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23 Apr 2019, 07:03
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As the title suggests, I'm trying to decide between Booth or Anderson. Considering my fellowship at Anderson and additional cost of Booth, I'd likely have to take on an extra $100 K in debt at Booth. I should note that I'm currently on the waitlist at Booth (meaning I'd have to miss out on pre-MBA programming like Random Walk and Startup Summer), and I've already accepted my offer from Anderson. I'm trying to make a decision before the R3 deadline (5/16), but it's been challenging so far.
Some background - I work in risk mgmt consulting and am looking to double-pivot into a biz dev, biz ops, or product marketing manager role in the tech industry post-MBA. I currently live in Chicago, but grew up in the Bay Area, and could definitely see myself back in CA long-term. The way I see it:
UCLA Pros: Save $100 K, still recruits well in big tech, live in LA, perhaps enjoy better connections with smaller tech companies based in LA
UCLA Cons: More rigid curriculum, less prestige
Booth Pros: More flexible curriculum, additional prestige could be useful to someone looking to double-pivot, don't have to move cities
Booth Cons: $100 K in added debt, potentially fewer networking opportunities at smaller west coast tech companies (although the prestige could solve for this, not sure)
I'd appreciate hearing anyone's perspective, especially if you've attended either of these schools, or have tried to double-pivot into tech. Thanks so much in advance!!
Some background - I work in risk mgmt consulting and am looking to double-pivot into a biz dev, biz ops, or product marketing manager role in the tech industry post-MBA. I currently live in Chicago, but grew up in the Bay Area, and could definitely see myself back in CA long-term. The way I see it:
UCLA Pros: Save $100 K, still recruits well in big tech, live in LA, perhaps enjoy better connections with smaller tech companies based in LA
UCLA Cons: More rigid curriculum, less prestige
Booth Pros: More flexible curriculum, additional prestige could be useful to someone looking to double-pivot, don't have to move cities
Booth Cons: $100 K in added debt, potentially fewer networking opportunities at smaller west coast tech companies (although the prestige could solve for this, not sure)
I'd appreciate hearing anyone's perspective, especially if you've attended either of these schools, or have tried to double-pivot into tech. Thanks so much in advance!!
23 Apr 2019, 09:49
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Congratulations on your admits!
There is a point when you have to accept the offers and commit not only financially but also emotionally. I have known people who have done that and later received offers from higher-ranked schools (clearing WL) but they just let them go since they already moved on in their mind to the next stage.
From recruiting perspective into large companies, Booth would have a dominance compared to Anderson. As you probably know/feel, if one has gone to University of Chicago, there is a large local network and you can get almost anything done and accomplished through it in Chicago. If you were going for a traditional role in MS, APPL, or AMZN then I think Booth would be a very strong play and much stronger than Anderson. Booth is also strong in the startup world and has a number of things that encourage entrepreneurship - Polski center (maybe renamed recently?), new venture challenge, etc. You could easily work/join pro bono with a startup by a second year or a recent alum if you have time to put in and get some work experience under your belt to demonstrate to potential recruiters and put on your resume and also get your feet wet. Booth program is bigger, more competitive to get into, and attracts a global pool of talent. Anderson is more regional is a different caliber of program, professors, and classmates.
It really depends on how you want to play it. Booth will delivery a lot more on-campus recruiting opportunities. (Does not mean more opportunities equals more offers, just more opportunities). The brand is stronger and so able to command more attention from employers and gets you in with higher grade students - people who you will spend 75% of your time. You will need to beat out your peers and other top 5 students for the best roles and opportunities. Double-pivot is usually harder since few folks want to hire even for an internship a person without prior experience. An internship is just 8 weeks, so there is no time for training or anything like that and while the goal is to see you in action, most employers still try to get interns that will be a good fit with their past experience. What I would recommend to you is that regardless of where you head, make sure you figure out a way to differentiate yourself and work on your public speaking skills as well as presentation skills - take 3 months of classes, toast masters, whatever you can to get better and delivery, interviewing, and PPT. No matter how good you are, you can still improve and this will help a lot during the large recruiting events when 10 students surround a recruiter and try to be memorable (Souvik said these are called death circles, which I think is quite accurate).
At the same time, $100K less debt reduces your monthly payment by about $1,200 for the next 10 years. That's something to contend with and taking into consideration that you will be likely taking not the best role in your target industry/etc, you are likely not to be getting top dollar either, not right away at least.
A thing about LA:
LA has a ton of smaller companies, though I am not sure many of them can sustain an MBA-level PM or someone who is not technical enough to fit in multiple roles. It is potentially good for breaking into the tech space and starting your own venture but besides some gaming and entertainment companies, I don't feel MBA PM role tech is that strong in SoCal. I know they have those faceless buildings in Irvine.
