S23con wrote:
Haas ($40K) vs Yale SOM ($100K)
Admitted to both and undecided on my career after but leaning towards living on the west coast. That said, the 100K from Yale could help me fly out there flexibly. So I am looking for advice based on program and academics (what differentiates each school here?).
Edit: considering a career in consulting or tech marketing/product management.
I'd take the $100K from Yale if I was prioritizing consulting as SOM places very well in MBB. Off the top of my head, at least 11 of my classmates from the class of '18 went to MBB on the west coast.
If you have a background in one of tech, marketing, or product design/management, I think you'll get interview opportunities regardless of which program you attend. Most tech firms are pretty school / ranking agnostic if you're from tech. I'd lean towards Yale here.
If you choose to attend Yale but have no relevant experience, you'll still likely get opportunities at big tech, particularly Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Google, etc. You won't even need to fly over to interview for some of these firms, as a number of them use video chats even for final round interviews.
If you're looking at small to mid-sized firms, being physically present in the bay area is helpful if you don't have the relevant experience. I obviously never attended Haas, but based on what I hear from friends there, tech recruiting is very, very strong there - not exactly a surprise here. With that said, I can't think of a single friend there who went the consulting route over tech / startups there, so you'll need to connect with the people there to learn more about consulting at Haas.
I think another thing to consider here is the cost of living in NHV will likely be lower than the bay area.