Yale SOM or Michigan Ross

Your access to top 3 consulting will be better at Ross. However, I do not believe you have that much flexibility in getting staffed specifically on CSR, etc. If you are looking for non-profit consulting, Bain's spin off, Bridgespan, may be better aligned with what you want to look into. Bridgspan has a mix of government non-profit and mission driven non-profit.

Do you have any data/evidence to substantiate this? I do not believe it to be the case.

I'm biased, but here's my two cents on SOM based on your pro/con list:

SOM:
+ If you want to work internationally, the Yale branding is difficult to beat. SOM prides itself as being one of the business schools most connected to its greater university and the reciprocity in programming (conferences, clubs, etc) you see across the university is a testament to this.
+ Low student faculty ratio. Faculty here do know who the students are; we're on a first-name basis with most faculty actually.
+ Most global business school. Yes, there are a lot of diverse, international students in the class; Yale also has is a part of the Global Network for Advanced Management where you can do short-term exchanges at schools around the world or take a global class with students from a number of countries. You said you're interested in economic development, so the Global Social Enterprise program that pairs groups of SOM MBAs with a social enterprise in a developing country on a consulting project would be a great opportunity for you (and per your pro list at Ross, this is similar in vein to Ross' MAP program)
+ Proximity to NYC. This is 1) a really fun place to hang out in and 2) a great place for recruiting. No questions asked.
+ Strong emphasis on social impact.Yes.
+ Unique integrated curriculum & elective flexibility across the university. Yes, you can take electives anywhere at the University so you have over half of the program to create an MBA that is best fit for you and focused on what you want to study.
+ Close-knit community. Indeed.

Cons:
- lesser brand in MBA circles (although they are breaking out of non profit niche)?. This is debatable as you'll see even in the multitude of MBA rankings.
- smaller alumni base. Yes, it's smaller than other schools -- SOM takes in about 300 students per year; numbers-wise we will never match the sheer size of a larger school's alumni base. What we "lack" in numbers though, we make up for in passion. The SOM Alumni Association is well connected with the school, and alums really work to help us by acting as mentors, offering their time and advice, helping with the recruiting process, and more. This was a big factor in my choice to attend SOM and I have been very impressed with this aspect of the school.
- less social culture? I'm not a big party or football person so this is likely not a con for me. If this isn't a con, why is it on the list? And if you want to try your hand at the "big party or football" type of social activities, do it. Ice hockey is huge here (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... ice-hockey) and the Harvard/Yale football game is not to be missed.
- smaller class = fewer connections?
- fewer student clubs. For these last two items, again, numbers are numbers. I would urge you to think about the types of connections you want to make, the types of clubs you want to join, the types of people you want to meet and to be your friends -- are those found at SOM, at Ross, or both?

At the end of the day, I'm always a huge advocate of visiting the schools (again, if you did on-campus interviews) for admitted student weekends. You'll have a much clearer view of the school now that you know you're in and can soak in everything instead of being a nervous wreck in the admissions office waiting area before your interview. Happy to connect you with any SOMers in the social enterprise / consulting space if you're interested, just PM me. We've done quite well with top 3 consulting firms, Bridgespan, etc in the years of data that I've seen.

I'm biased since am a current student at Michigan Ross. I don't know much about Social sector, but would like to share what I know about Consulting at Michigan.

1, Atmosphere:
Michigan is strongly registered as a GM/Consulting school, and Consulting is really a big thing here, 30-40% people recruit for Consulting. People here are genuinely nice and supportive, so you will really learn a lot from your fellows even though you will be competing with them for the same position.

2, Relationship with firms:
Don't want to mention M/B/B Deloitte Strategy& ATK and all other major firms recruit on campus, because these firms do same thing across all Top 15 schools in US. What might be different are that 1, M/B/B Deloitte ATK all have case competition here, which is great to understand their thought process in work as well as to network with people there. 2, Major firms presence on-campus doesn't end with company presentation. There are multiple rounds of coffee chat, office hour, and other recruiting events. In addition, very likely Michigan has more alumni in Consulting since it's 50yrs older than Yale and almost double the class size of Yale.

3, Resource for preparation:
Consulting club is really great here. Michigan's casebook is the best in class in US b-school world. The weekly education sessions led by experienced MBA2s helps people know what to do in each stage of recruiting.
FACT group, 4-6 people interested in same career domain led by a experienced MBA2, helps people crack pitch story, resume, cover letter, case and fit interview.
Peer counselors, MBA2s did consulting intern during the summer, helps people practice and fine-tune everything you need in recruiting.

4, Consulting placement:
During 2008-2013 period, Michigan placed on average 7.1% of the whole class into MBB in FT, with downs in 2009-5.5%, and 2010-5.9%, vs ups in 2011-8%, 2012-8%, and 2013-7.4%
If you look into MBB+Deloitte Strategy& ATK, during the same period, Michigan placed on average 13.5% of the whole class in FT, with downs in 2009-12.2%, and 2010-9.4%, vs ups in 2011-14.2%, 2012-17%, and 2013-14.2%

I would suggest you to understand more in the same aspects of Yale. With that said, Michigan is great for consulting. It's the best next to M7+Tuck in terms of % of class sent to MBB as well as to major strategy firms.