@happymomof1 Thanks for that information. I tried called the Lourdes Financial Aid Office, but they were closed for the holiday (until 1/5), so I plan to schedule an appointment then so I can discuss this in greater detail. That premise of “where is $9,000/year coming from” is a hard pill for me to swallow, otherwise I would choose Lourdes in a heartbeat. I will run the Net Price Calculator now.
Post #13: What ARE you getting for your money?
Is the accounting program (classes, professors, Big 4 internships and CPA exam pass rate) better at Lourdes?
@Madison85 The program at Lourdes is certainly more involved, to say the least. At Lourdes, the class size according to an Accounting major I spoke to, was roughly six people. Certainly nothing to turn your nose up at; he said that the professors know everyone’s name and are always available for help. On the other hand, this was a tour, so they were trying to talk up the institution. Parking is a non-issue. Free (well, no extra fee), and the institution is so small that they don’t have parking wars.
UT on the other hand is a much larger university. Parking (I’ve heard) is a royal pain, particularly for undergrads, freshman especially, but that shouldn’t affect me as much. Their class size according to the website in the Business College is somewhere in the twenties. Being a bigger institution also has its advantages. UT also received a large endowment from one of the cities largest financial planning firms in the recent past and made vast improvements to the Business College, including a live stock trading room, funded by this endowment.
Lourdes definitely gets the upper-hand in Big-4 internships. They have agreements and come pretty close to guaranteeing all of their students internships with one of the Big-4. UT also has agreements, but they are not as involved in the process, its more of an “every man for himself” situation. On the other hand, I had a college class with a woman who worked in HR for a large company in the region who pretty much told me I had an internship whenever I was ready for one.
As you said, UT does seem to have a higher CPA pass rate, in addition to other various facts and figures, such as transfer rate, graduation rate, etc.
There’s just something about Lourdes that is keeping me from committing to UT, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is…
@ItsJustSchool Other than the ones listed, can you think of any other factors I should consider before weighing my options [again]???
What is it you care about? Are people friendlier at one or the other? Why is it that you cannot let go of Lourdes? I do not know what variables are important to you. One post I read on a different thread said her daughter cared about having a pretty campus. Not her value, but she respected her daughter’s values.
I do know that you need to figure this out. If you have any regrets or misgivings going in, they will magnify every time you hit a bump in the road. If you go with your first choice, you will find the resolve and the contentment to overcome any obstacle with a good attitude. Your attitude may be worth more than $30K over 4 years, in terms of performance and recommendations and grades. It is really worth getting clarity on this.
Anyway, there is no “wrong” choice. In reality, that is part of your problem.