Kelley ($) vs Owen ($) vs Rice ($)

Hey, everyone. I had a pretty successful season, and I'm hoping for some advice on the best option between Kelley, Owen, and Rice. Below are my thoughts about each program - please let me know if there's something that I'm misrepresenting on something I should be weighting more heavily.

Notes:
• Higher Tier Schools: I'm relatively debt-averse, so I aimed for schools where I knew I'd receive significant financial assistance vs. the potential long-term value of a T10/15 school.
• Cost: All programs gave me similar scholarships, so cost isn't a differentiator.
• Career Goals: consulting - focus on Big 4 (doesn't seem like MBB is very likely from this tier).
• Regional preference: none
• Ranking: 1 = best; 3 = worst

Location

1. Jones (Rice):

• a. Houston/Texas is a major market.
  
• b. A little worried that most opportunities seem to be related to oil & gas.

2. Owen (Vandy):

• a. While Nashville itself isn't huge, it does offer some employment options in healthcare.
  
• b. The school seems to have a pretty good presence in Atlanta, Dallas, and NYC (finance).

3. Kelley (IU):

• a. Bloomington, IN is pretty remote. The largest nearby city is Indianapolis.
  
• b. Despite this, seems to place fairly well in Chicago.

Alumni Network

1. Kelley (IU): Kelley has the most established program and the largest MBA network.

• a. While there's definitely a large presence in the Midwest, there seem to be alumni across the US.
  
• b. Kelley is the only school with an undergrad biz school (and it expands the network significantly). Not sure if this is a valuable feature.
  
• c. Kelley also has a large online MBA program (Kelley Direct). Again, not sure if this is valuable.

2. Owen (Vandy):

• a. The MBA network is a fair bit larger than Rice.
  
• b. Also geographically dispersed.

3. Jones (Rice):

• a. Relatively new program with a small network.
  
• b. Network seems to largely concentrated in Houston.

Culture

1. Kelley (IU):

• a. No one is from Bloomington, so everyone seems very open to forming a new social network.
  
• b. Collaboration seems to be woven into the program (many team-based projects).

2. Owen (Vandy):

• a. Owen is also highly collaborative, but being in a larger city seems to distract from classmates somewhat (although, I could be wrong).

3. Jones (Rice):

• a. Many students seem to be from Houston, so they already have a social network established in the city.

Employment

Primary Goal: Consulting
In terms of consulting, all programs seem to place fairly well into Big 4 consulting firms.

• 1. Rice: seems to be developing relationships with McKinsey and BCG (although still a longshot)
  
• 2. Owen/Kelley: seem relatively equal.

Secondary Options:

• 1. Kelley has a solid pipeline into CPG/marketing.
  
• 1. Owen has a solid pipeline into healthcare + some finance.
  
• 2. Rice has a solid pipeline into O&G + Houston IB. From what I've understand, O&G looks for those with previous O&G experience or a STEM undergrad, so I believe Rice's advantage in that industry wouldn't benefit me.

Regional Competition

1. Jones (Rice):

• a. only really competes with McCombs (UT) for Texas. Seems like the least regional competition.

2. Owen (Vandy):

• a. Competition from Fuqua (Duke), Goizueta (Emory), Kenan-Flagler (UNC), and Darden (Virginia).

3. Kelley (IU):

• a. Toughest competition - Booth, Kellogg, Ross.