<p>So until recently I’ve been assuming that next year I would be going to UNC (or William and Mary, which I made some threads about on other forums here, but since then I’ve decided against W&M). But I also got into Binghamton, and as a New York resident it would cost a lot less to go there. Specifically, Bing would be like $18k a year, vs. $32k for UNC. (My parents will pay like $12k a year, but the rest goes to me, so that’d be like $55,000 additional debt.) </p>
<p>I had originally assumed that I’d definitely go to UNC… people seem to really enjoy it, whereas I’d heard that the morale is low at Binghamton becuase a lot of people don’t really want to be there; the student to faculty ratio is lower at UNC (14:1 vs. 20:1); and I’d assumed that I’d even be able to pay the debt more easily because recruitment for finance jobs (the field I want to go into) would probably be higher at a more prestigious college like UNC. </p>
<p>But then I visited Binghamton, and although the campus is indeed ugly, the people seemed pretty happy (my parents talked to a few people on campus, and an alumna we personally know, who all seemed to like it). And we talked to someone in career development who said that major firms like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch do recruit at Binghamton, although they didn’t have numbers about how many were taken.</p>
<p>So basically, I had been really excited about UNC, but the argument for me going to Binghamton is getting stronger. However, is there anything I’m not taking into account? Like UNC is usually considered a lot more “world class” than Binghamton ? is there a reason for that? Does more recruitment happen there? Or would I just enjoy it a lot more? I really would like to go to UNC, but I’m just having trouble justifying the cost.</p>
<p>(Oh, one more thing. A family friend suggested that I could lower the cost at UNC by getting out of intro classes when I carried over AP credit from high school. Because I’d be taking fewer classes, and thus fewer credit hours, I could pay less. Is this possible?)</p>
<p>The point about your AP credit is that you could possibly bypass some entry level courses, so you might be able to finish up earlier than 4 years. You would still have to take a minimum 12 credit hours per semester to remain a full-time student, I believe.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, guys. I just wanted to make a little clarification… one of the sentences on my first post reads (on my computer) like this:</p>
<p>Like UNC is usually considered a lot more “world class” than Binghamton ? is there a reason for that?</p>
<p>That middle question mark was supposed to be an en-dash (a long dash), but it didn’t come out right and kind of changes the meaning. It’s too late to edit it, so I figured I’d just clarify it here…</p>
<p>By the way, although I hate to post three times in a row in my own thread, I just realized that if I went to UNC I’d very likely be applying to Kenan-Flagler. Obviously I don’t know if I’d get in (although I was accepted to UNC OOS, so I’d probably stack up relatively well), but because it’s a top-rated undergrad business program, that’d probably help with internships and eventual jobs, versus if I had gone to Binghamton, right?</p>
<p>I am from the northeast. Bing is a quality state school. It however garners virtually no respect outside the state of new york. In other words, it is not a national school. More than 90 percent of the students are from New York. And they are traditionally kids that either went there for financial reasons or just didn’t get in anywhere else. I had a few friends who went there. I think that UNC is the better choice. The firms that recruit at Bing are primarily recruiting for the “lower” level divisions, such as operations. These divisions do no generate lucrative compensation as do others such as IB and equities. Good luck.</p>
<p>I am also a student from New York and I got into Binghamton as well. I didn’t visit it, and I honestly never even considered it. It was just one of those things where you have to apply to the state schools.</p>
<p>Yes, UNC is more expensive than Binghamton, but I think that it will be worth it going to UNC. Binghamton is a good state school, but it is nowhere near the level of a UNC.</p>
<p>Just getting into UNC is a huge accomplishment from out of state, and how can you turn that down.</p>
<p>I guess you just need to follow your gut.</p>
<p>That’s what I did, and I’m going to UNC in the fall I’m pretty much going to be paying for it myself, just like you, but I think it will all be worth it in the end. College is supposed to be the best years of your life.</p>
<p>(And I turned down a full ride to Hofstra, so if you’re worried about the money, just keep me in mind ;-)</p>
<p>If you were talking about Rutgers College versus UNC (yes I know NJ and not NY) with the same financial implications it would be much harder for me to tell you to assume the added debt that UNC will bring, but we are not. Binghamton is what it is, a fair-to-good mid-line school in the NY state system…it’s certainly not even a Stonybrook which has a far better reputation for example.</p>
