u/Superb_Birthday_3661

title. accepted to LAS, leaning towards econ/data science, want to get a good job post grad. hoping to connect with good ppl asw.

for context, I am an indian intl student who received no aid (cost is around 100k usd/year for both). While my family can afford it, I'm wondering if i could receive the same education at a much lower cost at a domestic university like Ashoka (which would be only around 12-13k usd/year).

I plan to pursue economics or a combined politics/economics major and will almost certainly start working right after college. Will the ROI really be worth it? I would like to have a global college experience surrounded by new and different types of people, but im wondering if this wanders into the realms of absurdity. My primary goal is to land a good job after graduating and have the tools to succeed at whatever I do (largely dependent on my own performance, i know, but heavily influenced by environment as well). I would also like to do an MBA at top business schools like Wharton in the future, and would love to know if there was any sort of edge given by each uni.

Especially for CMC, I see the incredible amount of support given by the school as well as the resouces of the claremont consortium in finding/funding internships, research and even job opportunities post graduation with starting salaries extraordinarily out of my reach (even for other intl students) if i chose to remain in India. The worry remains though, that as an intl student I could be restricted socially especially at larger schools like BU and UCSD and have trouble finding my crowd and grabbing limited opportunities.

Additionally, the people at Ashoka are largely the kind I have grown up around, and my school in particular tends to send large number of students there each year (including this year). Escaping familiar faces is basically impossible, especially considering the tiny 25acre campus size located about 2h from the nearest metro area, Delhi (with no consortium-like reach in place). However, it is undeniable that their liberal arts curriculum is excellent.

My decision is burdened both by my lifelong desire to go abroad, my worry that if I remain in India I will trap myself in a very limited bubble and most prevalently that I will be unhappy with my college experience and decision in the long term. I am unsure what to do as every person I talk to from counsellors, teachers, parents, other family and friends all have deeply conflicting and polarising advice on each university. What should I do?