kvazar wrote:
Hey guys!
Finally, my turn! I got admitted to 3 great programs in R1 and now have difficult time choosing.
Inputs:
1. Background:
30 years at Matriculation,
from Eastern European,
8 years XP at matriculation (Big4 (TMT) + in-house finance in industry)
2. Goals:
Management consulting with a focus in tech OR Tech PM in Bay area OR PE/VC finance roles if I will have such a chance.
I want to have great emotional college experience, fewer boring people and more fun and engaging people.
In terms of academia I would prefer easier workload, but more interview prep
Work in US
Have minimum student debt
3. My thoughts:
Kellogg and Booth were my 2 top choices after Stanford (didn't apply in R1 due to personal reasons).
I live in a cold part of the world and want a change, I would prefer less time spent outside in winters
I want to get away from finance people and communicate with students who are not only 'good', but are interesting and have such qualities as humility, understanding and want to improve the world, not just move forward.
I like Booth, but I'm afraid about too demanding academia (I can take it, but I want to concentrate on 'soft' skills classes and general management and strategy), also people seem to be very work oriented, alums and current students are not as engaging and caring as I expected (anecdotal experience, let's see what will happen on First Day), but they are still amazing! Booth has an alum network in my country, unlike Kellogg. Also, getting a loan there seems to be easier.
Kellogg is another great option I have, and really there are two things I don't like: lack of alum network in my country, lack of no co-signer loan option.
UCLA - a bit of an outsider due to lack of some career options that are available to M7 students. But the location is so much sunnier.
So yes, this is mostly between Kellogg and Booth, I've read everything available on the net, as well as spoke to number of students and will most likely visit DAK/First day, but any thoughts/advice are appreciated.
Summary: Although Kellogg and Booth are similar if not the same in terms of resources, prestige and opportunities you will have, I'd suggest that you go with Booth over Kellogg. Although it seems that your anecdotal experiences were not good compared to your other schools but I will humbly disagree. In my school visit to Booth, conversations with close to 10 current students and 5 alumni (2012-2014), I have felt that I was wrong about Booth all along with the same notions that you have. Every single person that I have spoken to, was more than willing to speak to me even though 2 of them were in Europe, 3 had already left for Christmas break and were at their respective places. As for alumni, all of them were forthcoming about the focus on academia at Booth but were also particular about the pay-it-forward culture there.
As for the soft skills and social interactions, I believe it is all what you make of it in terms of how far and how much do you involve yourself with your peers. This was again a question raised to one of the current students during my school visit, the answer to which was that it is based on preconceived notions and nothing else. As per the current students, there are tons of opportunities if you want to specifically work on few skills of yours (professional or personal) and everyone will help you with that.
Finally, the extra money that Booth is giving you, should help you in reducing your loans to a certain extent. Kellogg will provide you similar if not same experience but Booth
P.S. take the above discussion with a grain of salt as I am neither a current student nor am I an alumnus of Booth.
Let me know what you decide and what made the decision for you.
Good luck.