Late Waitlist Admit Decision: Haas (no money) vs Anderson ($$)

Question

Hello!

Long-time lurker here facing a bit of a struggle in my MBA decision between Haas and Anderson's Full-time Programs. I was admitted to Haas from the waitlist just this week and now face a tough decision. After R2 admissions, I was set on Anderson with a $70K fellowship and was happy with this option because of it's strong placement in marketing, tech and entertainment. My goal is to go into PMM roles or brand marketing ideally for a streaming service at Apple, Spotify, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon etc, which is a bit tricky because streaming is at the intersection of tech/media. I am not as drawn to traditional entertainment studios because of the lower pay and lack of innovation in that space. While streaming companies are my main target, I am also interested in product or brand marketing roles at Google, Microsoft and Nike. I am split because Haas is stronger in tech and as a brand overall while Anderson appears stronger for marketing/entertainment.

Below is a breakdown of pros and cons from my perspective. A couple of relevant notes are that I am an LA Native and on the older side (29 y/o with 6 years of work experience at media agencies working on digital advertising).

Anderson Pros:  
+ $70K fellowship is a great chunk of change 
+ Anderson has more resources in both marketing and entertainment management
+ Convenient - I am an LA native (went to cross-town rival for UG), my family lives in LA, and I am already set up in terms of housing for Anderson (even though I have not committed to a lease yet - that deadline is next week)

Anderson Cons: 
- Weaker overall brand/ranking (entails that peers and professors will be a cut below Haas)
- Culture is a bit more commuter and not as tight-knit as Haas
- This contradicts the last positive, but I've lived in LA my entire life and I was also viewing an MBA as an opportunity to explore a new part of the country
- Anderson's job placement report was one of the hardest hit coming out of the pandemic

Haas Pros: 
+ Stronger ranking/brand (entails a higher quality network/peers)
+ Stronger placement in tech - I don't come from a tech background. I come from an entertainment/media backgrounds, so I feel Haas's strength here could really give me a platform to make more of a pivot from media planning to PMM-type roles
+ Haas culture appears super tight-knit and supportive. Anderson seems to have a solid culture too, but not as tight-knit due to the larger urban environment
+ I am excited to experience living in a new part of the country (as mentioned, I've lived in LA my entire life)

Haas Cons:  
- No scholarship $, because I am not going into finance or consulting, I am worried that the loans could become too burdensome for me as a PMM/marketer in terms of salary
- Haas has less resources in terms of marketing and entertainment compared to Anderson
- This last-minute acceptance is going to likely lead to less-than-ideal living arrangement in the Bay Area

Ultimately, I feel like my brain/logic is telling me Anderson is the most practical and responsible decision, while my heart is telling me Haas would be the more enriching experience. Haas was a reach school for me and I am proud to have been admitted to this selective program.

I would love to hear others' thoughts on this tough decision!

tkt2020 · Answer

Following up here - any help, guidance or opinions on my dilemma would be much appreciated!

philipssonicare · Answer

Have you contacted Haas and asked whether any $ are available?

Could set yourself an ultimatum: Haas offer $ (even if much less than Anderson's offer) you'll take it, otherwise go with Anderson — could even tell Haas this!

bb · Answer

Sorry for missing your post. Not sure how that happened. Let me reply in 12 hrs. Going to bed.

Thanks  philipssonicare  for following up!

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Congrats on clearing the WL by the way, it is tough to switch gears last minute 😬

Have you seen this post?
https://gmatclub.com/forum/picking-a-sc ... 58227.html

I think if you are going into tech UNLESS you want to be in SoCal after graduating, I would co sister Haas. Your recruiting options are a lot better at Haas but I have to think about the $70k.

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Again, congrats on your admits! Awesome Job!

I think in terms of Tech Recruiting, all of the Anderson students recruit in Bay Area. 
There is obviously some good tech industry in LA but primarily I see most things happening in Bay Area still.

You would get other benefits from being a part of a more elite group of applicants. However it is super hard to change last minute in terms of friends, affiliation, etc. Here is the thing, if you are shooting for the job in LA, i would be totally satisfied with choosing Anderson, geting the scholarship money and saving the hassle of moving, esp as CA brought the mask mandate in - who knows how the fall will look like. At the same time, if you are just going to turn around and buy a Tesla with that $70K then perhaps changing things up and going north (though you are only moving within state, not even country) and jumping into the tech culture and bay area and expanding your network could make sense.

