CU Boulder vs. Boston University

Randomcolleges
Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:56:37 +0000

Not going to lie, I am currently facing this exact same dilemma. I am also deciding between the business school at each (studying finance), but am still unsure of which one. I am instate at Colorado and am practically in the exact same situation financially :/

Here is what I maybe planning that my counselor and I have thought out (so far): I will go to Boulder for the 1st two years because of the financial costs. This will save me about $60,000 instead of going to BU the 1st 2 years (if I have to pay the full price of BU). If Boulder turns out to not be the school for me, I will transfer to BU as it is simply ranked better, has a better ungrad program and networking, but also to avoid a lot of debt of a $60,000 per year for all 4 years that BU brings (again, if I end up having to pay full cost, which is VERY unlikely). This shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but I’m still going to wait and see.

The biggest thing (other than cost) that you need to worry about is where YOU see yourself in 5-10 years.

If you plan on going to graduate school, then saving your money on undergrad. should be a big concern as Graduate schools hardly give money and Grad. school is where one should really pay money for the “name”. If you plan on gad. School at Leeds or in/near Colorado, then by all means go and stay at Leeds. If you plan on going to a business graduate school in an east coast school, internationally, or somewhere outside the western US (maybe excluding California), then BU may hold a higher value than Leeds, due to its ranking and alumni network (as most alumni tend to stay in their region, and schools hold higher than others depending on their region).

The same thing applies when your trying to get a job. If you picture yourself in an area around Boulder/Colorado or the west, then a Leeds student will be a much better option as it’s more well known there, as well as having better networking than a school like BU (despite its reputation, unless of course you go to a really well known school like Harvard/Stanford and such). If you plan on living/working on the east coast or internationally (ESPECIALLY if you plan on living in Boston), going to BU will be much more valuable. I’d be very interested in what you end up deciding as I’m still unsure (I find it amusing to find someone else in this exact dilemma between two amazing schools in business).