Undergrad at Fordham Gabelli Lincoln Center with $160k debt. Is it worth it?
Hey guys. I've always wanted to be an investment banker, and I knew how important going to a target school is. I worked really hard throughout high school and had amazing test scores and everything (1520 SAT, 790 and 780 Math2 and chem, 3.8 out of 4 GPA), but unfortunately got rejected from most of my schools. The only options I have now are Fordham's Gabelli school of business at LC and the University of Rhode Island.
I know that neither of them are even close to target schools and my chances of getting into Investment Banking are very slim; however between the two of them the Fordham option seems more desirable to me given that it's in Manhattan and everything. To go to Fordham though I'd have to take a really hefty amount in student loans: their annual tuition is about $75k and I've been given a $35k/annum scholarship, which means $40k per year in student loans. Becoming an investment banker and working on wall street has been a lifelong dream of mine, but is racking up $160,000 in debt for a school like Fordham worth it? Because if not, my only remaining option is URI, from where my chances of investment banking are in all probability virtually nonexistent.
I've read tons of threads about Fordham here, and I know most of you think very little of it but it'll still give me a tiny shot of making it to wall street. Is that tiny shot worth $160,000 in debt?
P.S I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and severe depression in my sophomore year in high school, and the only thing that kept me going this entire time was the thought of one day becoming an investment banker at a place like Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan, so this dream means a lot to me. I know how unlikely it is at this point but I'm still desperately clinging to the tiny sliver of hope that all is not lost. Please knock some sense into me.
Maybe unrelated, but you suffer from bipolar disorder and from depression and your dream is to get into Investment Banking? This industry is potentially the worst industry you could pursue given your conditions
Don't do it, despite it s NYC location there seems to be very few Fordham alumni on the street (even compared to like Baruch).
Go to Rhode Island for a year (and get a good GPA) and then transfer to a better program. Your grades and test scores are really stellar. Not sure what happened in your admission process but evaluate what you think may have gone wrong and reapply as a transfer (or pick a new set of schools, I think you'd have a good chance at like UMich, NYU Stern, Cornell, Northwestern, etc.)