Advide needed : Mc Combs or UW?

Question

Hi everyone,

i need some help on deciding which school to go.
I have been admitted to Mc Combs w/o scholarship news yet, and U of Washington in Seattle with USD20K scholarship for 1st year. Also waitlisted at Ross.

I am from Malaysia, and one of my main concern is financial aid. I cant decide which school to go to, considering the $$ that was offered by UW. Post MBA, i would like to go into Marketing (i.e brand management field).

Advice needed, thanks in advance!

lepium · Answer

My advice: try very hard to get off Ross WL. They offer financial aid without a cosigner. If this does not work, then the "higher-clustered" school is McCombs but I don't know about its particular strengths (or weaknesses) in Marketing. I trust Matt will add a lot of info on UW.

Cheers. L.

GMATT73 · Answer

Fluff, I honestly don't know anything at all about the McCombs program, therefore I can't make a qualified comparison.

As for UW, I do know that our entrepreneurship program is ranked #5 in the country and our case competition team has taken either first or second place at the Pac10 conference for the past two years. (Not that that will help much in your decision).

You should also note that UW, and Seattle as a whole, has a VERY active Asian business community. About 1/3 of our full-timer students and 2/3 of the Global MBA students come from Asia.

Are you going to attend the admit weekend from this Thursday? I'll be the spaced out looking guy with all the holes in his arm :-D

GMATcram · Answer

McCombs is an elite school for marketing. US NEWS sucsessively ranks McCombs in its top-20 best business school for marketing. Go for it if you cannot go to Ross.

dipeshc4 · Answer

I am slighlty bias since I am waitlisted at McCombs, so I say U DUB!

GMATT73 · Answer

<img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":-D" title="Very Happy" />

fluff · Answer

Actually i am hoping to land a job in the US after i graduate. Initially i was set on going to Mc Combs, but after looking at the financial side, the scholarship just seem so tempting.

i have looked at the placements of the 2 schools, but not sure if it applies to international students..

lepium · Answer

Do your homework on this issue. Talk to the schools, international alumni and/or students. The situation is not precisely the same for all employers. Some companies only hire US citizens and others will hire anyone and sponsor their visa efforts (the most famous cases being MCs and IBs). I've checked this issue at schools I visited and I have been told that while opportunities for internationals may be very good, they are not exactly the same. At one school, for eg., I was told: "Let's say there are 1,000 companies recruiting MBAs from this school, including on and off campus. Out of this 1,000, 300 - 400 will be willing to hire internationals, with the rest focusing on US citizens. Given the sheer number of opportunities, you should be able to find any job you fancy, but you won't be able to apply for 100% of jobs." At another school, I was told: "Companies are not that willing to hire non US citizens for US marketing positions. They'd expect their marketing people to fully understand the US culture, so while they may recruit you to work in marketing in your home country / region, they will not recruit you for US marketing positions."

Hope it helps. L.

MBA 2007 · Answer

I'm sure you will get a great education and be happy at either place, but I am going to be biased and recommend McCombs. :-D

naturallight · Answer

I don't know anything about Texas or McCombs but I'm sure it's a great program. 

One things that's good about UW, however, is that it's the only decent program in the northwest, so it has very good placement stats. Smaller firms usually won't go out of state to recruit MBA kids. Plus there's lots of UW alum at big places like Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon, Boeing, T-mobile, WaMu, Nordstrom, Safeco, Costco. Plus Seattle, while a little rainy, is a pretty amazing city. 

I would say too that it really depends on where you want to live after school. If it's the west coast, then UW would probably be better. If it's anywhere else, tha McCombs would probably be better. It sounds like you have a good set of choices. 

Disclaimer: I live in Seattle now, and will be very sad to be leaving in the fall.

fluff · Answer

Thanks everyone for your thoughts....i have decided to forgo McCombs and go to U Dub, since its a burden for me to fund myself through McCombs (USD is just too expensive for Malaysians

) To everyone that is attending U Dub, i wont be able to make it to Admit weekend unfortunately, but cant wait to meet you guys in person this fall!

GMATT73 · Answer

Fluff, I am here in Seattle now (just arrived six hours ago from Japan!) attending the admit weekend from this Thursday. I will try totake a few more good pics of the school and surroundings for you. 

One more thing, being that you are Asian, you will definately like the feel of the city and the U-district. 

Time to get some sleep...

naturallight · Answer

MATT,
You shoud head to the International District south of downtown. Good food there.

GMATT73 · Answer

Actually headed that direction tonight with some local Chinese friends Natural Light. After visiting HR Block, the DOL (DMV), and the UW financial aid office I was going to sneak in a quick workout at the WAC before grabbing a bowl a pho in the I-district. Currently staying with a friend in Everett, where are you based out of?

GMATT73 · Answer

Perfect spring day in Seattle today :-D

dipeshc4 · Answer

Yes, another McCombs spot opening up

naturallight · Answer

Good stuff. Are you going to the Pho Bac on 7th and Jackson? I love that place. I work downtown, but it's worth the walk for that pho.

fluff · Answer

Yeah, it would be great if you could post some pics here! Thanks!

GMATT73 · Answer

Than Brothers was the place. Actually switched over all my banking and driver's license near Wallingford (Green Lake) ao it was convenient to pop in on the Ave. Have you ever tried Chinoise on North 45th? Definately a chic place...

Advide needed : Mc Combs or UW?

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