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Now that I have your attention: 

I'm a high school senior, and I want to pursue a career in IB/PE/HF. I was admitted to Cornell Dyson/AEM and I fully intend on committing. However, I was waitlisted at Duke and Georgetown MSB, and I'm not sure how hard I want to campaign to be removed from the waitlist. I see myself more at Duke or Georgetown for the next four years based almost entirely on location, but Cornell is approximately $20k cheaper annually, and closer to home (in-state discount from NYC suburb). Cost isn't the end-all-be-all for me, but a discount that hefty is definitely a factor. Any guidance is appreciated. 

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I'd rather spend four years at Duke or Georgetown, but that's based on preconceived notions of what the school is like: you never know what you like until you get there. Duke/Gtown placement seems better in the aggregate than Cornell's, but does the Dyson AEM (business) program change that calculus? My parents think I should take Cornell, save the money for grad school, and never look back, but I'm conflicted. Even so, Duke and GTown aren't acceptances, just waitlists: not even deciding where to go, just trying to see how hard I want to try to get off the waitlist. 

 
Most Helpful

There's no point of going to grad school from your current path. If you land IB, you can get into PE. Very few places make their ASOs go to business school anymore, you'd have to seek them out at this point. This has changed since your parents' generation, so even if they went to MBA, it's different now.

I still think these three are a tossup - Gtown probably wins placement, but that's splitting hairs given you will be just fine from any of them. More importantly, they are different school environments and personal preference has to play a role. It doesn't hurt to write a quick letter for the waitlists, see how you feel when you get off of them. If you can visit any in the next month that would help too.

 

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