Which school should I go

[VPoneday]

Purdue wants me to pay the deposit by this fri but I'm not sure if I should wait for other schools (below) in the hopes of getting a higher scholarship (not sure if it's rare). In addition, I applied for a Singapore local scholarship for UCLA but not sure if my government would select me. I would like to go UCLA but it's too expensive. Should I pay double deposit, or just Purdue, or just UCLA? Don't want to waste money

Accepted: Purdue MSF ($25k scholarship), UCLA MFE,
Pending response: CMU MSCF, Washington MSCF, UIUC MSFE

 

[nothingnew]

Business schools and finance programs rarely give generous scholarships to students and the programs you listed are all competitive. If you really have limited budget, I would recommend paying the deposit to Purdue as have give scholarship. The living expense is also a thing to consider, Purdue is not a bad choice. Living in California is extremely expensive!

 

[Onegin]

Deposit is premium for a call option on the 25k scholarship. Most schools are flexible w deadlines, so kind of weird for them to play hardball.

if you can get financing, then the cost of tuition is a small part of the present value function. Future salary is a much bigger part. In your case, difference of future salary among programs. If Purdue salary is 25k less than UCLA, you’re Trading 25*#years tomorrow for 25 today. post-program comp is a fairly good indicator; there are significant differences among programs.

I’d consider:
1. Do I want to stay in SG or US after school? How much do rankings matter, and would salary justify difference?

2. how competitive am I? If I might get into a top tier program, then I’d be likelier to not pay the deposit.

fwiw, I did pay a deposit at one school as a hedge while waiting to hear from anotherschool. there is a value to such an option.

 

[VPoneday]

Thank you guys for the good advice.
Well, the thing is it's not really about the deposit, it's that is UCLA worth being almost $100k in debt that I have to pay back for the next 10 years.
I want to stay in US so badly, as I'm pretty much done with my home country and dont want to go back ever.
I think UCLA's career services seem to be better and that's what the premium in cost is for.
But I get that Purdue is value for money