Deciding on which business school to attend

Question

Hey everyone,

I got in Round 3 but I am still deciding on which MBA school to attend.

1. Yale SOM
2. Michigan Ross
3. UVA Darden
4. Cornell

I am looking at working back in South Africa, home country. I need to reply to schools by the end of this week since I got an extension. Which of the four in terms of best to worst is good for an international MBA career. I am looking at working in both the tourism industry as a manager but also operating a non-profit on the side.

mbaapplicant123 · Answer

I vote Yale or Cornell. For international recognition, these two will be far better known than the others.

mgg234 · Answer

Yale will probably have the best brand in South Africa of the 4.

onion253 · Answer

Since you have mentioned non-profit, Yale seems to be the clear choice. Yale also comes ahead of other schools in terms of international brand recognition. I think you should go for Yale SOM unless you have strong reasons not to go there. Good luck!

DefyingGravity · Answer

Have you chatted with people from your home country? I agree that Yale seems like the school with the most brand recognition internationally, but I don't know much about the market in South Africa.

kid97 · Answer

Hey everyone,

What if I want to work in a multinational first before operating a non-profit down the road? My biggest fear about Yale is that the program is not too strong and relatively young. But brand recognition, the Yale name is strong throughout Africa. In terms of preparedness, would Yale prepare me more than Ross? It seems that Ross is a well established program, but the Michigan brand name is way weaker than the Yale one internationally!

Amanshu · Answer

Agreed that Yale is more international than Ross. It seems, you are clear what you are looking for, but confused in B-schools to choose to go internationally. Yale would be good choice over other, and second, of course, Cornell.

kid97 · Answer

Yale is definitely my top choice at this point. Followed by Ross, Darden. It's hard placing Johnson over Ross in terms of brand. Honestly speaking, a lot of people have not heard of Cornell University in my hometown plus Johnson does not really give its b-school peers a run for the money. I want a b-school that will shape me to be the leader that I want to be. I just can't picture Johnson. Whereas Yale SOM and Ross, most definitely! Even their alumni speak for it. Any other thoughts?

Bazinga1900 · Answer

I have an undergraduate GPA of 3.92 and a GMAT score of 730. I am a finance staff of a company in Thailand with 2 years work experience. What are my chances of getting accepted into YAle MBA program?

Posted from my mobile device

kid97 · Answer

@Bazinga1900 Please respect my space and post somewhere else. I find it quite rude and I frankly do not have time for this kind of behavior.

Amanshu · Answer

Yale is perfect then. But you are looking to go international, right? So Cornell has good international reputation. Also apart from these B-schools, you can even take a look towards other B-schools from Asia & Europe also.

Bazinga1900 · Answer

im really sorry for intruding. Im new to this forum and hence explains my lack of knowledge of posting in the right place.

Posted from my mobile device

venividivici2016 · Answer

No brainer -- it's Yale. Program much stronger than its critics might suggest. Brand name simply too powerful to overlook. That's true domestically, and doubly so internationally.

EngineeringMBA · Answer

I think this comes down to Yale or Ross. For your goals, especially since you're hoping to land in South Africa, I think the nod might be given to Yale here b/c of its international brand recognition. That being said, Ross has an outstanding all-around program; if MAP means a lot to you then it's definitely worth considering. But for your goals, as others have already said, I think SOM fits those needs best.

Shuffle · Answer

Might be too late for your decision but just in case I'll chime in. You'll have plenty of opportunity at Ross to tailor your education toward your goals. You can do an international MAP, study abroad, or take a course on emerging markets that could mean international travel. Also, the William Davidson Institute has tons of resources, including international summer internship opportunities. You definitely can't go wrong with Yale though either, given your goals.

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