Major: finance and entrepreneurship
Babson
80k a year
Bentley (honors college)
50k a year
Parent contribution: 50k and then would pay over half my loans once I graduate if I went to babson
Additional money:
(20k of my own money from working)
(Estimating 5k a year in external scholarships a year)
I’m not sure which school to go to because I like babson’s campus and creative community, and they seem to be better in finance and obviously way better for entrepreneurship.
Bentley is cheaper but pretty much worse in every category, but I am in the honors program.
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I’d go to the school I could afford without debt or stress…so Bentley (honors is a bonus) would be my call. Your future debt free self will thank you.
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Ehhhhn - I agree with parts of what you say but not all. Bentley is an excellent school and they’re more alike than different.
In the end, your family can cover Bentley. You will need significant loans to go to Babson - more than the government allows - so there’s not really a choice to make. The finances have made the choice for you.
Best of luck.
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At least to me this looks like wishful thinking.
I think that you are comparing two very good universities with strong programs in your intended major, one of which you can afford to attend.
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I have 20k saved up currently and then have already won 8k of scholarships from local scholarships. I’m just assuming that I may be able to keep somewhat similar success in earning the scholarships year after year. The one thing that I was stuck on is the excellence of the entrepreneurship at babson since it is one of the top in the country. Do you think having that added bonus could be worth going into some debt?
No !!
Are you interested in entrepreneurship ?
If so apply to U Houston, rated tops by Princeton Review, for less.
If scholarships are one and done, don’t count on repeats - and it would take a lot of work.
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Unless the scholarships specifically state that they are for all four years, PLEASE do not assume this will happen.
You are comparing one strong business school to another. Your post-graduation success will be more about what you accomplish during college and not which one of these fine schools you attend.
Bottom line is Bentley is comfortably affordable and Babson is not.
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I’m not trying to disagree I’m just genuinely curious since I don’t know much about it. Are external scholarships harder to get as a college student? The ones I have gotten are open to senior in high school-junior in college so I thought everybody had an equal chance of winning?
Yes and that you’ve gotten $8k you’ve done well. Most get zero.
You should not count on it. Then how would you pay.
Real life isn’t necessarily based on where you went to college.
You’ll have Harvard people working for UMass grads, as an example.
You - not Babson or Bentley - will be why you are successful in life.
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OP, you have two great options and I would not recommend going into debt to attend Babson over Bentley.
It should be noted however that the government does not prohibit or prevent you from borrowing amounts beyond those offered by the federal student loan plan. In fact meaningful numbers (9% to 13%) of students do just that by borrowing from private lenders.
“At private non-profit four-year colleges,13% of students have private loans, and 52% have federal loans. At public four-year colleges, 9% of students had private loans, and 49% have federal loans.”
While there are numerous private lenders out there this one seems particularly notable. This is not an endorsement or solicitation but for your awareness of the availability of this option and CC partnership.
College Confidential Partnered with Ascent Funding.
Once again congratulations but the short and simple answer is in your scenario, no I don’t think it’s worth it. It should however be made clear that you could likely fund it privately if you choose that path. You do in fact have a choice but the smart financial decision in my opinion is the more affordable Bentley.
For a high school student this is impressive. You have done very well. However…
I think that this is unlikely. One issue is that it would be very difficult to find more scholarships once you are in university. Another issue is that you will be very busy with your education. University is significantly more difficult than high school. You will want to focus on your studies.
Another issue is that you are likely to get opportunities for internships at either of these very good universities. Some of these internships might not be paid, or might be paid at a level that is barely enough for you to live on. Also, they might not be located close to your parent’s home, so you will likely need to pay something for example to find a place to live. However, these internship opportunities can be very valuable to your education, particularly for someone with a business related major. Internships can also give you very valuable contacts in industry that can help you a lot after you have graduated from university.
The other issue is that I think that you are overestimating the difference between these two excellent universities. There really are a lot of very, very good universities in the US, and you are comparing two of the very best for your specific major.
I think that you are very likely to do very well with a degree from Bentley. The fact that it is affordable is a big deal. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree from a very good university with a marketable major and with no debt is going to help you a lot in the future.
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All of the local scholarships here are for high school seniors only.
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In my area as well. Specifically noted as such in the fine print.
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Bentley is a good school, and will set you up for success too.
But it sounds like you can easily sort out the finances for Babson, and that’s where your heart is. Go for it.
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Am I missing something? Besides 6 figures of debt?
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I wouldn’t have six figures of debt. As I said my parents will pay half my debt once I graduate. It’s kinda an unique situation because they have plenty of money to fully fund babson, but they are trying to buy a 2nd home in the next 2 years so they want to do that first.
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Not meaning to argue here, and I don’t disagree with anyone saying go debt free here.. it’s a popular advice for a reason, and I respect it.
80k tuition, 50k covered by parents that leaves 120k gap over four years. OP has personal savings of 20K, which speaks of how driven they are, which makes me believe they’d find word during school and likely cut down their debt.
If a decision to go to a college is just about finding the cheapest option, then it’s better to not go to college, and save all the money.
Also, I’m personally not a big proponent of crowd sourcing such decisions.
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OP- if you’ve worked through the finances and are confident in the payment plan, then choose the school you like. In the corporate hiring world (I’ve been in Talent/recruiting for big corporations for 35 years) there is almost no difference in reputation between the two schools. You will find a few Boston based asset management companies which recruit at one and not the other; you will see a small difference in the recruiting calendars but that’s mostly based on where you have a larger alumni population. But intellectually? Not a lot of difference out there in the real world- as least as far as perception goes.
So pick the one you want, if you have nailed down a four year plan to pay for it.
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