Emory vs. Boston University Questrom for Undergrad

I am a high-school senior and I have narrowed my college selection down to these 2 schools. Emory would be about $18k a year more expensive than BU, which would put a lot of financial strain on my family after the corona crisis. Using the money I would save with BU, my father could invest in a new venture(abroad in his home country) and possibly stabilize my family's withering financials. However, Emory's rank and reputation of its business school (semi-target) make me question whether I would make a huge mistake by not going to it, as I aim to be likely in IB or CO in the future. Emory's reported median starting salary is $69k and BU's is $61k. However, I have heard from people at my school going to BU that getting a job at Morgan Stanley, GS, or JPM is not uncommon and entirely possible there. Additionally, they claim that it's very easy to be top 5-15% of the class at BU for people from our HS.

Is Emory worth the extra buck? Are there many BU people in IB and CO?

 

Go to BU and bust your ass you’ll be fine. It’s a good school. If you do really well, are charismatic/good networker, join the right clubs, etc. you should be able to get the same level of FT job. Based on what you described it would seem selfish to choose Emory.

 
Most Helpful

Agree with this and the comment below. Negotiate and if you can't get the additional 10k, do NOT go to Emory. I did NT recruitment from a very small school with a very small NY alumni network and still ended up at a prestigious bank. Like you, I also had to make the choice between going to a more prestigious school that was going to cause financial hardship for my family or a smaller, lesser known school. At the end of the day, it comes down to you, not the school you attend. If you do your job, study hard and get involved, you will have no problem getting to where you want to go.

 

Second this - fight to make Emory affordable. Finance major at Emory is a guaranteed path to $80k+ FT role after graduation (IB, S&T, PWM, consulting, etc.) if you’re dead set on that path. BU is also an expensive private school, but it doesn’t have nearly the same level of prestige (you may as well go to a state school with a strong finance program)

 

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