snowrider1234
Is anyone deciding between attending Ross with CSGM fellowship and Stern? If so, what are your deciding factors in pushing you toward one school or the other?
drmang7 and I are both also facing
the same decision.
Personally, I've found this to be a really tough decision. Stern was my first-ranked Consortium school, while Ross was my second. I could go on and on about this, but I'll try to keep it brief here (if you'd like more details, please PM me). A few of the things that attract me to Stern are:
its Entertainment, Media, and Technology specialization - broadly, I am interested in working in a combination of these fields when I graduate, and the specialized electives offered by Stern initially got me very excited about the program and eventually played a big part in my decision to apply;
the people/personal fit - I absolutely loved my experience at the Stern Perspectives weekend, and found the fit to be great. The sample class and my interactions with current and prospective students left me feeling like I belong at Stern; and
the location - I have always wanted to live in NYC, and the opportunity to try it out for two years while I am still relatively young (and while a ton of my friends are living there) was a big draw.
As for Ross, I've felt that academically, they would provide me with broader knowledge that, in the end, could be just as useful as the specialized learning that NYU offers. I've considered the fact that Stern has many alumni who are in those industries, but so does Ross (Ross has so many alumni, it's hard to find an industry where they are not represented). All of my personal experiences with Ross alumni, staff, and prospectives (and even non-Ross alumni of Michigan) have been more than spectacular. I actually met a guy at a concert who was wearing a Michigan jacket and the next thing I knew, he had put me in touch with a couple of Ross alumni. That being said, I haven't visited Ann Arbor yet. I am going to wait until I go there in person to make a "personal fit" judgment, but all indications are that it will be a good fit. Though I've always wanted to live in NYC, I've lived near East Coast cities all of my life, and while I consider myself an east coast guy, I think I could probably benefit from living in a new (potentially less stressful) place.
In terms of the fellowship, what theoutlawfades says fits with what I have heard from current and graduated students (at any school). That is, not having debt (or having little debt) on one's way out of B-school is a huge advantage. Not only does it free you from the financial obligations of paying $160K back, but it also gives you the freedom to pursue exciting job opportunities that may not pay as much. Plus, you won't have that financial liability when trying to buy a house or a car or start a new business. I figure a decent number of MBA students would like to start their own business on the way out of B-school, so not having as much debt would really help to make that a reality.
In the end, Ross has an answer for almost every argument I can make for NYU. For me, the academic experience is the only "big" difference, and while Stern offers more specialized learning, Ross offers renowned broad wholistic learning. To be honest, when I first began my application process, I had ranked Ross first, but by the time I finished, I had been sold on Stern's specialized learning, and ranked them first instead. If they were both the same price, I'd probably be choosing Stern, but when I ask myself if the Stern's specialized learning is worth paying so much more money (both in terms of tuition/fees and cost of living difference)...let's just say I'm having trouble convincing myself that it is.
Since I know I love being at Stern but have yet to visit Ross, my experience at Go Blue Rendezvous will play a big part in my final decision.
I guess I ended up saying a lot anyway

(though, I still feel like I could go on for pages, so please PM me if anyone would like to discuss more).