Kellogg vs Darden $ vs Fuqua $$

Congratulations on your admits - they are no small feat especially with your scholarship awards.

I would say, You need to make your decision based on the $ amount you have received here. I would echo my vote for Kellogg as well but that’s my opinion. Let me tell you why and also share ideas on how you can make a decision. Kellogg’s differentiator is it’s on-campus consulting recruitment which makes the process very well Co-ordinated and, compared to schools that are hired from in bundles, conversion rates are higher too. However, if you have a full-ride at Fuqua, I would definitely not discount it. I like Darden too but the academic rigor isn’t for everyone- because you have two years to up your social game and see the world

Let me share an actual decision flow chart here that you can use to settle the brains:

1. List your scholarships and use this matrix to eliminate the third option (likely Darden?) link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/financial-ai ... l#p2681520

2. Choose Kellogg if you plan to stay in the US for 5+ years post graduation. This would give you time to pay off the loan and earn some $$$

3. Assess your credit phobia (if a huge loan burden doesn’t intimidate you - you can directly choose Kellogg). But loan phobia is real and the way to get over is to start with step 2 and determine how long do you want to payback the loan in and whether the resulting instalment is sustainable with your post MBA salary (~200K minus ~ 30% tax) it’s possible and lots of people do it. Also determine the cost of social life I would imagine Kellogg would cost most and Darden the least - that adds to the sticker price and is hardly covered by loans

4. Dig deeper into what sticks about a school: terms such as Team Fuqua, Kellogg Nice have very different interpretations at an individual level and you need to find yours. Is there an incubator at a certain school that you want to join, are there any highlight courses or profs that you are crazy about, are there travel opportunities - as specific questions with factual answers so that currents students and alums can help you better. Spend no more than a week speed dating these schools if you haven’t done already.

Good luck. Remember, you will only make a good decision here.

Feel free to PM if you have questions.

Thanks,
Deb

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One side to consider is that if you are going after "either non-profit management or social impact consulting in the US" - these are popular fields/areas that are as competitive as some of the other roles. Just because they are non-profit, does not mean they are not popular. I would say the opposite. Many people want to make a difference and there are pretty limited options and opportunities for an MBA role. Sure there are Bill and Melinda foundations and other well-endowed foundations but at the same time, there are very few of them and they have tight budgets. The role you will find will likely not have the same comp as Amazon or Deloitte so I would argue that perhaps getting a free MBA may be the way to go to compensate for it so you have Fuqua subsidize and pitch into your social goals vs. you doing it by yourself.

Thanks for the insights DebashreeC! Will keep those in mind!

I used the gmatclub system to denote the $, so the Fuqua one is a bit over 50%, the Darden is about 33%.
And yes, right now I am picking more between Kellogg & Fuqua (though I am sad that I won't get to spend more time with the great people over at Darden)

Hi bb !
First of all huge thanks for making gmatclub! It's been incredibly useful during my journey so far! Really appreciate all the work you and your team put into it!

Secondly, I am honestly surprised to hear that non-profit management is popular. I know most students mention they want to make a difference, but it typically seems to be more through traditional paths (i.e. consulting, corporate sustainability, etc.). Based on post-MBA employment records, lack of topics about non-profit recruiting on forums, and just the general difficulty of getting more info about non-profit recruiting from current students, I had assumed it wasn't particularly popular.

That said I definitely agree with you that openings for these types of work aren't common. While I have also considered that getting a discounted MBA may free me up to do more specific work in the social sector (which would be great!), openings being rare also ties in to me being wary of going all in that route. If no openings are forthcoming then it may make sense to go to the more typical consulting path (just targeting more social work) which Kellogg may help more with. (So yes, still quite confused haha. Thanks so much for the honest advice though!)

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Yes, sometimes you have to take into consideration Plan B which may be a more realistic goal then man Plan A

Both Kellogg and Fuqua will have consulting company representatives on campus for days of the week. They have offices there that give you an opportunity to have plenty of coffee chats and meetings and to be observed in class. Theoretically, do you have similar chances of getting recruited for consulting for example. There are obviously differences in offices and things like that that may provide more beneficial or valuable. I feel that in terms of consulting, a lot of it really depends on you and performance during the interviews since you have a foot in the door with either program. I feel the biggest difference will come in to play with tech recruiting and other high-end employers who may be in Chicago or would travel to Chicago but not to North Carolina. For example, both Fuqua and Kellogg may place people into Apple but Kellogg may have an official placement program and Apple coming to campus whereas Fuqua it’s people recruiting off-campus on their own. This year it will be hard to read employment reports because they will be glowing for many programs. I’m hearing even amazing recruiting results from schools such as Carlson in Minnesota. The strength of the brand is most visible during the recession years. during the strong economic years, there may be qualitative differences but they are very hard to highlight in employment reports.

Here is one thought. Go back in your mind six months ago. Would you have gladly attended Kellogg or even Fuqua even if you only got into one of these programs and zero scholarship? My guess is probably yes. If you only got into Fuqua and it was full price, we probably would not have this discussion you will have hundreds of people going to Fuqua paying full price and you will have hundreds of people going to Kellogg painful price, you will also have a number of people going to Kellogg on a full scholarship for choosing perhaps between Wharton and Kellogg or Harvard and Kellogg or booth in Kellogg. At the same time, hundreds of people paying full price with zero scholarship and very happy to do exactly that. I find that the savings are sometimes deceiving in the sense that you feel like you would end up with that amount in your bank account. In reality most people actually adjust their lifestyle up the more money they have. They move into a nicer place, they buy a bigger TV, they buy a nicer MacBook, or a fancier iPhone. Ultimately saving the same amount and ending up with the same bank account in many cases. It’s about how good of a saver you are versus how much money you started out with. my point is that money is a little deceiving in terms of what you actually end up with so it’s not always what it looks like.

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