Darden vs Ross - Employment Reports

Question

I keep hearing all the time that Ross is a better brand, higher in rankings... But if you take a closer look to their employment reports, Darden seems to be a bit better:

ROSS:
Full-Time Enrollment MBA: 1,009
Living MBA alumni who gave in past year: 14 %

Job Offers for 2009 graduates

* Received first job offer by graduation: 69 %
 * Received first job offer in three months following graduation: 9 %
 * Received first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 0 %
 * Did not report having received a job offer: 22 %
 * Accepted first job offer by graduation: 60 %
 * Accepted first job offer in three months following graduation: 12 %
 * Accepted first job offer more than 3 months after graduation: 0 %
 * Did not report having accepted a job offer: 29 %

Base salary, signing bonuses and other compensation for most recent employed graduates:

* Mean base salary: $98,720.00
 * Median base salary: $100,000.00
 * Mean signing bonus: $22,034.00
 * Median signing bonus: $20,000.00
 * Mean other guaranteed compensation: $18,681.00
 * Median other guaranteed compensation: $12,000.00

Top recruiting organizations most recent academic year:

* Amazon.com 15
 * McKinsey & Co 13
 * Deloitte Consulting LLP 11
 * Accenture LTD 9
 * Citi 8
 * UBS 7
 * Booz & Company 6
 * Cisco Systems Inc. 6
 * The Boston Consulting Group 6
 * Bain & Company Inc. 5
 * Dell Inc. 5
 * American Express Co. 3
 * General Mills Inc. 3
 * Johnson & Johnson 3

DARDEN:

Full-Time Enrollment MBA: 646
Living MBA alumni who gave in past year: 43 %

Job Offers for 2009 graduates

* Received first job offer by graduation: 77 %
 * Received first job offer in three months following graduation: 10 %
 * Did not report having received a job offer: 13 %
 * Accepted first job offer by graduation: 69 %
 * Accepted first job offer in three months following graduation: 14 %
 * Did not report having accepted a job offer: 17 %

Base salary, signing bonuses and other compensation for most recent employed graduates:

* Mean base salary: $100,839.00
 * Median base salary: $100,000.00
 * Mean signing bonus: $22,455.00
 * Median signing bonus: $20,000.00
 * Mean other guaranteed compensation: $16,963.00
 * Median other guaranteed compensation: $10,000.00

Top recruiting organizations most recent academic year:

* IBM Global Business Services 11
 * Bank of America 8
 * Bain & Company, Inc. 7
 * Johnson & Johnson 6
 * Wells Fargo Securities 6
 * Accenture 5
 * Citi 5
 * Danaher Corporation 5
 * Goldman, Sachs & Co. 5
 * Marsh & McLennan Companies 5
 * Credit Suisse 4
 * Dell, Inc. 4
 * JP Morgan 4
 * McKinsey & Co. 4
 * Microsoft Corp. 4

What do you think??

rpratt620 · Answer

You make a good point, everyone seems to be quick to praise Ross as a better school than Darden. I feel like the data says otherwise. I am applying to both schools and think they are both fantastic, but I am a little partial to Darden at this point based on my own research (including the data points you just shared).

One further observation is that most schools, including Darden, have been trending upward in job offering statistics, Ross is still stuck stubbornly at 78% for the second year in a row--The  worst  of any Top-20 school.

Something to consider...

bakfed · Answer

a side question - how were you able to find the latest employment report, categorized by the # of hires by top employers? On Darden's site itself, it doesn't even state the top employers, except a general overview of employers from 2008 to 2010. Thanks for your input.

angrybird · Answer

It's on the BW site.

bakfed · Answer

goyta, now I kind of wonder how BW gets its information.

pensive000 · Answer

The director of financial aid at Ross mentioned that the school finishes earlier (May) so that has a negative impact on the statistics (job offers after 3 months) because most jobs start around the fall time (a lot later). but i share the same sentiment that job statistics at Ross do seem to lag behind others.

This is going to be tough deciding which is a better school. ultimately it's about the fit i guess.

hamsandwich · Answer

The biggest factor is probably location, seeing how the state of Michigan is a craphole now and UVA is close to RTP, Herndon, and DC. So yes, naturally the pool of students from Darden, many of them who will choose to stay around that area, will have better job prospects compared to Ross students in the midwest. I do think the Ross brand is better recognized across the country, so if geographical area is important (i.e. want to go to the West or NE), Ross would probably still win out, although that's just speculation on my part. Both are fantastic schools nevertheless.

Av · Answer

The curriculum for these two schools couldn't be much more different. I'm way too biased in favor of Ross, so I won't list the pro's and con's of each school from my perspective, but I'd suggest that you place most of your emphasis on fit. If you haven't visited each of the campuses and sat in on a class yet, you really should do so.

To over-generalize: Ross is very practical and hands-on, while Darden is very theoretical and discussion-based (100% case study).

To over-generalize: Ross is very practical and hands-on, while Darden is very theoretical and discussion-based (100% case study).

hookemhorns86 · Answer

I've visited and applied to both the schools. The quality of students is very high in both the schools, as expected. Location wise Darden definitely has the edge, being close to DC does not hurt! I personally like the case study method, so if I had a choice I'd choose Darden. Plus Michigan winters are too severe for me.

Darden vs Ross - Employment Reports

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