Owen(40%) vs Kelley(40%) vs Wait&See

Any reason you didnt apply to any Top 15 schools? You have the GMAT and GPA. I'd wait and see, I'd assume you'd get into those schools.

mistablair - thanks for the input. I agree I need to go with my gut at this point, it seems so many advise being a slave to the rankings, but I've shared your sentiment that any of these schools can help me reach my ultimate goals, at this point it's going to be what school I feel the most comfortable with and will provide the best fit.

I did not apply to any top15 due to an unimpressive work history and I had some negatives relating to my personal profile (DUI conviction). In addition my bachelors was from a school ranked 80-100 for nat'l by USNews, so again, nothing special. I knew I had strong test scores but was unsure how those other negatives would affect my candidacy. I am also deep in debt, so I would most likely have to take an offer from a school in the top25 offering aid as opposed to top15 and no aid. Hindsight being 20/20, if I were to do it all over again, I would've aimed higher with my "reach" schools, but initially thought of these 4 as reaches to begin with. As I said, it's been quite the pleasant surprise and I am ecstatic to have to chance to begin on my dream career path.

And congrats to you on UCLA and Duke, have you made a decision between those two?

Don't be a slave to rankings, do be a slave to employment reports.

Leaning towards Duke, no decision made though. UCLA gave me more money, Duke is stronger in MC. If I get into Kellogg or Booth (both a bit of reaches), I'm definitely taking them with no money.

Kelley is a partner of the CFA institute which can provide some benefits if you are looking to get that credential as part of your equity analyst career.

Probably not enough to base your decision, but worth noting.

Posted from my mobile device

The cfa partnership is definitely worth noting, but I would not put too much weight on it. CfA program will only cost a few $K to take while mba is $50k per year. I have finished the cfa program so I am in a bit of a different situation in that I don't want to waste much mba time learning anything i already have already covered. If you are trying to maximize time efficiency, Kelley may be a great fit. If, however, you are trying to maximize your learning per $, then maybe it's not a big deal because you will definitely have to go over the same material again when writing the exams.

As a side note I am in at 3 of those 4 schools (still waiting on tepper like you). I am leaning heavily towards Owen. My choice is based on my personal view of "fit". My personality meshes really well with vanderbilt and they have things such as the cal turner program that I am interested in. Your tastes may be very different.