Booth vs Ross (Full Scholarship) [Solved: Booth]

bb I largely agree with the grid. However, I don't think that the suggestion to consider a school from Tier 4 (where Ross is placed) with a 20% scholarship over a school from Tier 3 (where Booth is placed) makes sense. 20% tuition scholarship usually amounts to ~$30k and I have a hard time believing someone would/should pass Booth for Ross for that amount of money (and I'm an international, so quite cost-sensitive myself.)

And then, another situation could be someone choosing between Haas (Tier 3) with no scholarship and Sloan (Tier 4) with 20% scholarship and the dynamics of the dilemma completely shift. I think the way schools are currently grouped in Tier 3 and 4 makes the 20% cut-off feel a bit impractical. Bringing this up since OP is considering between Tier 3 and 4 schools as per that list.

Having said that, OP - you have some serious consideration to do since attending Ross will essentially save you ~150k. It looks like you're currently in a comfortable position financially and won't have to worry about repaying a huge loan over several years should you choose your dream school - Booth - which can often mean limiting yourself to a certain lifestyle. So the question essentially is - how much does $150k in the bank mean to you now and how much will it mean to you 30 years from now?

It may also help if you revisit the factors that originally made Booth your #1 choice. The two that I've heard from you so far are being in Chicago and getting a marketing job. Ross sends a decent number to Chicago every year, but its alumni presence won't compare to Booth's obviously. Ross is also one of the top schools in marketing, ranked #3 in US News marketing rankings and behind only Kellogg and Wharton. (Booth is #6)

Are there any other factors that make Booth a dream school for you? How close does Ross come to delivering on those factors?
It's usually difficult to put a hard metric or financial value to these kinds of comparisons, and even more so if both the options do well on those factors. One approach to breaking the deadlock could be to compare the schools on the 3-4 most important and non-negotiable factors for you and try to answer in binary. (Example: Attending an M7 for your MBA. Booth would score a 1 whereas Ross would score a 0. Graduating with zero debt: Ross would score a 1, Booth 0. And so on.)

Hope this helps!

Thank you very much bb and variantguy for your insight and help. I am also someone who does not usually like to spend a lot of money, but I am leaning towards business school as one of the few areas where maybe I should...If I do choose the CPG route in school I might be kicking myself for paying for Booth when Ross will absolutely set me up well in that regard. But it is just so hard to evaluate what the Booth name will be worth to me 10-15 years from now and the doors that it might open. At this point I am leaning towards Booth with the knowledge that I can indeed make it work financially and that going to a school like Booth is such a unique opportunity in a city I am very excited to live in (and easier for my partner to visit). All in all I guess its a very fortunate problem to have.

Thank you both again for your help and advice.

-The OP

I know it can be a tough spot to be in, but here's one more piece of advice - don't think of business school as an expense. Think of it as an investment in yourself. Once you make the pov shift, you can perhaps see things in a different light.

Also, there are numerous opportunities that will come your way at any top business school. You might totally pivot from CPG a few months into school, so you should always evaluate schools for how flexible you can remain with your options while you're there.

For what it's worth, I voted for Booth. And it's not just because I'm spending your money here. If I was fortunate to be in your situation, I would 100% go for Booth.

Good luck with your decision, and do let us know what you decide.

Another point of you to probably muddy up this whole conversation and debate 😂 you could also think about business school as all you can eat buffet. Sounds like you have a nice steak and one and potentially some crab legs and sushi in the other. At the same time if you don’t eat much or not expecting to eat much or you’re not going to take advantage of opportunities that the school provide you with and instead party or take it easy or just chill, then it makes sense to take the cheaper buffet 😎

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bb Never thought I'd qualify a business school advice as mouthwatering, but this one sure is.

First if all, probably a horrible analogy 😂 I am sorry 😇. At the same time, everyone has had a classmate who went to school and only showed up and particularly didn’t pay a whole ton of attention. It could be a medical reason or it could be personality or it could be a perception, I’ve had some classmates who didn’t seem to care but they nailed everything and I think were the first ones to get the job. There are also those who seem to be going through the motions and just waiting for the graduation. That’s true of many second years already have a job in the pocket for the last semester but that’s not the attitude one should have during the first year. This is a unique opportunity and you have to leverage it and use it, hence the buffet analogy Or maybe I should say Netflix subscription for a gym subscription. The fact that you have a gym subscription that’s really mean a whole lot though it doesn’t make a step in the right direction but it’s the smallest littlest simplest step. You just want to make sure that the business school decision is not the biggest step. Both programs will provide plenty of opportunities but you will be the one who will have to take them and pursue them. You’ll have to fight for some of the best ones.

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Business school is a lifelong investment in my opinion and I typically tell people to go to the best school that they can unless the money is a major factor. From what you said above, it sounds like you can swing Booth financially without much issue. I would encourage you to try and negotiate a scholarship with Booth if you haven't done so already. While I doubt they would match Ross's offer, they might give you a partial scholarship to help make the decision easier.

Thank you to everyone who weighed in and helped give some really great advice. I ended up choosing Booth! At end of day I really could have gone either way with this one, but I just decided if I am able to make it work financially, to just go to the best school that I go into and enjoy the once in a lifetime opportunity there. I think I really would have been happy either way, but I'm just glad to be done and I am excited to be at Booth next year!

Wow! Big decision! Congratulations!
I think it would be hard to regret either one but the only thing you would be regretting (potentially) with Booth is just dollars and that is a commodity. You can make them many ways

Congratulations! That’s so amazing! I will love to know your stats as I am looking at the same schools for next year

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