Michigan vs. Indiana

Question

Well, the decisions are all in, and I'm a bit torn on what I should do. Michigan has offered $20K per year and Indiana has offered a full tuition scholarship. Essentially, it means Michigan would cost around an extra $50K to attend their program. 

I intend to return to the Twin Cities to pursue a career in Corporate Finance upon finishing my MBA. Michigan offers a few more opportunities with TC companies, but I'm confident I could obtain a similar position out of Kelley. Would I be crazy to turn down that much money from a school that is in the top 10?

I have to keep reminding myself that I am in an extremely envious position, and that I really can't go wrong. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

gopher

MoonShine · Answer

Congrats! I am jealous of you. I know a full ride is tempting but if I were in your shoes I'd take Michigan + $20K.

haddy74 · Answer

ross ross and only ross

Mark4124 · Answer

Why guys?? I am not sure that I agree... I think that the field of study is very important in this decision. Relative to old school industry and corporate finance, Kelley has very good recruiting. If one wants to try to get into Private Equity / Venture Capital / Better Shot at a top I-Bank, I'd say Ross... But for corporate finance? Maybe for his field Kelley would be equally as good... Make an argument beyond going to the Businessweek rankings and picking the one that is closer to the top.

mbadart07 · Answer

Agree with Mark, It is also easy to get swayed away by the fact that one of the programs is ranked highly in almost all the publications when compared to the other. That said, I suggest you research more into the opportunites available for networking and recruiting in corp fin at both the schools. judging by the nature of your admits ( with nice schols from both schools ), it looks like you will end up in a very good place, even if you decide to drop Ross and along with it, its brand and strength in finance. BTW, Congrats on the double admits and may you be blessed with some more tough time in choosing between the two :-D

lhotseface · Answer

Ross...10 years from now 50k won't matter.

gopher · Answer

Thanks for the opinions so far. dart - I've definitely begun the research into the different companies and how difficult it is to obtain positions out of either school.

kidderek · Answer

All things being equal (such as personal preferences), I'd go with Ross. 50k is a drop in the bucket in the long run. This isn't comparing two schools in the top 15. It's one clearly in the top 15 and the other clearly out of it. 

Also, for me as a New Yorker, Ross is very much respected. Indiana is well, not very known.

Mark4124 · Answer

Kelley is #18 by B-Week... #23 by USNews... They have a good placement at Goldman, Citigroup, JPMorgan, etc every year. But probably even more solid on the corp finance side.

Einstein06 · Answer

Consider the better football team... :roll:

lepium · Answer

I'd go with Ross. Let's not think rankings, but clusters. One is Elite (and strongly so, as per Hjort) and the other one isn't. Unless you know specifically your post MBA path (and are sure that it won't change while in B-school) and can affirm that Kelley will provide equal opportunities, I'd go with Ross for the quantity, variety and caliber of post MBA opportunities. 

Cheers. L.

johnnyx9 · Answer

Obviously there's a very rankings-centric school of thought on this forum, and I probably buy into it most of the time.

But I think you have a difficult choice. 

I work in healthcare finance, sort of a niche industry. Salaries are good, not like banking or some super-lucrative industries, but I would expect to be making like 100-150K if I came straight back to healthcare after b-school (not my plan right now). I met with the CEO of my company who is a Harvard MBA and asked him what he thought about my overall plan.

He said that he really doesn't think the brand name matters very much in this industry. Partly because healthcare really needs MBA's right now, it just doesn't need that cream-of-the-crop type super-ambitious person that a McKinsey or Goldman needs. Obviously there are a handful of schools that will always make your resume stand out, but I think in my industry, a diploma from a school ranked 10-20 versus a school ranked 40-50 wouldn't make a big difference. It sounds like that may be the case with your industry as well.

Mark4124 · Answer

My buddy works for a guy was the manager of ING Russia fund and then was the CFO of Bank of NY... He went to University of Connecticut.

lepium · Answer

This happens all the time. Just look at Bill Gates who went to .... high school. I think what MBA applicants are looking for is risk mitigation. While you might be successfull without attending any school, top schools will most probably increase your chances. If you are an outstanding visionary, you won't need to. The closer to average you are, the more you need to attend B-school.

Cheers. L.

gopher · Answer

I think you could find examples on both sides of the equation, people who went to top-notch b-schools, but aren't necessarily as successful as the guy who graduated from lower-ranked schools. As you mentioned, there will always be Bill Gates types who don't need b-school either.

sm176811 · Answer

Ross anyday! Forget the money...! 

My policy in life - if you are paying so much, might as well pay more and get everything! So Michigan!

johnnyx9 · Answer

I agree w/ Lepium, all about risk minimizing. 

I guess to be really pragmatic about it, you could contact both schools' respective recruiting or career centers and ask them for some placement numbers. 

If you evaluate the placement numbers maybe you will see that Ross and Kelley both placement a similar percentage of their students in the types of companies and positions you are interested in. Or maybe the numbers will tell you something else.

gopher · Answer

A side-note to this question. My understanding is that companies tend to offer the same pay package for a position no matter which school the student attended. Does this tend to be the case more often than not?

Mark4124 · Answer

Yes... this is exactly what I have been urging. I wonder if one might not get more attention as a top of the class type at Kelley than "one of the crowd" at Ross. And I wonder if the attention, from profs, alumni, and career services might not result in equal placement.

lepium · Answer

I have no first-hand knowledge on your question. However, I'd say that compensation is probably equal for all applicants, while I'd also say that signing bonuses may be different. Signing bonuses are about making sure you accept their offer and they may consider that you are likely to have more offers from one school than the other one.

Michigan vs. Indiana

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