
And I’d warn you not to convince yourself that $150k is so much better than $250k, or that you must borrow at least $100k to go to a ‘good’ school. You’ve pointed out that your family makes $220k, but that you live in a high COL area. You have to consider all those factors. If you do end up in IB, you’ll most likely live in a high COL area (NYC?, San Fran?) so while you’ll make a great deal, you’ll spend a great deal too.
I’m happy we really limited the amount of debt my kids took on as students. THEY are really happy they limited the debt even though they they didn’t go to their first choices for college.
As you are learning on this thread, you have options.