First off, congrats, you are in a great position.
If I reread what you wrote, here are the things that jump out
1) You prefer Ross, and its kind of a "dream school"
2) At this point, you are somewhat geographically flexible (SF, Seattle, Chicago is a fairly broad base)
3) You would rather be in a college town versus a sprawling city.
4) You have an interest in going abroad for a semester
The question then becomes: Is all of that worth more or less than $60,000? $60,000 is no small dollar amount. Having said that, over the course of your career it's not insurmountable by any means.
A few points that might help your decision
1) I agree that Ann Arbor is an awesome college town. Having said that, I think UCLA is a great place to go to school. I visited my sibling there (1st YearMB) and loved the campus and the weather, in fact , I'm sort of kicking myself for not considering it. Furthermore, Brentwood where the campus is located is a nice area. I definitely think you'll need a car to get around but I wouldn't say its horrific. Sure, you may need to get to downtown or other areas for recruiting events or random things but I think the majority of MBA students in general spend the bulk of their time during the first year at school anyway. Furthermore, it sounds like the students who go out tend to go out in their neighborhoods, so again, not like you are driving around everywhere.
2) Going abroad is great. Having said that, there are lots of opportunities at all schools (and both of those) to go abroad even if its not for a semester. Whether it's through a formal trip or an informal one with friends, if you want to travel abroad you will definitely be able to
3) I realize you are geographically indifferent but one point of consideration especially for consulting is your potential home office. Depending on which firm you are targeting or hope to end up at the office may make a difference, and certainly the alum who are associated with that office will vary (ex: probably more UCLA Alums in the LA Office)
I'm going to vote Ross because it sounds like you love the place and I think that you can easily make up the 60K down the road, but just know that Anderson could still be a great place for you.
Good luck!
dmeng2010 wrote:
Hi all,
I’ve been wrestling with this decision for a LONG time and I am coming up on deadlines so figured I’d see if I can get some outside opinions. Let me provide some context:
First of all, admitted to Anderson with a $60K fellowship and Ross with no scholarship.
It was always my dream to go to Ross (I have a lot of Michigan alumni in my network and my brother is currently doing his undergrad there) and I was much more impressed with Ross than Anderson during the application/interview process. I also love the small college-town feel of Ann Arbor and prefer it to the sprawling, chaotic mass that is Los Angeles. I am from Phoenix which is similar to LA in feel and weather, and I enjoy the idea of experiencing something vastly different.
With all that said, I am fairly certain I can get similar post-grad opportunities from both schools (my preferred industries are Consulting & Tech), and I’m not sure going to Ross just for the “experience” is worth the $60K difference in cost when calculating my overall ROI. I also know I will get the same kind of network at both schools, as each tends to attract the same type of student personality. My preferred post-grad destinations are SF, Seattle, Chicago, or somewhere in Texas. I feel like either school can get me to any of those places.
Some additional reasons I like Ross over Anderson:
- MAP > AMR (in my opinion)
- Rock n Roll B-School Band (nothing like this exists at Anderson)
- Campus-centric culture (vs commuter culture @ Anderson)
- Full semester international exchange opportunities (Anderson is phasing this out)
If money were not a factor I would choose Ross over Anderson hands down. I don’t want to end up regretting the decision to NOT go to my top choice school for the sole purpose of saving $$... however, Anderson is a great school and I am confident that I can have a great experience there, and I don’t want to make an irrational decision just because I MIGHT regret it later.
Any thoughts from the members of this board??
Many thanks in advance for your input!