[bluecheese]

Judging from the title, you probably know what this topics about and I know there's probably a bajillion of threads with something similar as the topic floating around... but I am seriously stuck between these two schools...

Some key background information:
-I live in Texas!! =D
-I'm going to be a business major - most likely finance, but possibly international business?
-My parents aren't helping me with college costs, so I'll be loaning out whatever isn't covered in scholarships, etc.

I made a list of pros & cons, and yeah... that didn't help much. They basically evened out for me. >_< But, here are some highlights of that list, and maybe you guys can help give me input...

NYU
-Great finance school because of prime location (ranked #2)
-Great contacts that can be developed with companies based nationwide + wallstreet
-Giving me only $15000 scholarship (its about 50k/year)
-Brand new environment
-Living on campus, by myself
-"City life"

Texas
-Not bad in finance (ranked #6) but I'll also be doing Plan 2 Honors (a liberal arts major)
-BUT I'm not in business honors...
-Recruiters are mostly from Dallas/Ft Worth area -- where I live now and hope to get away from in the future... haha
-Few recruiters from out-of-state
-Giving me only $1000 (its about 22k/year)
-Close to home (with my parents) & I'll be living with my brother off campus
-I LOVEEEEEEEEEEE Texas football!

And if you guys are saying to go to the cheaper school because maybe I want to go to grad school afterwards, that won't matter because I'll wait 3, maybe even 5, years before I go. I'll probably be working and studying for my master's simultaneously, so I really don't think my master's is going to affect this decision.

I've sort of always wanted to go some place different for college because about 75% of my friends end up at Texas (not particularly studying business, but studying science/engineering, so it makes me feel mediocre, kind of like I'm conforming?). But the thing is, I don't feel completely satisfied with going to NYU; there seems to be a side where I do want to go to Texas. But then, there's the side where I want to go to NYU - to go someplace where no one goes, kind of be special?

Am I the only one with this feeling? lol >_<;;;;
Any comments, suggestions? What would you do if you were in my situation? o_O

[MaC87]

If you want to be a business major, you should go to NYU because they have one of the best business programs and tons of network. Also, it's very hard to get in. But that only if you can affort their cost. Being in the city is pretty good too, you get more experience and maybe an internship.

I never heard of the other one. so i can't provide much info.

However, if you can't afford NYU. you can still go to another business school in NYC like baruch, pace university. it's way cheaper.

GOOD LUCK on your decision.

[thealmightyGOD]

wtf go to stern durrrrrrr

[i'm lagging yo]

you have a public university near you that is very renowned for business... mccombs isn't second tier.

you say your parents are paying $0 for college. you'll be loaning out $35,000/yr for 4 years which equals $140,000 in debt chasing you when you graduate... that's pretty big pressure. I would say go for UT Austin unless you have strong "desire" for stern. "networking" and large future career opportunities is a valid reason for stern. But then again you're not stranded in texas. I am certain a lot of companies recruit there for mccombs reputations.

[Voltage]

I just went through the finance internship recruitment process this spring, and I can tell you first hand that you need to go to nyu stern if you want to be competitive. And while you may face severe debt upon graduation, the challenges that face non-recruited schools such as the one you named in Texas trump the financial obstacles. I've been hovering around on finance forums and talked to classmates that attend ivy league and state schools. Most agree that obtaining work experience during undergraduate years is critical for finding work upon graduation. With that said, you have close to no chance without amazing connections or close school affiliation to obtain a competitive internship at any reputable finance institution by attending a non name brand school. It's not that the top 5 schools are better than everyone else, it's just how the banks decide to recruit and therefore we have to play the game like they do. Attending Stern will also put you in the same category as the alumni who have graduated and gone on to become successful.

I have a buddy that goes to Wharton who is highly intelligent, but couldn't get a finance internship. Imagine the difficulty for students at non recruited schools.

Plus your average starting salary coming out of Stern will be close to 65K a year. If you do internships, you'll make around 15k per summer. The Stern name goes a long way

[confusedpixee]

I'm actually in the McCombs school of business right now and I think it's pretty decent. Actually, I think it's harder to get into McCombs compared to Stern (right?) Anyways, even though Stern may have more connections with Wallstreet and a better finance school, I think UT's not bad. I hear a lot of cases in class where people have ended up on wallstreet from our school as an ibanker. Plus, you got into the Plan2 program which is a pretty good program that really makes you well-rounded. I think UT has a lot of networking opportunities too; there's always an event going on with some type of speaker from some renowned company. You also have finance trouble and UT is definitely A LOT cheaper compared to NYU. The standard of living in NYC already is more than Austin and tuition's probably twice or 3 times as much. The fact that 75% of your school is going to UT shouldn't affect your decision, because honestly, you are the one who chooses whether or not to make a completely new set of friends or just sticking to your old friends, you know what I mean?

I also have a friend who's having trouble adjusting to NYU because she says everyone there is a "party hard, study hard" student, whereas she can only party hard or study hard, not both (like if she partied hard, she wouldn't be able to make good grades). She also feels that she doesn't fit with the rest of the NYU crowd. I'm not sure if that's something you should consider or if it's something that would affect you, it's just a side note.

