Patrickst wrote:
Quote:
Congratulations, Patrick! I am in the same boat as yours. Gave both the interviews last week and waiting for the responses. Do you know how long they take to get back with the answer?
It would be helpful to know what you ultimately decide. Let me know your thought process as well on choosing what you end up with.
UT quoted me 3 weeks, Rice quoted me 4 weeks and both were true to their word.
I'll be sure to update you with my decision, and would be happy to discuss with you if you want - personally, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the UT program, since I haven't talked to as many people from it as I have from Rice. I'm in downtown and it's pretty easy for me to bounce out for a coffee.
I rarely write on forums but I will offer why I chose the MBA for professionals at Rice. I was accepted in R1 pretty quickly after the interview. I had the same 2 concerns that you did:
1) Program Decision: I started out wanting to consider UT along with A&M and Tulane. Eventually, it came down to to Rice and A&M. The reason I took UT out was simply because it was the Houston based program and not the one in Austin. I worked alongside a guy that was going through the UT-Houston program and had to attend a lot of sessions in Austin and he felt that the network was not as powerful as it is in their hometown. He did receive offers from Bain and Alvarez among a few others. A&M has been established a bit longer in Houston and cost was less than both Rice and UT so I kept it in the running.
2) Cost: Let's be honest this is a huge deal for professional programs because the cost is so high and it takes a lot of justification to take the plunge into 6 figures of debt. I have the option of receiving minimal (20k) help from my employer but I am not choosing that option because I want to keep my options open and doing so ties you down for 2 years in addition to the 2 years needed to complete the program. I realized if I was going to do a program I want to do the best possible program in my area, which would be Rice. No means an insult to the UT program (overall ranking better than Rice for MBA), but I am not convinced that the Houston version is as effective and makes a terrible ice breaker (networking is half the cost of an MBA). "Oh, you went to UT?", "YA!! The one in Houston", "Oh...".