Mendoza vs Smith Maryland vs UC Davis vs WP Carey vs Simon rochester

Question

Hello folks,

I want to get into product role post MBA. have the following options. some suggestions on which program would be better.

cost after scholarship: 
mendoza: 70k
maryland: 35k
uc davis: 100k
wp carey: 50k
simon: waitlisted

royalflush · Answer

Regenerate  is there a way to get traction on this post so that i have some responses? Reaching out as you are the moderator. Thanks

Regenerate · Answer

Thanks for reaching out ...

First -- Check out the two threads in my signature block below; that may help answer your question. When comparing costs from one to the other, take the most expensive school (based on their all-in costs), and figure out how big of a % discount you have at each of the other schools after deducting for scholarships ... then, compare those % discounts to the grid.

Second -- I'll post a more full response in the post immediately after this one (I didn't want to cross-pollinate concepts) ... which I'll post this afternoon.

Regenerate · Answer

Per the GMATClub's most recent ranking:

Tier 9 - Notre Dame (Mendoza) ... cost $70k / yr, plus room, board, books and required fees
Tier 9 - Rochester (Simon) ... currently on the wait list ...
Tier 10 - Arizona State (WP Carey) ... cost $50k / yr, plus room, board, books and required fees
Tier 12 - Maryland (Smith) ... cost $35k / yr, plus room, board, books and required fees
Unranked -- UC Davis

To save time, unless there's an enormously compelling reason to keep them on the list, I'd probably strike UC Davis and Maryland and narrow your decision down to Mendoza and Carey (and Simon if you get off the WL).

Can you figure out your total costs to attend Mendoza, Simon (assuming no scholarship) and Carey? If so, I'll get back to you ...

PS -- VERY importantly, what are your career goals (being in a 'product role' doesn't tell me much; which type of product? Tech? Heavy machinery? Breakfast cereal? Etc.?), and where would you like to live when you're done getting your MBA?

royalflush · Answer

thanks  Regenerate  for the reply and apologies for being ambiguous on the post MBA goal.

I want to get into a product management role in a technology company preferably B2C and work towards building tech products for customers.

The cost that i have mentioned is the total cost of attendance for 2 years that I will have to spend.

Currently i dont have any preference in terms of location to live post MBA.

Regenerate · Answer

Ok ... so, Carey is approximately 30% less expensive than Mendoza ... the minimum discount I think makes sense to drop down from a Tier 9 school to a Tier 10 school (i.e., to say no to Mendoza and yes to Carey) is a 20% discount ... so, while it's not a huge difference, financially, you can reasonably consider those two schools.

To before being too hasty earlier about looking at Mendoza vs. Smith ... you'd need to be able to get to Smith for something around a 60% less than Mendoza; currently, you're looking at a 50% discount ... so, not quite enough (imo) to get the comparable. Now, if you have personal / professional reasons to keep Smith on your list, great, but to drop down a few spots, you should try to get more scholarship aid first.

I think you can reasonably consider these three offers competitive financially.

Have you gone back to any of these schools to see if they can bump up their scholarship / grant aid?

Do you have a professional reasons to strongly prefer one region of the country to another?

Do you like college football?

Do you think your life will be better with an alumni base of Notre Dame, Arizona State or the University of Maryland?

... if it were me, I'd focus REALLY hard on the information from each school detailing which companies hire graduates from each school ... AND ... I'd ask each school for more $$ to try to make my decision easier (and hope they all give me more money, which won't necessarily make the decision easier, but it does reduce the risk of any decision).

What do the placement reports from these three schools show YOU?

Mendoza vs Smith Maryland vs UC Davis vs WP Carey vs Simon rochester

Mendoza vs Smith Maryland vs UC Davis vs WP Carey vs Simon rochester

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