P.S. I think Booth is still a bit better value. I could see taking Anderson at Full scholarship but Booth which has been in the Top 3 rank for the last number of years, I feel commands a premium (of course this is all just in my head). Though you are still on the WL so maybe they will make your choice easier - it would not be a bad thing per se to get dinged. Definitely would help with the agony.
There is a point when you have to accept the offers and commit not only financially but also emotionally. I have known people who have done that and later received offers from higher-ranked schools (clearing WL) but they just let them go since they already moved on in their mind to the next stage.
From recruiting perspective into large companies, Booth would have a dominance compared to Anderson. As you probably know/feel, if one has gone to University of Chicago, there is a large local network and you can get almost anything done and accomplished through it in Chicago. If you were going for a traditional role in MS, APPL, or AMZN then I think Booth would be a very strong play and much stronger than Anderson. Booth is also strong in the startup world and has a number of things that encourage entrepreneurship - Polski center (maybe renamed recently?), new venture challenge, etc. You could easily work/join pro bono with a startup by a second year or a recent alum if you have time to put in and get some work experience under your belt to demonstrate to potential recruiters and put on your resume and also get your feet wet. Booth program is bigger, more competitive to get into, and attracts a global pool of talent. Anderson is more regional is a different caliber of program, professors, and classmates.
It really depends on how you want to play it. Booth will delivery a lot more on-campus recruiting opportunities. (Does not mean more opportunities equals more offers, just more opportunities). The brand is stronger and so able to command more attention from employers and gets you in with higher grade students - people who you will spend 75% of your time. You will need to beat out your peers and other top 5 students for the best roles and opportunities. Double-pivot is usually harder since few folks want to hire even for an internship a person without prior experience. An internship is just 8 weeks, so there is no time for training or anything like that and while the goal is to see you in action, most employers still try to get interns that will be a good fit with their past experience. What I would recommend to you is that regardless of where you head, make sure you figure out a way to differentiate yourself and work on your public speaking skills as well as presentation skills - take 3 months of classes, toast masters, whatever you can to get better and delivery, interviewing, and PPT. No matter how good you are, you can still improve and this will help a lot during the large recruiting events when 10 students surround a recruiter and try to be memorable (Souvik said these are called death circles, which I think is quite accurate).
At the same time, $100K less debt reduces your monthly payment by about $1,200 for the next 10 years. That's something to contend with and taking into consideration that you will be likely taking not the best role in your target industry/etc, you are likely not to be getting top dollar either, not right away at least.
A thing about LA:
LA has a ton of smaller companies, though I am not sure many of them can sustain an MBA-level PM or someone who is not technical enough to fit in multiple roles. It is potentially good for breaking into the tech space and starting your own venture but besides some gaming and entertainment companies, I don't feel MBA PM role tech is that strong in SoCal. I know they have those faceless buildings in Irvine.
P.S. I think Booth is still a bit better value. I could see taking Anderson at Full scholarship but Booth which has been in the Top 3 rank for the last number of years, I feel commands a premium (of course this is all just in my head). Though you are still on the WL so maybe they will make your choice easier - it would not be a bad thing per se to get dinged. Definitely would help with the agony.
23 Apr 2019, 13:54
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Bookmarks
Congrats on the admit & scholarship!
Just wanted to quickly note an observation, BB, for whatever reason, has a strange bias towards Anderson. I have looked through tons of school comparisons and he is (almost) always against choosing Anderson vs whatever other school for whatever reason.
Also, based upon my own research, Anderson places 30% of their class within the tech industry, which is much higher than Booth. So for those few available tech positions that Booth is placing people into, the competition is going to be sky high with a much higher caliber of students. You will have to work doubly hard there to stand out than you would at Anderson, where they claerly think you are an outstanding candidate since they gave you such a large scholarship.
Just do a quick LinkedIn search for the roles that you would potentially want to go in and see who at Anderson is in them (Product Manager Google UCLA Anderson). I have done the same analysis and found very satisfying outcomes.
Just wanted to quickly note an observation, BB, for whatever reason, has a strange bias towards Anderson. I have looked through tons of school comparisons and he is (almost) always against choosing Anderson vs whatever other school for whatever reason.
Also, based upon my own research, Anderson places 30% of their class within the tech industry, which is much higher than Booth. So for those few available tech positions that Booth is placing people into, the competition is going to be sky high with a much higher caliber of students. You will have to work doubly hard there to stand out than you would at Anderson, where they claerly think you are an outstanding candidate since they gave you such a large scholarship.
Just do a quick LinkedIn search for the roles that you would potentially want to go in and see who at Anderson is in them (Product Manager Google UCLA Anderson). I have done the same analysis and found very satisfying outcomes.
