I am a high school senior from Mississippi who was recently accepted to Dartmouth college(with no FA) and also have a full ride to ole miss. I intend to double major in Physics and Economics and am interested in either pursuing a fully funded phd in physics or going into finance/consulting right after college. I do have other acceptances but Ole Miss is the best option I got a full ride at and my family makes too much to qualify for aid so no schools similar to Dartmouth’s caliber are any cheaper. I have no siblings and my parents have a combined income of 350k per year. They are very cost conscious in general and just view the full ride as free money. They haven’t ruled out letting me go to Dartmouth and said they will let me know right before decision day. I feel very strongly about Dartmouth given that I have no intention of going to a costly grad school(as physics phd are fully funded and I hate reading so never considered law school and hate hospitals so never considered med), and am also considering finance/consulting out of college which place heavy emphasis on undergraduate school. I also loved Dartmouth during my visit and know the school would be a way better fit than ole miss(I hate hot weather, not interested in football, and found the majority of people at ole miss general uninterested in academics although I know there are exceptions). One of my main concerns is shutting off the path to finance(banking, quant finance, etc..) and consulting by going to a low ranked school, any advice or consolation(also here to vent).
Can your family afford Dartmouth? Do they want to afford Dartmouth?
There’s is no assurance of two things:
You’ll want to pursue a PhD when that time comes
That you’ll get that role
With a physics degree, you’ll likely end up in grad school - if not a PhD, then engineering or physics - and I don’t think the where will matter.
A lot comes down to your parents - are they willing to spend or as Dartmouth would say - invest in Dartmouth.
And if you decide against the PhD or there simply are no slots for you (a very likely outcome), then what would you pivot to - and what would their decision be.
I would personally take out the PhD - and go from there.
I’d go full ride - but I’m not a believer that you’ll make back the $400K. If you’re a winner, you’re a winner. But there could be opportunities out of Dartmouth (say a consulting role) that are far less likely at Ole Miss. But is that possibility worth $380K?
PhDs will come from both but Dartmouth is not a top feeder per college transitions but top 50 in both Physics and Econ. I’m sure that’s given the size and level of student they have. But that tells me their faculty might be better prepared for this as well.
It’s really, in some ways, on your parents. If $380K doesn’t impact them at all - is very different vs. it being a lot of money.
And if it’s you prefer Ole Miss but have concern about the Phd path, make an appointment and talk to the head of each department - and ask how they prep their PhD candidates and what successes they’ve had.
These are always very tough and individual decisions - because the truth is that you wouldn’t choose Ole Miss…but saving $380K becomes compelling - as it should.
That would make me very uncomfortable. Making you stress for a month? Or are they hoping you will “see the light” and choose the local full ride? As someone asked above, is the full ride a big scholarship like the stamps that comes with other benefits?
Sounds like it is really up to your parents at this point. Sorry that they are stringing you along. I hope Dartmouth works out because it sounds like what you want. If you do end up at Ole Miss, take a deep breath and work to make the most of that experience. Keep in mind that many students all over the world would give just about anything to attend a four year college in the US.
If you just said physics PhD was your goal, I would say Ole Miss. If you just said consulting/finance was your goal, I would say Dartmouth. It does look like you’re leaning towards Dartmouth.
Oh, for goodness sakes. For all the threads I’ve read and all the arguments the people here get into about whether “x college” is a target school, the moment we get an OP with a genuine target school acceptance we’re still gonna beat around the bush? OP, don’t listen to the axes grinding in the background. Go Big Green
These are quite disparate career paths. It will be more difficult to move into the relatively more prestigious finance and consulting jobs from Ole Miss. Of course there are plenty of other finance and consulting jobs.
Would your parents be thinking differently about this choice if you told them finance and/or consulting were your target careers rather than a physics PhD? And what would you do with a physics PhD if you went that route?
With that said, I certainly don’t want to spend your parents’ money, and it is their prerogative to choose how to spend it. It’s too bad they are stringing you along, and didn’t talk to you about potential constraints before you applied to expensive schools that don’t offer merit aid. Do you know if spending this money would impact their retirement and/or other considerations? I am sure you have been talking with them a lot about this…is there another family member who could get involved as an unbiased third party to help moderate a discussion?
Well, I agree Dartmouth sounds preferable – one reason being that it is a good idea in my opinion to go to school in a different part of the country, which is part of one’s education.
However the decision is out of OP’s hands. The parents are deciding.
I am sorry the parents allowed the OP to apply to Dartmouth, and after acceptance are now raising the issue of finances. If finances were going to be a major factor in the decision it would have been good to make that clear up front.
my parents have gone back and forth-very into money so they go between pushing for the full ride to save or for pushing for Dartmouth for the chance to get a high paying job/career in finance
It would be difficult for me to recommend Ole Miss, even for free, if finance/consulting is the goal. (But that is assuming spending the money doesn’t require parental loans or doesn’t significantly impact retirement savings.)
I would never say one can’t achieve that goal from Ole Miss, OTOH the doors to some entry level finance/consulting firms are closed coming from Ole Miss. If you are open to working in more regional finance/consulting firms that is more possible.
Have you looked at career outcomes by major from Ole Miss? If that’s not online, contact the career center and ask.
Have you told your parents this? It really does not sound to me like you are seriously considering a physics major/physics PhD/physics career. Is that correct? I will say that you can go in to some consulting and finance jobs with a physics major, just to throw that out there.
The Stamps Scholar designation opens up a lot of opportunities not available to other Ole Miss students. Among the benefits is access to other Stamps Scholars throughout the nation, many of whom will be living & working in New York City.
Since Dartmouth College is your first choice & affordable for your family (and no siblings), this is a tough call, but your heart & mind prefer Dartmouth, and Dartmouth is better for your current career goals.
Additionally, it is understandable that you may want a change of scenery. Attending college in a different region of the country contributes to one’s personal growth & understanding of different perspectives.
