Trying to remain as concise as possible, I have been admitted into UNC, UVA, UW-Madison, and IU. My current situation is this: if I attended UVA or UNC I would walk out with around 50k in debt after four years, whereas if I attended UW-Madison (my instate school) I would walk out with 26K and Debt Free, and if I attended IU (Kelley School of Business) I would walk out debt free and with 40k. I much prefer both UVA and UNC to IU and Madison as they are both overall better universities, and are also ranked higher in undergraduate business, which is what I plan to major in. As for reasons outside of academics, I also prefer Virginia and N.C over Wisconsin/Indiana for the slightly warmer weather and just for the sake of leaving the Midwest. Opinions on my upcoming choice? Does the difference, mainly between Kelley and Kenan-Flagler/McIntire, constitute taking on a fair amount of debt?
$50,000 in debt typically requires parent loans or cosigned loans, which are not generally a good idea.
If it were me, and I’m a risk taker, I’d take the debt and go to UVA, then I’d get a good job in DC and pay it off.
Choose between IU and UW. Don’t go into debt for an undergrad degree if you can help it.
As an aside, I remember reading on CC that UNC does not offer direct admission into Business. If true, that would be enough for me to cross it off my list. Go somewhere where you are guaranteed the opportunity to study your field of choice.
First of all, congratulations!
If u r pretty sure u can get into UVA/McIntire, it has excellent internship opportunities (and subsequent good job offers). 50k debt is a worthwhile “investment” imo.
How is this possible? You’ve posted this on 1/6/18 - to my knowledge, UNC and UVa decisions are not out yet.
Doesn’t UVA have early action? Website says for EA you can get your decision no later than Jan. 31. Totally possible that a response has already been given for that school.
DS was accepted to UVA, to Michigan, direct to Ross, and to IU. We did not qualify for any need based aide and DS got great merit money at IU. He is now a sophomore at IU- he loves it and is doing great academically. He is in Kelley honors and has taken advantage of every opportunity available to him. He even has a great internship offer for this summer- career advising has been really helpful and they work hard for their students. If you are motivated you will do great at IU and you can save your money for grad school.
Avoid debt, it is not worth it for an undergraduate degree, particularly when you have very good debt free choices.
Between US-Madison and IU, either is a very good choice.
The idea that the overall ranking or prestige is pretty valid. However, According to Poets&Quants they are ranked as follow:
3- Virginia
6-Kelley
7- North Carolina
30- Wisconsin
As far as the employment opportunities
2 Kelley
6 Virginia
11- NC
34 Wisconsin
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/category/rankings/ You can probably see some great stats here
Having said that Kelley is your best bet. Keep in mind as someone else as mentioned not having that direct admit is a big deal…They are all competitive schools with competitive students… Direct admit is not a guarantee. Kelly also has the most out of state students which would allow you to meet other students from different places. Not sure the weather is that much better in Virginia than in Indiana… Finally, you would have to make an extra $10K a year from the other schools in order to pay your loan in 5 years (simple math) But assuming you got into all these schools, congratulations to you. That is a huge accomplishment…
UVA is not worth the debt. Not the school it used to be. I would go for free and incur the debt for grad school
UNC EA has not come out yet. Also… the business school is not direct admit.
Based on your stats and being OOS, I am not not sure you will be accepted to all these schools. But it seems that you are going to be full paid at all of them with a small Merit at Indiana.
Both… UNC… AND… UVA … have not yet been released.
Your 32 ACT and top 10% class rank are good ( congrats!) but are on the low side for an OOS applicant… though certainly not impossible… depending. Where do you fall within the top 10%?
Essays and letters of rec etc will be very important and should reflect that you are a good fit for the school.
Your stats are very good and you should have some great choices. Good luck!
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing thread as I question that decisions have been released for all the schools listed. Regardless, enough advice has been given for when decisions do come out.