<p>NUGrad really laid it on the line very accurately. Recruiters at Binghamton are not looking for the same level people that they are at UNC. UNC grads compete very favorably with the Ivies for spots in the big investment banking houses in New York which can’t even be said for a number of other “major” public universities let alone a school like Binghamton. If a school’s placement (career development) office can’t give you real numbers and facts about recruitment, placement, avg starting salaries etc it’s because they really don’t want you to see what they are…for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>Binghamton has ZERO recognition outside New York and even there is certainly not considered a top instate school. To pass up the chance to attend one of the top 5 publics with a top business school and have the cache and recognition that comes with your OOS admission which ALL employers and grad and professional schools understand would be a mistake.</p>
<p>Your AP credits can allow you to graduate sooner which will potentially reduce costs and you can always find a job to help with costs as well. I believe that there are scholarships available for juniors and seniors based on achievement that you could apply for. </p>
<p>Additionally the type and quality of internships you will be exposed to at UNC will further enhance your career opportunities globally. My guess is that if the difference in costs over four years is the $55K you mention, you will make that up fairly quickly in the starting salary and first few years’ earning difference between the two schools.</p>
<p>I wish you well with your decision. One last thought; have you approached Fin Aid Dept about your situation? Did you even apply for aid? Good luck.</p>
<p>I, too, vote for UNC over Binghamton. And I’m a New Yorker, as well. (:</p>
<p>The above arguments are all extremely valid, imo, so I’d just like to add one point. Consider UNC’s cost in relation to the cost of an Ivy League school – the tuition alone is more than the OVERALL cost at UNC (with tuition and all the amenities). And yet you are getting an education on par with an Ivy League school by attending Chapel Hill. Your money goes farther there than it does in other schools of its quality.</p>
<p>Although it is much more costly than Binghamton, on the scale of college costs, it’s a pretty good deal. Besides, a UNC education and diploma will go much farther than the Binghamton equivalent. </p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, guys. I haven’t been around much for the past few days, but yeah, I’m probably going to go for UNC. </p>
<p>Another problem that came up is that my parents don’t want to cosign a loan big enough to pay for UNC, and I have no credit history. If I go to UNC what I’ll probably do is take out a “pre-prime” loan from MyRichUncle and refinance after a year or two to a lower interest loan, since their pre-prime loans are at like 11% interest. Since I’d probably be paying 8% otherwise, I figure the additional 3% wouldn’t make too much difference if I could refinance within about 1 to 3 years (I called Citibank to find out how long it would take to establish enough of a credit history to get a student loan myself, and they said at least one or two years).</p>
<p>Now my parents called a few financial firms who said your undergrad school makes no difference in terms of getting jobs, but I’m kind of skeptical. People you can cold-call may not necessarily be knowledgeable, or even completely candid. Also, my friend’s father, who is in a fairly high position at a finance company, said that it’d definitely be worth going to UNC, even it meant taking out debt to pay the difference. </p>
<p>My parents are still trying to convince me to go to Binghamton, saying that my quality of life would go down with increased debt (which is true, unless I earn more by going to UNC), but I probably will choose UNC for all the reasons everyone’s mentioned.</p>
<p>Well, I just found out that MyRichUncle’s pre-prime loans max out at $15,000 per year, which means that at this point I’d still be about $7000 short if I wanted to go to UNC. So, unless there’s another loan provider that I could use, or some way to get them to reconsider giving me a scholarship, it’s probably going to be Binghamton. </p>
<p>I’m also going to apply to Delaware, because you can still apply there, and maybe I’ll just go there instead. Anyway, I probably will transfer (likely to UNC) once I can get a regular loan in place - maybe I can find some company that would do it only after a year. </p>
<p>Anyway, there aren’t any other options that I’m overlooking, are there?</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to call the financial aid office, I assume, unless you’ve done that already.</p>
