Booth with 75% scholarship vs Fuqua with 100% vs Yale with 50%

Whoa! Congratulations on your offers!

Here are a few thoughts:
1. All of these programs are fairly good size. People come in all shapes and characters. You will likely hate some and love some in ALL of these programs. Unless you have a fairly extensive experience with folks, I would not judge each program based on just a limited number of interactions such as the admit weekend.

2. Study Abroad programs come as a double-edge sword. First - they are cool. You get to be in another part of the world and visit some of the best schools outside of the US. A lot of the time you get Pass/Fail grades that don't count towards your GPA (Not that it is important but your scholarship will usually require maintaining at least a 3.0, which again is not hart at all) but it allows you to focus on things other than getting perfect grades. You will have a ton of opportunities to travel and network and meet new people. Some of them may be stronger connections that what you will form in your program. At the same time, you will be leaving in Aug and coming back in Dec (let me know if you are thinking of a different schedule) and that's a sensitive time since that's when all of the recruiting for the best positions seems to happen so you will have to fly back for the on campus recruiting events or miss out on a number of them. Not to say that you will get disconnected with your peer group/cohort and have to deal with storing your possessions for 4 months and then looking for a place to rent when you come back in late Dec (you can assume, you will be holding your place and paying double rent most likely). However, having done Study Abroad, i can say it was a fantastic experience and one that you can't get any other way but it comes at a price.

3. Fuqua has a big Team Fuqua emphasis, which many find very attractive while Booth tends to be a bit more freedom and opportunities with people doing their own things. Booth has the advantage of being an actual city where you can live in Downtown and have some life on weekends and whenever you are not studying. Not sure how much importance that has but that seems a big diff for Booth vs. Fuqua/Yale.

4. I feel recruiting would be meaningfully more diverse and interesting at Booth so that could be one justification to pay a premium. It is a top 3 school these days. Fourth year in a row. If you are after the best MBA and best MBA experience, it hardly gets any better. If you are someone who double-guesses their decisions or takes a long time to make one, the perhaps err on the safe side to avoid a moment of regret after a hard day. At the same time, if you are a frugal person who does not like to splurge, then don't tempt the fate


I think you are looking at 100% at Fuqua or 75% at Booth and I would focus on the value that the program brings and experience you are looking for. Probably not worry as much about people at this stage - you will likely find a great fit at any of these programs.