UT Austin Business Honors vs. NYU Stern (Urgent- not lying about that)

I want to preface this by asking if anyone has been to either of these schools. If you have, please PM me!

I am currently a senior in highschool and was accepted to the Business Honors Program at UT Austin as an out-of-state applicant and NYU Stern. I was pleasently suprised with both acceptances.

However, I applied Early Decision to NYU Stern before getting the UT BHP decision. Now, I have until the end of this month to decide (I have the option of pulling out for financial reasons. NYU made it easy).

UT Austin will cost me about 80k less than NYU, and if I get residency, it will about 170k less. I may be able to negogiate financial aid down at NYU. My parents say they will try to figure out money for NYU if I choose (worst case taking out 80k in loans), but I will need to pay for grad school. If I attend UT Austin, my parents can pay for undergrad and grad.

I know NYU is not talked of highly on this forum, but I really am interested in the school (student life seems fine for me, Stern Talks, pre-professional clubs, internships during the year, the city, study abroad, dedicated students). UT Austin is also a very nice school with laid back kids and a beautiful campus, but I am worried my opportunities will be limited and I will not be pushed to do the best I can.

How significant is the difference in opportunities between NYU Stern and UT Austin? I am interested in both finance and consulting roles as of now. I think NYC jobs have more exit opportunities so I will be aiming for there.

Just some data. According to Poet's and Quants for class of 2019, NYU Stern avg. salary is $79k and $85k with bonus. UT Austin's avg. salary is $68k and $72k with bonus. On NYU's wesbites, Sterns avg. starting salary increased from $72k in 2017 to $80k in 2018 to $85k in 2019 . On UT Austin's website, BHP's salary increased from $71k in 2017 to $76k in 2018 or 2019 (Says 2018-2019 BBA Salary Survey, not sure if that is for class of 2018 or 2019). Only 10% of UT Austin went to NYC (about 110 kids, while BHP has 130 kids).

Links:
https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/Career-Services/St…
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2019/12/3…

It seems like everyone I know thinks of NYU Stern as very prestigious while UT Austin not so much, and I am wondering if that thinking is the same with NYC recruiting. Also, if I have a big name like NYU Stern, do I need an MBA?

Again, if anyone has attended either of these schools or if familiar with recruiting at both of these schools, please PM me.

First things first, forget data because averages aren’t helpful here.

Question is really how badly do you want IB, and is the difference 80k or 170k.

You said the difference depends on whether you can get residency, well, find that out because it’s a ton of money and that question should be answerable now.

If you’re pretty sure you want IB and difference is 80k, go with Stern. UT can get you IB too but at 80k difference I think you take the improved odds that Stern offers plus a variety of little advantages like being in NYC and all.

If you don’t think you want IB and difference is 170k, that’s a ton to shell out for those little advantages I mentioned above. Take UT in that scenario.

Needless to say, if it’s a mixed scenario (eg you want IB but diff is 170) that’s a very close call and you should undertake the longer exercise of considering every little factor. WSO’s only assistance there is to confirm that it’s in fact a close call, rest is up to you.

UT Austin would be 100% better than Stern (whether banking is easier to break into from stern is questionable seeing as its more competitive and there are a plethora of ib positions in TX). But you lose the very marginal bragging rights of having attended a "brand name" school, and you only live once NYC is a fun place.

What concert costs 45 cents? 50 Cent feat. Nickelback.

If it was regular UT Austin or regular McCombs I'd say NYU Stern easily. But the BHP places extremely well, and that 80k or 170k difference is huge. If you can get UT Austin BHP for 170k less than Stern, take it, it's a no-brainer. COL will be very different too, rent + food + other activities will cost significantly more at Stern than UT Austin.

I'd also go with UT BHP, BHP will have comparable stats to NYU Stern since BHP are the cream of the crop at UT. Plus UT will be a better experience... you'll have the rest of your life to live in NYC, where at UT you can get a real college experience.

If Stern is 170k more, go with BHP. If Stern is 80k more, go with Stern. Tbh a lot of people exaggerate the competitiveness at Stern for IB when they've never been and it seems to get passed around a lot. Most kids are down-to-Earth and won't murder you over a summer internship. Plus, an increasing number of people nowadays are going into tech and consulting so the competition isn't as fierce as it once was. While BHP/McCombs is great, the placement will most likely be in Texas, so you want to consider where you end up as a factor.

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