University of Tennessee in Knoxville vs. Bates College

Paying for College
1

Hey everyone!
I have a question: should I attend UTK or Bates College?

I got a full ride at UTK.

Here is my Bates’ financial aid award:
Tuition, Room, Board, and Fees: 69,900.
Estimated Travel and Personal: 1,550
Estimated Books and Supplies: 900
Total: 71,450.

Contribution:
Parent contribution: $0.00
Student contribution: $1,800.

Financial need: 69,650.
Financial aid award:
Bates Grant: 65,950.
Direct Student Loan: 2,000.
Student employment: 1,700.
Total: 69,650.

So, as you see, Bates expects me to contribute $1,800 a year and is giving me $2,000 a year in direct Student loans.

Now, I know this is practically a no-brainer. I know that I should attend UTK, because it is financially better for me. However, I am conflicted because Bates is more prestigious than UTK, and because I really want to attend school outside of Tennessee, because I have lived in TN my entire life.
Also, I want to be an investment banker on Wall St, which is a notoriously hard job to get. Wall St. firms recruit at highly selective schools. I know that Bates College is not a highly sought after school by the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, but I would like to think it gets more attention paid to it than UTK.

So, should I attend Bates or UTK?
Thanks in advance!

2

Bates. The aid package they have offered is extremely generous. It’s not at all unreasonable to expect you to contribute $1,800 and take a $2,000 loan (which I imagine is subsidized).

3

In a macro sense the numbers are close enough that the decision should mostly depend on where you would feel more likely to thrive. I mean, literally, the environments could hardly be less similar size-wise, geographically, demographically, curriculum-wise, etc.

IMHO, try not to make the decision on the basis of “prestige.” When it comes time for job interviews or grad school, an A student from Bates and an A student from UTK are going to be on essentially equal footing.

You do need to be aware that Bates will recalculate your need every year. For sophomore year it will be based on 2017 income/assets and for junior year it will be based on 2018 numbers. Obviously you should have an idea now if these years have been any better or worse than the 2016 year that was used to generate your current offer.

P.S. I myself left my home state where I had lived my entire life and went to a small private school 1000 miles away and while I don’t regret that at all, I will say I absolutely got homesick, which I never thought would happen in a million years!

4

When you are considering your options don’t forget to add in the cost of travel to and from Bates. If you can make that work I would recommend Bates, that is a fantastic aid package.

5

@Gpa348, I’d make sure you’re comparing apples to apples.

Is UTK giving you money to cover books, supplies, travel and personal expenses? If so, does the grant cover the same amount (or the same amount less the difference in travel)?

Are there differences in the spending money you’d need? Do students at one school tend to go out to bars and restaurants? Are there costs for football games, movies, concerts or other activities to be factored in?

Do both schools offer summer stipends if you want to take an unpaid summer internship?

Are the meal plans the same? Are they both unlimited?

Are there any fees not covered by your awards?

6

Make the decision based on where you think you thrive, where you think you fit best. You got an excellent package at Bates. As the poster above noted, you must consider cost of travel to/from home. You have to get there at the beginning of the school year, round trip for Thanksgiving, r/t for semester break, r/t for spring break, and home for summer. That’s three round trips and two one-ways.

You should note that Bates is not a target school for top investment banks. That doesn’t mean that you could not get an IB job. You’d just have to work harder to get it. However, there are other areas of the financial world that recruit more from the northeast liberal arts schools. You would definitely have a better chance at these jobs from Bates rather than UTK. You should post on the site Wall Street Oasis and see what they say.

In any case, you have two GREAT options!

7

@brantly what other areas of finance recruit at schools like Bates?

8

Frankly, I’d be most concerned about employment outcomes in general. According to the student surveys administered by both schools, 16% (or 1/6th) of UTK graduates are still searching for employment at the six month mark while only .5% (or 1/200 = two students in the entire graduating class) of Bates grads are at the same point.

https://www.bates.edu/career/class-outcomes/

https://career.utk.edu/employers/graduate-survey-results/
https://career.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2018/03/Annual-Report-2016-2017.pdf

If I’m reading the information in the second of the UTK links that includes 7% of econ. majors at the business school, 10% of finance majors at the business school, and 19% of econ. majors in the college of arts and sciences.

Note: UTK includes internships and fellowships in their “employed” category; Bates breaks them out into separate categories.

9

Do you want to go to Bates? If so, you got a terrific offer from them. An $1800 student contribution is not unreasonable…but if it’s impossible for you to come up,with…you could ask for some addition Direct Loan money as you only were awarded $2000 and you are eligible for $5500.

Congratulations…you can make this choice based on where you want to attend…the finances are terrific!

10

@Sue22 so you’re basically saying that attending Bates gives me a better chance at getting employed after college?

11

@thumper1 I can pay 1800

12

Personally, I’d choose Bates, but I have to admit to heavy bias and I don’t know enough about UTK to make a recommendation for you. Bates does seem to do a really good job of helping their students land on their feet after graduation.

I think you’ve gotten fabulous financial offers from both Bates and UTK so either way you’re very fortunate!

13

@Sue23 even my counselor recommended me to choose Bates.

14

Here’s one way of looking at it. Bates estimates your expenses at $71,450 and is giving you a grant for $65,950. Assuming future years’ grants keep up with tuition costs, which from everything I’ve heard is standard in Bates awards, you need to come up with $5,500 per year. $2,000 of that is loans. If you earn $2,000 in a summer job and $1,500 in work study or other part time work over the course of the school year you can easily cover the rest. That means you’d be graduating with only $8,000 in loans. That’s very little. If for some reason you couldn’t work you’d still have the buffer of additional available student loans.

15

@Sue22 I only have to contribute $1800 a year

16

@Gpa348, I was thinking of the total cost of attendance, including travel and personal expenses. In addition your family will save money by not having to feed you 8 months of the year.

17

@Sue22 Thanks! How reliable is the career center? I’m going to be spending a LOT of time there.

18

I think a survey of employment comparing a public university and a small private school might be misleading. A public university is going to have the majority of the students be from that state. These students may be trying to find a job within their own state. From what I read, the vast majority of Bates students are out-of-state/international. These students have traveled out of their state and may be more inclined to take a job outside of their home state.

19

@MerryLee Thanks!

20

Which might also mean the connections and job resources within the state are excellent, but those outside the state aren’t as good.