Business is definitely different. Even if you eventually do an MBA, most people work for a while first. But if you were, say, pre-med, you are more likely to be going straight to med school. The more academicky schools send kids to PhD programs, and so on.
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Just an update to this thread… I recently visited Emory and LOVED it! Seems very academic-minded and I noticed almost all the tour guides double-majored while going on a track.
My parents agree that it is a good school but we have to figure out its ROI, especially for the cost. My hopes are that if it ends up affordable after the net price calculation (probably not at all tbh) and it has a high ROI, I can ED.
That being said…can anyone speak for its ROI to regards to economics and/or finance, as well as computer science? It’s hard for me to figure out since I don’t live in Georgia/South(east). I was considering rankings but they’re all behind a paywall for me and tend to focus on the masters program. I know Georgia Tech is renowned in Atlanta for its CS, so I’m stuck on Emory’s ROI.
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Well for CS - an in-state Ga Tech with Hope / Zell Miller or whatever you all have vs. Emory with a full price point for next year of $88K - and Tech is going to do better in CS if all costs are equal - Emory isn’t going to give you a good return in comparison most likely.
That said, these are two exceptional schools but don’t forget the most important school - which is the school you can afford and you’d be excited to go to!!
Do you have a budget in mind?
So these are great for reach - but you need to build a well balanced list.
But here’s the thing, you could easily get into neighter, one of, or both - and you can’t really predict an ROI off of that - but the lower cost school in this case will undoubtedly outperform the private.
But financing, of course, is up to your family - many spend more without a definite ROI advantage - in their case it’s by choice.
I’m not from Georgia so I don’t think I will be getting aid. Also, the only person who has been able to go to GT in the last couple of years from my school got into Harvard so I’m not planning to apply as it’s too out of reach.
Honestly, I don’t know. My parents said they have about 80k saved and can pay some more out of pocket or take out loans. This probably will considered into the financial aid, but they have to pay off a 500k mortgage on a second house (…which basically counteracts the aid since we’re also in an affluent area in CT). My parents moved to our location due to better a high school education, but that basically disqualifies us from a lot of need-based aid even though 80K an year isn’t pretty for us financially. I’ll get back to you on this.
Don’t worry! I’m searching for safeties. I’m thinking UCONN, which could be $17k/year, maybe less due to AP credits and living at home, for us if I go to one of the local campuses that’s less than half an hour away.
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You should definitely run the Net Price Calculator for Emory and other schools of interest. Plus have a serious budget conversation with your parents.
If after that Emory is still on your list, I want to point out it is part of a consortium of Atlanta schools that allow cross-registration. So Emory students can take classes at GaTech, for example. That may be of interest.
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Sorry - I missed the I’m not from Georgia.
You say Ga Tech is out of reach. I’m not sure Emory is any easier an admit. I do know this - without knowing anything about you - if you don’t try, you cannot get in. I’d say that for both - and don’t forget, Emory has the Oxford two year option.
If they have $80K saved up, they’ll need to fund - if you average it out - $70K or so a year - or if they spent all $80K in year one, then $90K or so (inflation) the last three years. Emory does have some merit money - not a lot - but it’s possible too.
As long as you have the UCONNS of the world and there are other low cost schools of various sizes, you can always take a shot at an Emory. The worst that could happen is you can’t afford it and so don’t go.
There are other mid size privates too (and publics) - one of which may be affordable (although not UCONN affordable).
I’m saying this because Emory has a 19% acceptance rate for my school and I’m just above the average GPA for accepted students, an academic “match” Naviance claims (though with a grain of salt obviously because it is a very selective school in general). Everyone who has ED’d has gotten in. My school is pratically a Northeastern/BU feeder and those have universities have the same acceptance rate for my school as Emory. Obviously, Emory is a very selective school so who knows, maybe I won’t get in, but it appears to be favorable to my school.
Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is a reach for me and less than 10% in my school get in. I also don’t want to apply there because they do not have a finance or economics major, and I got the impression they focus on engineering and CS. CS is likely too competitive for me to get into, especially as I just found my interest in it.
Absolutely won’t! I have family friends ~20 minutes away from that campus and even though my dad and I haven’t seen them in a decade (yup!) and went to the Atlanta campus, but stayed with them, they were so nice that I wouldn’t mind going there just be near them.
The information session speaker warned that they offer little to no merit aid so I won’t rely on that.
Hopefully if I ED this won’t be the case. That would be really suck to say the least.
Do you have any specific schools that give lots of merit aid / scholarships in general?
Apologies if I missed this upthread, but have you run the NPC on Emory’s site?
It will help everyone on CC to give you guidance if we understand your need for merit aid, need aid or a combination to make a school affordable for your family.
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If considered by faculty publishing in the field, Emory’s economics department places 55th nationally: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html.
My apologies, I have not. I will try to get my parents to sit down with me and fill out the calculator by tomorrow afternoon.
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Disregarding cost (I know, I know, it’s important for its ROI), does anyone know if Emory carry weight in name at least within Atlanta for finance?
How is it quantitively ranked, or qualitatively valued, in the domains I’m interested in?
I feel like I’m constantly returning to my original question with its “reputation” so sorry if I’m repeating myself.
