Booth (WL--accepted w $$) vs Ross (with $$$)

Question

Hello gmat clubbers! You've sustained me through the last six months of torture--I would love some of your advice on this last stretch.

Here's what it boils down to: I'm admitted to Ross with a full scholarship, and have been waitlisted by Booth. Do I try to pull all the stops in an effort to get off the waitlist? Booth was my top choice, and Ross was my last.

I've visited both schools. Ross seems to have an incredibly friendly, warm culture, but three students independently told me that the one critique they would have for Ross is that it's not a very academically focused school. (I'd welcome other viewpoints from Ross students!) I'm trying to do a career switch into quantitative marketing, so academic rigor is key for me.

Booth seemed to have a much more staid culture, but I left with no doubt I'd get the training I'm after, and the name carries more prestige than Ross'. Is the training and brand name worth +$100K more than Ross', and not to mention, the stress of waiting and strategizing for several more weeks?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

britguy · Answer

Well one thing's for sure - do not give up the Ross offer until you have a cast-iron Booth offer. If it comes down to Ross or gambling on getting in off the WL, take the Ross $$$ - but if you can hold out a little longer before decision time, why not shoot Booth some relevant updates and see?

3underscore · Answer

To be honest, an MBA itself isn't really academically focused. As in, if you are looking for academia, it is the wrong place to go.

tuck20xx · Answer

ha that's pretty funny but really true

ko · Answer

Gotta be honest here...I don't see the problem. These options obviously aren't mutually exclusive. So try to get off the Booth waitlist if that's your first choice, pay your Ross deposit at the last possible moment, and then deal with "Ross vs. Booth" when that's actually the choice you have to make. No need to get ahead of yourself here - you have nothing to lose by "pulling out all the stops," as you put it, to try and get into Booth while you have your Ross admit.

rhyme · Answer

Having been through it before, I don't believe that there's any material difference - neither in academics nor in recruiting opportunities - between any of the top 5. With that, there's no way I would chose Booth over Ross with a scholarship. Of course, this is easy to say in hindsight from the perspective of having gone to a top B-school and I might be signing a completely different tune had it been the other way around, so grain, salt, apply.

As to your goals, Booth has a handful of quantitative marketing courses that would be a good fit - but I truly believe it is just a handful (you may know better than I). As to your concern about academics, for all it's world-famous intellectual rigor and all that I found Booth to be pretty easy frankly -- I worked hard to be sure, but I also graduated in the top 5% of my class. If I'd put in half as much effort I'd probably have still graduated with a B average, and if I had done next to nothing, I'd probably have a C. And lets be clear - I'm not some super smart academic powerhouse. I'm average at best. I hear that people end up on academic probation at Booth, but frankly, unless you've been drinking toilet water every morning with some kind of xanax cocktail, I don't understand how this is possible. It would practically take more effort to get a D than it would to get a B. If Booth is supposed to be "hard", I can't imagine what schools known to be "easy" must be like.

britguy · Answer

Rhyme are you trying to tell me that my preferred morning smoothie is actually detrimental to my health?

Toilet water is so refreshing over ice.

rhyme · Answer

No, in your case it's just fine as you are in Britain. Everything there is made of candy and lollipops and everyone wears tophats and belongs to the Ministry Of Silly Walks, so its cool.

shiny26 · Answer

Thanks all, for your input. It's funny to be hearing from a lot of people that an MBA isn't about academics.

I guess I just feel torn between going full bore with Michigan (getting housing, building a community, figuring out funding, etc.) and staying in limbo waiting for Booth, when I'm not even sure Booth would be worth the additional $100K. But what I'm hearing from everyone is that, ultimately, opportunities will be just as good at Ross as Booth, especially without having the burden of major debt after graduating. It's likely I won't go into a particularly lucrative career afterwards, like finance or consulting, so having no debt makes a big difference.

powerka · Answer

Shiny26, it is not my intention to make your choice more complicated, but ... Ross is unknown outside the US, and the University of Michigan is barely known. On the other hand, both Booth and the University of Chicago have powerful worldwide brands. If you care about working abroad, then I would wait for Booth (unless the $$$ is too great and you need financial help). Otherwise, go for Ross.

Best of lucks

Best of lucks

sniperssk · Answer

Actually, I would venture to say that both are pretty much unknown outside the US - in general. Perhaps, in some parts of the world or in some circles some of them might be more well-known. E.g. Booth has pretty good recognition in London finance circles. I am European and several years ago, before I started looking at MBA programs and rankings, I was unaware of most top US schools. For example, I had never heard of Wharton and UPenn did not sound "sexy" to me at all. Kellogg? Yeah, right, those biscuits and stuff. Chicago? Is it more prestigious than the University of Miami? After all, they are both some cities in the US. Dartmouth - what mouth? Duke Fuqua - this F-word sounds a bit French to me, is that really a US school? University of California - sounded nice, but I couldn't discriminate between the many 'University of California'-s that the States had. The only thing that caught my attention in NYU was the 'New York' part. I was familiar with Columbia, though - because it sounded like Colombia. Of all US schools, I had heard of Harvard, Yale, Princeton and to a lesser extent Stanford and MIT. I had heard of Berkeley but did not know its full name - I thought it was something like Berkeley College or Berkeley University. Georgetown - I had seen some nice T-shirts with that name on and was surprised that it was a school. So I would say that most US schools are relatively unknown among most people. People in academia would be in the know, though. And multinationals hiring MBAs would know the top schools. But I would not advise the OP to base his decisions on the difference in brand recognition internationally because it hardly exists (Finance/Consulting being the exception, but people in these fields are as informed as their US counterparts and they should know both schools). At least that is my experience in Europe. I don't know about Asia, though.

powerka · Answer

sniperssk: great post!