I don't think it would be a mistake to let Haas go by the way since you would have the Anderson/Trojan networks and basically corner the market with those networks. Most of your recruiting for the best positions will be based on your network and off campus jobs. Yes, Haas is higher-ranked and in Bay Area but on-campus recruiting is still lacking on the west coast compared to east-coast and mid-west schools. That's just the reality of life, so you will be pinging Alums, networking with companies, and leveraging your other networks. Also, if you have undergrad debt, I would probably take the scholarship option to minimize your debt exposure and risk of getting overburdened.

In terms of employment, he largest concentration of jobs and opportunities (physically if that is the thing) is still in Bay Area. If you want to be in the thick of it and inside of it, this is the place to be. It is a 5-6 hour drive otherwise but not the same. If you are location-agnostic after graduating, I feel you may end up in Bay Area either way, even graduating from Anderson so may as well get a head start.

I have probably confused you so let me say this - if you are feeling bullish, go for Haas. If you want to play more stability and safe, Anderson is the right choice.

tkt2020 · Answer

Thanks bb! I appreciate your insight. One thing to note that may not have come across clearly in my original work post is that I am more so married to function than industry. Overall, I am certain I want to do marketing (pmm or brand management, but would be open to strategy roles too). I am most interested in tech, but also have interests still in entertainment and cpg (esp retail/activewear at brands like Nike, Patagonia, Northface). Obviously Anderson is stronger for entertainment, meanwhile for CPG it seems more school agnostic.

In terms of location, I’m open to anywhere on the west coast. I’m interested in LA, Bay Area as well as PNW like Seattle/Portland.

Also, do you have any perspective on how ranking correlates with quality of professors/academics? I don’t come from a quant background, and would value stronger faculty too for the best learning experience.

Not sure if any of this changes your perspective. Ultimately, I feel like my brain tells me Anderson but my heart tells me Haas.

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

It is tough to talk about professors/classes really as there are so many perspectives. You can have the most-well known professor and have a terrible class and vice versa. Also, professors change all the time and a few of them really suck. No matter which MBA program you go to, there is always a bad prof and a few super lame class-mates. I think it is somekind of a universal law ... You are correct in thinking that usually the better professors gravitate towards better schools and you have Stanford and the Silicon valley that would provide you with potentially a very well credentialed list of professor candidates feeding into Haas. BUT I am not sure that should be a part of the decision or you want someone cramming you with a ton of quant analysis when you are trying so desperately to get a job/internship. People get burnt out the second year and start picking the easiest classes. At this point they have fought their battles and have their wisdom so the last semester (Jan - April) is often a pretty lame one. Was my favorite though I had to work extra hard since I did an exchange and that messed my classes up a bit. Anyway, nobody will care about the Quant side except you and you can probably learn as much from a set of youtube videos or a book as you would from a class, a good or a bad one. The source of most of your learning or a lot of it, will actually be your classmates. It is hard to judge them since you barely met anyone (and whatever impressions you go of them, they are totally posturing and not who those people are since they were as freaked and threatened to meet you as you were them; it takes 2 weeks for people to take down facades and open up in bschool). Anyway, you do get a higher caliber of classmates and tighter bond since it is a more selective program. How much is it worth? I have no idea

P.S. Sorry you did say PPM and I remember reading it last night but it got lost overnight 🤷‍♂️ Good for you by the way! A decent WSJ article came out over the weekend about Sales/Marketing being pretty vacant these days. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pay-is ... 1626255001 Ultimately not a mistake to go to either program. I think you have higher chances/probability being in LA after Anderson and Bay Area after Haas. Where would you like to end up? (Not just which condo building do you prefer more and do you prefer to get stuck on 280 or 405 but rather which employers you would gravitate to. Where would you like to work? Is Nike in LA? (sorry, don't know if they have an office but I know Patagonia does).... No point in going to School in Berkeley only to try to recruit back in LA and a bit vice versa.

Late Waitlist Admit Decision: Haas (no money) vs Anderson ($$)

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