Anyways, I hope you decide on the school that best fits you. Good Luck

[umademesmyle]

go for UT Austin! i was stuck chooseing between UMich(Ross) & UT (Mccombs) and i chose UT
simply because i also live in texas and it's closer, cheaper and the education is just about the same.. i can always get the exposure when i go off the grad school

good luck choosing and maybe i'll see you next year at UT aye

[kable]

its all about where you go for grad school

[thealmightyGOD]

^ yes. but the connections you'd get from stern are too good to pass up. make friends with all your professors and TAs.

[lilxtiffstah]

stern is sucha good business school !
i would go to stern. =P
and this has nothing to do with which one you should go to, but i think i'm going into international business too =)

[dunpingy]

like someone said, new york is really fast paced
i dont think finding work is going to be a problem for you, neither is it really worth comparing the academics
its more like, where do you want to live four years of your life

[D_K]

STERN without question. Mccombs is second-tier.

[dutsukyampu]

i agree, stern uh duhrrrrrrrrrr

[carebear]

actually, I'm in mccombs right now as well. my opinion is.. it depends on your preferences. but here's what I would decide on:

Texas: its an AWESOME school. i'm having such an awesome time here, its nothing like going to one of the biggest (i dunno, is it still the biggest?) schools in the nation, football is awesome, and we have a great business school.

in my opinion, with a degree from here you can go anywhere you want. i'll be doing an internship in NY this coming summer under possibly the most competitive internship within the business school. i think that if you're ambitious enough, you'll not only save a lot of money, you'll meet great so many awesome people, and end up anywhere you want to go.

oh, and if you want finance, there is a great Financial Analyst Program that is offered specifically within the finance degree that is just great! if you'd like more info, feel free to ask.


NYU stern: if you got in, then props to you. like you mentioned, amazing business school. but bottom line, consider the costs/benefits. i believe that you can be just as competitive as any NYU student if you take the right paths at UT, although NYU is a great school

[IBanker]

...................................................

[Voltage]

I consider myself a relatively objective source who has gone through the finance recruiting process. First off, the name value of your school highly determines the first round of cuts to make the interview stage. It would be naive to say that Mccombs has the same level of prestige as Stern. While I do agree that obtaining an internship from Mccombs might be easier because the level of competition at NYU is so high, this does not follow for obtaining full time positions. I'll give you an example, for my school, each of the top banks choose only 1 candidate for a specific internship position. So Goldman, Merrill, Morgan, Citi, JP, Lehman usually only take one person to fill their ibanking internship class. But for full time positions, Goldman took 76 graduates from my school. That's close to a tenth of the class from a primarily engineering school.

You can as IBanker says achieve the same level of success regardless of what school you attend, but the path will undeniably be more difficult if you do not attend the top echelon of schools which includes Stern.

[EvanescentxDreamz]

Mm.. not only is NYU Stern top notch for Finance, for International Business, it was #2 in U.S. News when I applied in 2005. I'm currently in Stern, and most likely doing the International Business/Finance majors.. and I have to say, that the study abroad opportunities are AMAZING. I am currently studying abroad in London, next semester I'll be going to Singapore, and for Spring break of Junior Year, Stern sends all of the students on a FREE week-long trip to either Europe, Asia or South America to complete a business project.
And it is a big change for me (from Colorado), but I love every single minute of it.

However, even though I love the opportunities I get from being in NYC and Stern, there are a lot of cons that I have with the school, as well.

The competition is ..definitely a lot of pressure. The advisers tell you to not worry about internships until Junior year, but you have A LOT of students already interning for JP Morgan or Merill Lynch starting their freshman year, putting pressure on all the other students as well.
You also get this bad reputation for being in Stern.. urg.

But if you have any other questions, just PM me or email me or whatever, and I'll try my best to help you out..?

[rukiholic]

Stern is an awesome business school but you really have to work hard because the competition there is incredibly fierce. You really have to think of it in terms of where you think you can handle the course load better. If you think you'd get a higher GPA at McCombs than at Stern, then you should go to McCombs. Sure, you have the Stern label but if you can't hack it then you're better off studying elsewhere.

You also have to take into account what kind of campus would be best for you. NYU is located in the heart of NYC so there isn't that much of a campus life compared to other public schools. At a place like Texas, especially since their football team is so great, there's more school spirit because there is a very prominent campus life. Schools like NYU that are in the heart of the city doesn't have that kind of a feeling, or at least not to the extent of a public school.

And if you're stressing about money issues, I would say that Texas is probably the better value. Stern is a great school, but given the amount you have to pay for it on top of living costs there (living in NYC is very, very expensive) I would choose Texas instead. And just because you went to Texas doesn't mean that you get job offers from there-- the majority of the offers will come from your area however you will get offers to go to other parts of the country. My brother went to UIllinois and his first job was at North Carolina and then he moved to Texas. Plus, even if you do end up working in Texas, there are opportunities to branch out into other offices nationwide.

Your decision really depends on what YOU want. If you think you can handle NYU, the student life there, and you can handle the expenses, go for it. But if you ask me, I would save your money because if you're planning to go to a prestigious grad school, you're gonna end up working a good part of your life to pay all the debt off. Where you get your MBA is more important that undergraduate I think.

Best of luck to you, and if you go to NYU then maybe I'll see you whenever I visit my friends there!