McCombs $$ vs. Tepper $

Question

Keeping in line with the other X vs. Y school posts, here comes another.... :roll:

Tepper offered me a $20K scholarship (which i have asked them to review) and i was packing my bags for Pittsburgh. Enter McCombs with a in-state tution and $10K scholarship...What this effectively means is Tepper MBA ~ 105K McCombs MBA ~ 60K That's a difference of almost 45K...

given the fact that I wish to pursue Tech/Strategy Consulting post MBA and that both schools appear almost side-by-side in rankings, what would you suggest?

MoonShine · Answer

Prestige/rankings: advantage Carnegie Mellon, Texas not too far behind
Location: advantage Texas (Austin is great) (Pittsburgh is cold)
Sports: advantage Texas (Hook em' Horns)
Collegial atmosphere: advantage Texas (Just look around on campus, trust me)
Cost: as you mentioned, Texas

Overall, it looks like Texas has the slight edge - atleast by how I look at it. Do you have a regional bias for post-grad work?

aaudetat · Answer

Which one did you like better? What area made you happier?

eazyb81 · Answer

Which geographic area would you like to work in post-MBA? I had a great time in Pittsburgh this past weekend, and I could easily see myself spending 2 years or more there. Did you have a chance to visit the campus, or did you do a phone interview?

Do you currently reside in Texas? If not, how are you getting in-state tuition? $45K is a lot of money, but personally I think the CMU name carries more weight than UT.

pelihu · Answer

I believe the two schools are essentially equal. Since you said you can get in-state tuition, I will assume you are a Texas resident now. I you plant to stay in Texas after graduation, then the choice is simple. Tepper's primary strength seems to be in heavily quantitative finance, which isn't something that you are interested in. So, you should just pick the school that you like better that is strong in the region where you'd like to work.

lepium · Answer

Arghhh, you social sciences people are always the same. What about ROIs? and money? :lol:

My vote: McCombs. I can't rationally explain why but I hate the CMU - Tepper name. It gives me the creeps. :lol:

Now, seriously, both schools are in the same cluster, so I'd go with the one which will cost you less, which (at least for the time being) is McCombs. Dunno about the tech thing, though, I've heard that CMU has an edge on that particular area (tech + management). You may wish to research this. Cheers. L.

MBA 2007 · Answer

If I were in your shoes I would go with McCombs and I would say the same thing if I wasn't going there myself.

luminos24 · Answer

Yeah, Texas does seem to have a slight edge...45K is big money specially for an international student like me!

I did visit Tepper/Pittsburgh for my interview but couldn't explore it much as it was the coldest day of the season (I guess Austin scores here!!)
Haven't been to Austin but i have heard that it is a great city to live in (probably comparable to Pitts except weather)

I do not reside in Texas and the in-state tution is part of the scholarship offer. They are allowing me to pay in-state tution instead of International tution. And being an international, i do not have any location preference post MBA (as long as i get a job i want)

So, to summarize (like MoonShine did):
Prestige/rankings: advantage Carnegie Mellon, Texas not too far behind 
School Location: both comparable (except weather where Austin scores)
Sports: Austin (they have a good soccer team (TeamMBA) too which I can join
Collegial atmosphere: haven't visited Austin so can't comment
Cost: Texas
Post MBA location: No preference
Post MBA job: Consulting (Tech/IT/Strategy)

aaudetat · Answer

Lepium, cheri, YOU make the money. I will think of other matters.

mbadart07 · Answer

Luminos, go for mccombs.. atleast i can get a chance to convert my WL and get some money from Tepper.

. Jus kidding, well, frankly, I feel that Tepper is ahead on reputation and strength in Tech. Most of the rankings put Tepper on par with Sloan in IT/Tech consulting. Guess that's coz of the inflence of their parent schools. That said, UT austin is very much up there when you put the other factors ( esp. cost) in perspective. I hope you do have helluva time deciding this as you had with the decision to drop ISB. Btw, did you know that you rejected the school which has clocked its highest salary of 1.18 crore INR i.e 269K US $..

https://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=39c24e42-7015-44d2-947e-da4d7167232f& Cheers, Dart

imjimmy · Answer

I would say CMU. UT apparently does not place internationals easily(BW quote and also some students have expressed dis-satisfaction).

CMU is a core school for some consulting companies while UT isn't. And being an international student, do you really want to end up in the South ie. Texas?

gmatmba · Answer

While with both schools you would get similar placements, I think with your intention of going back to India, the Carnegie Mellon brand would surely take you longer than the Texas brand. If I were you, I would be inclined to go with Tepper. Plus I have also heard of problems with placements for international students at McCombs.

dipeshc4 · Answer

Go with Tepper so I can take your spot at McCombs

DJM · Answer

I would say McCombs. I did my undergraduate from UT and I cant begin to tell you how much I loved Austin. Its a mid-size city with most of the benefits of a big city and none of the problems of a big city.

Cost of living is low, weather (outside of summer) is great, and downtown austing is crazy!

I have never visited CMU or Pits, but you have to spend some time on campus to really appreciat UT!

So, again, I would vote for McCombs.

eazyb81 · Answer

No, he should go to UT so I can have his spot at Tepper.

McCombs $$ vs. Tepper $

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