Is NYU Stern worth the cost?

Rising high school senior here. Considering applying to stern through early descision so it's binding if i get in. It is definitely a reach school but you never know you could get in.

I know i want to work in finance in the future , not sure which industry, and most likely in nyc (this could also change).

My parents can pay half the cost and the rest will be student debt. So i'd prolly graduate with 150k in debt.

Other good schools i've applied to are ut austin (in state), usc, and notre dame. All of them are reaches and their descisions will be out sometime 2022.

I've been accepted to tx am (in state) and fordham (most likely a full scholarship but not confirmed yet) so far

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Stern is definitely a controversial school on this forum. I'll just copy and paste what I wrote on another thread here, with a few edits.

Stern is not going to be a traditional college experience. The atmosphere is definitely preprofessional, and there is not a lot of school pride. The flip side is that you spend a lot of time exploring the city. Exploring the city as a student is very different than when you're working. To answer your question, it really depends on what you want to do, and what you want to get out of college. If you want a traditional collegiate experience, Stern is not for you. If instead you want to experience city life and go to a career-focused school (especially for finance), Stern might be a great option.

As far as IB recruiting goes, Stern is definitely a strong target. I have the internal figures for my old BB. Out of 600 students (one Stern class), 280 students applied (this figure is purely from Stern). I think it's safe to say that this is roughly the whole IB applicant pool from one Stern class. So roughly half the class is gunning for IB, of which they are sending 100+ each year (just Stern). Stern has it flaws, and I think a lot of students would not enjoy going there. However, it is undoubtedly a strong target for IB recruiting.

 

I go to a different undergrad B school and always heard that Stern places super well in IB and is THE finance school. But honestly, I rarely ever saw Stern kids while I recruited. The amount of analysts I encountered from Stern was way lower than the amount from say Kelley. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough but is this notion that Stern places well in IB true? I also am going to an EB and have yet to find a Stern kid in my class.

I’m not saying Stern places badly. I just genuinely haven’t seen Stern kids and am confused.

 

Don't know the numbers for EBs. Assuming Stern sends kids to these as well, but have no clue how many. Definitely holds true for the BBs.

Recruiting happens in batches, at least when I was recruiting. I mainly saw other NY schools (namely Cornell and Columbia) during my superdays. 

Kelley is a great school too, I also see a ton of people from there on the street.

 

Highk this gut is right. Mccombs places so well and is also a fun school

 

Not worth it vs in state @ UT. If you want to be in NYC then you’ll have a much easier time at stern but if you’re here on WSO, I’d assume you can put in the effort to land an NYC gig out of UT, lots of people do it. If you dont care about location then the pipeline to Houston is almost too easy at UT. Really a no brainer since you’re in state.

 

Is this a joke? they auto accept top 6% of public school classes. Maybe it is hard I guess I can’t speak to it

 

Would say no, it’s not worth it if you have to take out $150k in loans. Have multiple friends at NYU and they’re all miserable considering there is NO campus (NYC also becoming quite dangerous and disgusting in the last 3 years, been working here for a whole) lacking administration and career/finaid support, and fratty culture within Stern. There are better undergrad business schools/other schools in general that will provide you the same career opportunities, better college experience, with better value.

 

Coming from somebody who attended Stern, this comment isn't accurate. NYU is very much a school where your experience is what you make of it. I'm willing to bet that your NYU friends are miserable because they aren't making an effort not to be miserable. At NYU you have to put more effort into making friends, building community, etc... than a more traditional school, but if you put in the effort, you'll have a great experience. Additionally, I wouldn't characterize Stern's culture as remotely "fratty". It's honestly more nerdy in my opinion, and I'd even say it's not fratty enough. That being said, while Stern does place great, I'd choose UT- way cheaper and UT grads place well.

 

My answer is No. Personal details ahead but I don’t mind: was in a very similar position to yours. I decided to stay in-state vs attend Stern due to tuition costs / debt considerations. Further, I chose to attend Texas A&M vs UT for the same reasons. I ended up in banking out of college and am now in VC. As another data point, an MD on my team decided to go to a state school vs Stern for the same reasons - so I think we ended up ok and without a massive debt burden.

Find the humor in everything
 

In a similar situation to what you experienced - current UT student. Curious about your experience coming from Texas to landing a job in VC. Mind if I PM you?

 

What about Fordham? I would go there if you are driven and want NYC living and can go for the price of A&M or less. Check out Grace's WSO videos. She made it work!

 

Not worth it. Take UT, if you get in nowhere else. I would take a shot at a true target with your ED like one of the Ivies and get into UT Austin McComb. Even if you don't get into an Ivy ED, you have a much cheaper option than Stern with UT, with only marginally worse average outcomes. That's a great floor to have.

 

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