My opinion is biased due to my background.

In Economics circles (and political circles) Chicago has a well known brand. It may have lost value during the last financial crisis, but it still is well known. Better infamous than unknown.

Chicago, not Booth.

powerka · Answer

Another small detail: Booth has been ranked #1 for many years in the BW Full Time MBA ranking (or at least top 3).

sniperssk · Answer

You are right. To be honest, I knew of the Chicago School of thought in economics before, but never associated the University of Chicago b-school with it before I started researching programs. LSE and LBS were much more familiar to me. I agree that in educated circles it is pretty well known, but it is mostly among people interested in Economics on a deeper level than your average college grad. That said, I was actually surprised to see that Michigan is in the top 20 universities internationally in terms of academic reputation. Nevertheless, I have found that in general business circles most people in the EU don't know much about US schools (with the exceptions I mentioned in Finance/Consulting). It would be interesting to see other international opinions, though. I am also a little biased already, after I have done a lot of b-school research. But my advice to the OP would be to proceed from his targeted industries/locations before making a decision. I like Chicago a lot, it is one of the top programs to me, but 100k changes the picture a bit. For example, if you want to do GM, paying additional 100k might not be worth it. I think the best perspectives would come from current students/alumni, as they are not as adulterated by brands as I am as an applicant

powerka · Answer

Personally, for 100k I would not even doubt it!

cheme · Answer

People, let me address a few key points.

Academic rigor- you've gotta be kidding me. Shiny26, if you really want academic rigor, you should go for a PhD in physics, chemical engineering or math. All top Mba programs will display similar academic rigor. Both Ross & Booth happen to be great programs.

Recruiting - you've already decided that you want to go into quant marketing and not finance. I would acknowledge that for finance, booth kicks ass, but for the rest of fields, both schools are the same.

International recognition - beyond h/s/w/Columbia, most business schools go unrecognized past the business circles. On the other hand, since you're in at Ross, you should look up some of the alumni. Ross has a pretty big & influential network in Asia and relatively strong in Europe.

Feel- I've visited both schools & I'll second the fact that Ross gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. I've talked to several MBAs from h/s/w/c/k/Ch/etc. and every single one of them emphasizes that warm fuzziness was probably one of the most important factor in their decision for their choice of school. So, go where you feel more welcome than a place by which you're just enamored.

Money - this is a no brainer buddy. Getting 100k for going to school- can't get any better than this. People would kill to be in your shoes, I know I would.

In the spirit of full disclosure, booth was my top choice too, unfortunately or fortunately, I was turned down. I got into Ross and will be there starting this fall. I too was skeptical about Ross, but that was before I met some of the future classmates. Now, I can easily see having a good time next year while learning a lot too. Add to that, from what I hear about Saturdays at the Big House can't be compared to anything at any other school. Graduating without debt in this economy ( with so much uncertainty with jobs) is the key & what I percieve as an easy choice.

Good luck with your decision. (hope to see you at Ann Arbor this fall!)

cheers,

Cheme

Posted from my mobile device

shiny26 · Answer

sniperssk: that post is hilarious

Thanks for everyone's viewpoint from an international perspective. It's a double-edged consolation that both Booth and Ross don't have that much recognition among non-business circles abroad.

I just did a search in Ross' alumni database for people based in England, France, China, India, etc., and am somewhat surprised numbers are lower than I would've expected. I wonder if Chicago's are much higher, or the numbers at schools that clearly have international clout like Harvard. This isn't a huge concern since I plan on working in the US, but it would have been nice to go to a school with a name that carries as China/India gradually take over the world economy.

BlueRobin · Answer

sniperssk lol man rofl, i cant stop laughing. It should have been a commercial

This F word sounds a little french to me.
Mouth what mouth

lol. I didnt know people in MBA were actually capable of making fun. You got a point buddy.

Even i was unaware of all the schools except H/S/Lsb/Yale/Berkley.

shiny i dont think you need to worry really, most of the schools like Ross, Chicago are well known in MBA circles in INDIA, Booth carries more reputation but i wouldnt say that having a scholarship to go to Ross would put you at any disadvantage.

I referred to some pretty lofty MBA alumni and they said that Ross, Dartmouth, Berkley are all pretty well known in Asia MBA circles.

So dont sweat too much. Just make some enquiries with any Marketing acquantainces in Asia just to confirm.

shiny26 · Answer

Hi all,

The unimaginable has happened and I was accepted off Booth's R2 waitlist, with a scholarship. I'm thrilled, and befuddled. Since posting earlier, I'd gone ahead and started building my future at Ross, since I thought there was almost no chance Booth would offer admission plus money. I would be very interested to get your gut reaction here.

Booth PROS:
- Strong and rising name brand
- In Chicago

CONS:
- Not as comfortable a culture as Ross, for me personally
- Smaller scholarship

Ross PROS:
- Full scholarship
- Lots of roots already set (housing, roommate, friends, summer travel, etc.)
- Comfortable culture

CONS:
- Less prestigious brand
- In Ann Arbor (?) Not necessarily a con.

Thanks for your thoughts!

powerka · Answer

How much more money in the two years does Ross offer you?

Booth (WL-->accepted w $$) vs Ross (with $$$)

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