Calling all Berkeley-Haas Fall 2011 Applicants

I wouldn't make that decision (or most any school decision, really) based on money. Anderson offered me more money than Haas but I never seriously considered accepting the Anderson offer over Haas because I felt that Haas was a better opportunity for several reasons and that in the grand scheme of things $10-20K wasn't really that important when looking out over the next 10-20 years.

This isn't a slight of Anderson by any means--I really enjoyed my visit there and would have gladly attended if my other applications hadn't worked out--but it's just a recognition that Haas is seen as a better school in general. If you have specific goals (media/entertainment industry maybe) or want to live in LA rather than the Bay Area, Anderson may be a better fit for you. But Haas has been on a pretty steady upward trend the last few years and (depending on whose rankings you believe) is either close to breaking into the Kellogg/Tuck/Columbia/Sloan/etc. cluster of schools or has already done so. From what I've gathered Haas has a very strong reputation across the US and into Asia if you're interested in that region--that's not to say that Anderson is only a regional school, but just that Haas tends to be stronger at placing grads with top firms across the world.

Again, this is all just a generalization based on my (somewhat) educated observations. My "tour guide" at Anderson was a second year who, in November, already had a job lined up with Deloitte in NYC. So that goes to show that an individual's talents and drive to work in a specific field/location is still just as important as which school he/she goes to. I'm not sure how the schools stack up vs. each other in finance and IB but it would be easy enough for you to compare field-specific rankings and employment reports for both schools and see if one has the edge over another.

But this is only my opinion--as with anything else I'd recommend talking to students and alums, reviewing hiring data, seeing which firms recruit where, and all that kind of stuff to make sure the school you choose is the best fit for your goals. Neither one is a bad decision at all, so it's just a matter of picking the one that's a slightly better decision for you.