I love the school, but I need to convince my family with stats or something that it’s worth continuing to consider.
Until you know if you qualify for need-based aid it is difficult to answer or evaluate a question about ROI.
We need to know what aid is expected based in the NPC. What merit aid is needed if the NPC doesn’t meet your family budget.
Experienced posters can help you with any scenario. They just need to understand how to guide you.
As an aside, Emory is very well regarded. IMO its peers are Rice, WashU, Vandy, Northwestern….
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hmmmm - Ga Tech has a top undergrad b school Scheller and has a School of Econ.
It may not be right for you but I do think you need to do a bit more research before eschewing someone for the wrong region.
Not a huge ranking fan but both Emory Goizueta and Ga Tech Scheller are top 20 by US News.
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We really need a budget.
Why are you Atlanta focused - do you want to be there or you are open?
For example, the Daniels School at U of Denver is well regarded and gives most everyone merit. U Miami also gives merit but not a ton. Elon is up and coming.
But if you need lower cost, you can look at IU Kelley - which many consider elite but the admissions criteria is relative easy. Miami Ohio Farmer is another very good school.
SMU is another - with merit.
What is the ultimate budget per year assuming no need aid as you said? And what is the outcome you seek - job wise?
Do you only prefer schools in the Southeast?
If the OP is looking to expand their list, they need to create a new thread as the current title would be misleading.
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That’s fair -OP, can you start a chance me or match me and ask for more?
We really need more detail.
Forget prestige, etc.
Come with your stats (GPA, Test), coursework, budget and desires - like geography, environment (I like urban or I like rural), size, and let us know your ultimate goal with the finance or econ degree.
And budget or cost desire - don’t say I need merit but I need to be $40K, etc.
Then you’ll get a lot of hits from many posters.
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Ga Tech is unlikely to be affordable for OP as there is extremely limited FA $ for OOS students. Not sure OP would be able to compete for Stamps/Gold/Provost scholarships because we don’t know their stats/ECs. If they were that competitive, it could make sense to still apply but OP would have to know, if accepted, but without winning one of those scholarships Tech would be off the table.
Separately, I agree the next step is for OP to run Emory’s NPC and let us know that number.
May be true but I was just commenting to what OP said - was just correcting them:
“I also don’t want to apply there because they do not have a finance or economics major”
Ok…
Responding/commenting on to all the previous comments
-I will do a “match me,” just not now since I haven’t gotten my SAT/AP/final GPA. Also it stresses me out sorry 
-I am not focusing on the Atlanta area exclusively. I am focusing on Emory’s value within Atlanta and using Georgia Tech as a comparison to find ROI.
-IU Kelley seems promising to me.
-Ultimate budget per year is less than 75K for my parents. However, I’m confident that they would be happier to pay near full if it’s a “good” school.
-Outcome job wise —> I don’t have a specific company or position in mind, but likely fintech or banking is where I’m heading. I’d like a strong starting job salary, or something reputable enough. Internships being plentiful at the school I’m going to would be nice.
-I’m open to East Coast/South East. West Coast and Midwest is too far for my parents.
Ok moving onto the important stuff, the net financial calculator…
I filled it in with my parent and used exact numbers.
I GET $00.00 IN FINANCIAL AID FOR EMORY. No loans, no grants, no work study, nothing. Just $79k paid by student and parents.
…
I’m confident my parents could do full pay, but it isn’t idle considering we have to pay nearly a million dollars in mortgage and their salaries would drop dramatically, especially as we already pay ~40k in state and federal taxes and the financial calculator does not consider that. Also, I have no idea if this will be included in FASFA or anything, but my mom is going down to part-time in the coming autumn due to health issues so a lot of her income will be gone with the insurance benefits.
Again, my parents could pay, but unless they perceive value, there’s no way they’re going to do it. My parents would do it for Boston University since it’s a popular destination for my school, but we don’t know much about Emory. I personally like Emory more than Boston University so I don’t see the point in going to the latter if both are basically full-pay for me.
So the ROI isn’t there I’m assuming?
So for 2024-25 BU COA is $87K (you are likely to get no need based aid there if the Emory results are accurate) and Emory COA is $84K. First step…can your parents afford these schools with no loans?
ROI is really hard to quantify, there are so many inputs and factors unique to a given student. Where you land job wise will be dependent on your effort in getting internships and then a job…these schools won’t get internships and jobs for students.
I see Emory > than BU placing into fintech or banking. When you say banking, are you talking about IB or are you open to the many other job/functional areas in banking?
BU Questrom 2022 outcomes show a $71.7K average starting salary. Students from non-Questrom majors like econ and math will also go into fintech and banking jobs. https://www.bu.edu/careers/files/2024/01/FDS-2022-Public-Summary.pdf
Emory outcomes page doesn’t show detail for Gouizeta…you might contact their career center and ask for outcomes info.
You can also look at this analysis of college ROIs. Which is FAR from perfect (read the methodology), but it is one stab at calculating ROI across many schools. Spoiler alert Emory’s ROI >>>> than BU’s.
You can also look at College Scorecard data, again read the methodology. These data are far from perfect or complete.
Emory business (not sure what majors you are considering) undergrad average salary is $108K four years after graduation.
BU Business Mgmt and Operation = $87K after four years
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