Intern
Joined: 03 Apr 2014
Posts: 44
Location: United States
Concentration: Strategy, Technology
WE:Engineering (Aerospace and Defense)
Re: ASU's MBA in finance Vs Georgia Tech's MBA in finance
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14 Jan 2015, 10:54
I'm very surprised that ASU is ranked so high. Where do you want to end up post-MBA? What function/industry?
I think you should make sure they are actually peer schools from the perception of who will be hiring you. Just because US News claims peer, doesn't mean people know or agree. If you're going for IB/Consulting vs LDP program vs tech vs Oil&Gas will all be different. Location will play a huge role too.
On the west coast (been in CA my whole life) what I hear about ASU is it's a decent school, GREAT party school, good at football/basketball, solid online program, and give away a ton of scholarships to California kids (UG level). Georgia Tech on the other hand is more likely to get a 'wow' out here. But this is just my individual experience. I think for lesser known business schools the undergrad perception really matters because most people have a handle on that even if they don't know anything about MBAs. For undergrad us news puts GT at #35 and ASU at #129, ouch. But this goes back to the "what will the people making hiring decisions know about business schools" and have ASU grads gone there and killed it. Will the hiring manager BE an ASU or UA grad.
In regards to competition for jobs and being seen as a top candidate, I think going to GT and staying in the south would be better positioning than going to ASU and staying in the west (outside of Phoenix). In the west you'd be competing vs Stanford, UCLA, UCI, UCSD, USC, Cal, UW, UT, A&M. But in the south (not from experience, I just googled it) you'd be against UNC, Duke, UVA, Clemson, UT, and A&M grads. Good schools but not quite Stanford/Cal and even UCLA is creeping up on UNC/Duke/UVA in MBA rankings.
The career reports are pretty interesting. At ASU 60% stay in TX, OK, NM, and AZ. 50% go into ops - do you want to do ops? Is $120K worth living in Phoenix over Atlanta? I think this takes a ton more digging into your perspective career and desired location rather than just - this one is cheaper and us news says they're the same. Congrats on the opportunities!