Tuck v Booth ($$$$)

Question

Hi all,
Hoping you can help me out here. I am currently deciding between Tuck and Booth.
Going into this process, Tuck was my #1 school - I loved the culture when I visited and the types of activities they had planned for prospective students.
But then I got an egregiously generous scholarship from Booth that I can't just turn down. And the more people I speak to at Booth, the greater it sounds (obviously, this is all part of the sell)
Not sure where I want to end up after school. Looking to go into ESG investing, fwiw.
The schools are basically the total opposite... but if I had no $ from Booth, I would 100% be going to Tuck.
Obviously, this is not a bad problem to have, but looking for any advice or thoughts - also if anyone can comment on their experiences on getting schools to match scholarships?

Wilch · Answer

I have no horse in this race, but assuming generous means 50% to 100% tuition, I can't think of many reasons why you should turn down the offer from Booth.

Especially since you're considering ESG investing, where I don't think the pay will be high. Paying full ticket will put immense pressure on you and you may end up opting for jobs you might not like as much (consulting / banking).

cosmonv · Answer

Thank you for the response  Wilch  - I should have specified - I got a $50k per year ($100k total) to Booth, so yes it's not something I could just look away from!

I would be looking to go into ESG as an analyst at an asset manager so as far as the pay out of school, I think it would be competitive (maybe not the highest, but competitive) - of course, the scholarship would allow me to take more chances and maybe go into something lower-paying if that was what I wanted (whereas without it, I would need to factor that into my post-grad decisions).

jessepinkman · Answer

Agreed with Wilch, you aren't going to find many people that will recommend you turn down $100K at Booth to go to Tuck with no scholarship.

mradamsmith · Answer

I love Tuck, was one of my top choices--but given your goal and the money there really is no argument here. Congrats and good luck at Booth!

billionaire · Answer

Hello cosmonv Honestly I was shocked when I saw this title

When I have read your thoughts I did get that Tuck bought you with culture fit trip, but I am just little bit less shocked that you still didn't decide the obvious

Booth is way superior than Tuck. It was like that for many years. Booth is number one for Economics and Finance globally, where Investing falls as specialization, as being your target. Having been offered full ride from Booth is beyond awesome

Egregiously generous indeed.

Booth is going to open some doors for you that Tuck would never have. I can present you with various rankings and Tuck is always going to lag behind Booth sometimes for 10 places or more : https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-sc ... a-rankings https://www.bloomberg.com/business-schools/2018/ https://www.topuniversities.com/univers ... lobal/2019 https://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolra ... nking-2019 It is really fairly easy choice. If you had both offers without scholarship, I would still advise you to go to Booth. Good Luck with Chicago winter

energy2pe · Answer

Depending on your situation it is almost always advisable to take to the most money when deciding between top schools.

FWIW I got a better offer at another higher ranked school and chose Tuck because 1) I am not location agnostic and 2) it is difficult to beat the culture at Tuck.

The money can be a big draw, but if your heart is set on Tuck then talk to the financial aid office. Another way to think about it, which I heard someone here say, is if when you started going into the cycle would you have paid $100k to get into Tuck with certainty? If not take the money at Booth and run.

You really can't go wrong with either school, best of luck!

Posted from my mobile device

cosmonv · Answer

Hi all

I really appreciate your taking the time to read this and comment and vote - it was really helpful especially as I was freaking OUT for most of the last few days.

To my TOTAL shock and amazement... Tuck actually called me back and offered me an even higher scholarship than the one I got at Booth. So I went from 0% to 75% scholarship. I don't think this is a common occurrence, but I guess it does happen! I spoke to a million people and really gunned for it (respectively, of course) and was happy that I successfully leveraged one generous offer to a more-generous offer from my dream school.

I submitted my deposit for Tuck and will be there in the fall

bb · Answer

Congratulations!!!

Amazing story and no, it doesn’t happen very often for a school to offer someone a scholarship out of the blue. My guess someone who had been awarded the scholarship earlier I must’ve declined the offer an suv the money became available which is a rare situation to decline a Tuck offer was that much of a scholarship.

Again congratulations I’m glad to hear it worked out. I guess the moral of the story, don’t accept the offer early.

Posted from my mobile device

cosmonv · Answer

well, yes, though as I noted, it wasn't *quite* out of the blue - I did tell them that I wanted to go there, that Tuck was my dream school, but that I had another offer that I needed to consider. I spoke to admissions, alumni, etc and really reiterated that I wanted to go there and that if anything in the scholarship department changed, then please let me know - shockingly they did and much sooner than I expected!

Mo2men · Answer

Congrats for Tuck. It is amazing.

Tuck believed in you and how authentic you are (especially that Booth is ranked higher and you want to sacrifice it for Tuck) and then offered you this amount, although in some circles Tuck is not known for generosity. It shows how successful negotiation can help get more money with subtlety. Btw, has Tuck asked you for any proof for Booth scholarship? Good luck

energy2pe · Answer

See u in the fall, congrats :')

Posted from my mobile device

ket310 · Answer

Wow that was nice of Tuck and made your decision really easy. Congrats.!

cosmonv · Answer

They did not. I (obviously) would have been able to provide it to them on the spot... but there is literally ZERO upside/point in lying about any of this or even exaggerating any of it. One would be a fool to think that these offices aren't talking to each other/could figure this out and one could get all their acceptances rescinded!

I am sure that in these situations, without "proof", they will speak to someone in the other school's administrative office. (Also, I wouldn't put it past someone previously having tried to forge something like this! It would only make sense IMO that they get first hand proof)

bb · Answer

Congratulations on your decision and an end of this stressful chapters of the journey.

Tuck is a great program and a very unique experience! Great job and luck with the scholarship.

Posted from my mobile device

Tuck v Booth ($$$$)

Which school makes the most sense?

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