Anderson(UCLA): Class of 2016- Calling all Admitted Students

Thanks! I actually work at JPMorgan investment bank now, but in a non-front office project role. If I attend UCLA, I may consider trying to jump to FO finance since UCLA is stronger there. Although, I wonder what % of the finance jobs are front office...I was speaking to a friend from Duke MBA, and some of the people they send into consulting are "human capital consulting" not management consulting, and some of the people they send to Citigroup/JPMorgan are consumer bank rotational programs and operations, not the investment banking. It's tough to get an accurate picture from the employment reports I guess. I'm just very concerned about the ROI overall, since I'm very close to the post-mba starting median salaries at a lot of these schools, and certainly would be above them by the time I graduate if I stayed on my current path (while having a 40 hour work week). Wouldn't mind it if I can get a better long term career path, but not even sure if that's the case anymore. I'm worried I'll graduate with $100k+ in debt, same pay I would've made, worse hours, and further away from VP than I am now (I'd get VP in my current job in 2 years). Plus, I've gotten pretty serious with my girlfriend and leaving for 2 years will be difficult.

On the other hand, I'm not very happy on my current career path and feel like I could do a more prestigious/interesting job (I graduated during height of financial crisis, and lost a front office offer I thought I had), and I've been in NYC for 9 years and really want an opportunity to live somewhere else. I've wanted to live in LA for years, and I have a lot of good friends who live there. I just wish I could get some more clarity around what % chance I'd have at getting a pure front office finance or management consulting job. The employment reports only tell you company (which isn't useful) not the divisions, and they only throw their most successful students at you for discussions, so it's tough to get a good gauge.

I'm debating duke versus UCLA...if you don't mind me asking, what was your decision process in choosing ucla over ross?