<p>I think your best bet would be to convince your parents that UNC is where you want to be, and the job prospects would be significantly better when you graduate (which I believe is true). It might help to point out the Research Triangle Park, which does recruit from the area universities. </p>
<p>Your AP credits will allow you to graduate sooner, too. You could work in the summers to help pay for part of the tuition.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ve thought of all this, but if not-- hope it helps. Have your friend’s father talk to them again. Can they afford to help you out, or would it be a financial strain on them? If it would be a serious financial strain, then that’s another issue altogether. But how would UDelaware be any different? I’m assuming that’s not any less expensive than UNC.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve already talked to the financial aid office, and there’s nothing else they can do. And my parents are firm at $10,000 a year - my Dad wants to retire soon, so they’re sort of saving up for that. </p>
<p>I mean, I’ll probably be transferring to UNC as soon as I can get a loan (although depending on how long I spent at Bing/Delaware, I might decide to go somewhere more expensive than UNC, like Berkeley or Cornell, if I got in, since I would have already saved a lot of money going to Bing/Del first). But I just wish I could start out at UNC.</p>
<p>Oh, okay. So they’ve dropped it from $12,000 (in your post #1) to $10,000. Sounds like UNC isn’t really your first choice school anyway, if you are already considering transferring to other schools (and at much more expensive choices).</p>
<p>Good luck. I’m sure Binghamton will be fine and what you make it.</p>
<p>Well, they’re giving me $10,000 towards tuition/room and board, and then the equivalent of like $2000 per year divided up weekly for general expenses. Because the $32,000 for UNC includes miscellaneous expenses, I had added that $2000 in at first, and I guess I should have this time too. So yeah, I guess it’d be more like a $5000 difference. </p>
<p>And although $5000 shouldn’t be a deciding factor, I really don’t have a source for that money right now. </p>
<p>In terms of transferring, I think I was a little unclear in my last post. I almost definitely wouldn’t transfer from UNC if I started out there, but if I started out at Binghamton or Delaware and stayed there for a year or two, I might go somewhere more expensive, where I might want to go a bit more than UNC, because I had saved a lot of money earlier on. (When I said in my last post that I want to start at UNC, I meant as opposed to starting somewhere else and then finishing at UNC.)</p>
<p>If you really want to go to UNC, the $5000 difference could easily be accomplished with a job either on campus or in Chapel Hill. You talk about transferring to somewhere else like Cornell or Berkeley…I think I can understand why your folks are adamant about limiting the money they are offering because you really don’t seem too passionate about any school. If you haven’t sold me, I doubt that you have sold them on how much UNC means to you, if it really does.</p>
<p>eadad, thanks for the reply. Well, my parents are pretty adament about paying only $12k a year anyway… like even if I had gotten into Harvard, they would have only given me that. They probably would have been willing to co-sign a bigger loan, though. </p>
<p>I guess I am a little ambivolant about my college, partly because UNC wasn’t my first choice (Princeton was, although it was a massive long-shot which didn’t work out), but I still like UNC a lot nevertheless – as opposed to Binghamton, which didn’t impress me very much when I saw it. Of the schools that I got into (UNC, Bing, William and Mary and BC Honors) UNC is my top choice, and the fact that it’s cheap compared to, say, BC, only makes it even better. However, it’s just that if given the chance (in terms of admission and having the money) to go to one of a small group of other schools, I’d likely go to one of those instead. It’s not that I don’t like UNC, or wouldn’t be extremely happy to go there, though.</p>
<p>The idea of doing some work in the area sounds interesting, assuming it wouldn’t take away too much of my time. Maybe I’ll look into that. Of course, I only have about 2 hours to make a decision. Sweet Jesus…</p>
<p>Go to UNC!!! My boyfriend and many of his friends just graduated from Kenan-Flagler and the recruitment there is very alive. There are so many companies willing to take straight out of college business graduates. One of his friends graduated early because he got recruited by Wachovia in investment banking and he’s making 150 grand year as a 23 year old. UNC will definitely help you out in the job market, that’s one of the reasons it’s so prestigious.</p>
I’m pretty much going to be paying for it myself, just like you, but I think it will all be worth it in the end. College is supposed to be the best years of your life.</p>