MIT vs Tepper w/$70K?

Question

Just got an admit from Tepper + $70K. Also have an admit from MIT with no $.

Post MBA goal is management consulting. Want to end up back on the west coast (LA, SF, Seattle).

I know that consulting recruiting is stronger at MIT and that my chances of finding a job on the west coast are (probably?) better, but the lower cost of living in Pittsburgh (20K for program duration) and the $70K scholarship are hard to walk away from.

What would you do?

ebonn101 · Answer

This is a big no brainer. You've gotta go to MIT, especially with such a focused goal like MC. The difference in recruitment opportunity you will have at Sloan as opposed to Tepper simply cannot be exaggerated. The $$$ is a lot to turn down but if MC is really what you wanna do, it's the best decision to make.

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cheetarah1980 · Answer

I agree with ebonn. I have a friend who turned down a full ride to Darden to attend MIT at full cost. The difference between MIT and Tepper makes it work the 100K+ investment.

jnelson5446 · Answer

ebonn,

I'm not convinced that better recruitment opportunities justify 90K more debt.

I'm targeting MBB, but if I don't make that cut and end up at a Deloitte-like firm, then it would have been smarter for me to save 90K and go to Tepper, where I could get hired at Deloitte just as easily as MIT.

Or is my thinking screwy?

ebonn101 · Answer

It depends on what type of MC you are talking about, really. Yes, you might be able to break into Deloitte from Tepper, but I doubt they will be recruiting Strategy or Operations consultants there. More than likely you'll end up in Human Capital, IT consulting, or something less prestigious and likewise lower paying.

If your target is MBB, forget about Tepper. Unless you have a serious network connection, you're not getting MBB at Tepper, at least not compared to what you would at Sloan. It really isn't close. Sloan is a prime target for those top firms. Tepper simply isn't.

Second and third tier firms are definitely an option at Tepper, and 90k in debt is definitely a lot to swallow. Especially if youre already swimming in undergrad debt or other kinds.

But I would venture to guess that the average management consultant graduating from Sloan probably makes (with bonuses and benefits) a least $20k more than his/her peer from Tepper in their first year alone. Maybe even more. You could potentially pay back your 90k in loans within 3-4 years if you live on a budget and make a conscious effort to pay down the principal as soon as you graduate. And then you're left with zero debt and a career's worth of higher earning potential.

There are a lot of industries where the place where you got your degree from is irrelevant or matters very little. MC, unfortunately, is not one of those industries. Name brand matters, a LOT.

Go to Sloan.

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tctc33 · Answer

I'm probably more in favor of taking scholarships to lower-ranked schools than most people on this board, but in this case I think you should go with Sloan. The difference in opportunities between the two is just too big, especially if you are set on management consulting.

At MIT, MBB are the three largest recruiters, with Deloitte more of an afterthought. The only info Tepper even gives you is a list of "Recruiting Partners" with no info on how many students they actually hire. BCG isn't even on the list, and I can't imagine McKinsey or Bain hiring more than 1 or 2 students (FYI, McKinsey has a Pittsburgh office, so I'm guessing it would be to that location - not sure about Bain).

Yes, you might end up at Deloitte from either school, but that's probably an amazing outcome from Tepper and only a pretty good one from MIT. That's just part of the whole risk/reward thing...

jnelson5446 · Answer

tctc33, ebonn,
Thanks for the thoughtful responses.

I do see that McKinsey hired 4 people from Tepper last year, but BCG and Bain took no one. Didn't occur to me the McKinsey hires probably went to the Pitt office.

While getting an offer from a west coast MBB office from MIT might be hard, it's probably impossible from Tepper is what I'm hearing.

ebonn101 · Answer

Don't discount the (high) likelihood that those 4 people hired from Tepper by McKinsey were either a) former McKinsey analysts, b) people with extensive pre-MBA experience that would warrant an upward career move to a top MC firm (and with rockstar GPA/GMAT to boot), or c) strongly connected by a personal network to McKinsey (which I'm assuming you don't have.

jnelson5446 · Answer

Good point. Although wouldn't a, b, or c also be true about the people who were hired by McKinsey through MIT? Especially point b, which is how they got admitted to MIT anyway.

Or does the MIT brand/filter get people first round interviews who normally wouldn't get them?

abhi47 · Answer

You should go to MIT.

swbluedevil · Answer

Agreed- MIT.

kingfalcon · Answer

MIT Sloan hands down.

ebonn101 · Answer

The answer to your question is easy. Yes. The MIT brand filter gets people interviews at MBB; these are people who, if they attended Tepper, wouldn't get the interview. Why? Because MBB simply don't recruit people from that school.

It's said in many places: the MBA program you attend will get you into the interview. Top recruiters will give you the time of day and let you sell yourself if you're attending a premier MBA. They use the MBA program as a sort of filter - they can safely assume they're getting the cream of the crop (or close to it) if they only choose to recruit at the ultra-elite or elite schools.

What you do after MIT gets you into the interview is up on you. But at least you'll be in the room with a chance to hit a home run and land that great job with BCG, Bain, McK, or whereever. At Tepper, I doubt you'll ever even SEE one of those recruiters, let alone get an interview with them.

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Agustin · Answer

It will be a new :-D

https://www.cx-7.info/g.gif

tctc33 · Answer

Read this paper if you have access to it - if not, most of it is available around the internet. It will give you some insight into IB/MC recruiting and how education credentials play into that

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 241000065X

joshmba2011 · Answer

You may be able to bargain with MIT. Tell them your situation and that you really want to go to MIT, but it's hard to turn down the scholarship from Tepper (basically what you said in the first post). I've heard of people getting some money this way. The worst thing they can do is say no.

Ghost2 · Answer

This is a little late, and I'm a proud Tepper alum, but you should go with MIT. That 10-15 spot difference in MBA rankings can make a suprisingly huge (and possibly unfair) difference in job opportunities, especially when it comes to MBB.

I know someone in this year's class and they actually said that 7 students got McKinsey offers this past year, so any claim that you'll never see one of their recruiters at Tepper is patently false. They obviously recruit on campus there. However, that still pales in comparison to the offers McKinsey gives out at Sloan. Bain may recruit one kid a year at Tepper, that's it, and BCG doesn't go there at all. The only kid who got an offer there from my year got it through connections.

The average starting consulting salary at Tepper is 115k vs 125k at Sloan. Not a huge difference, but noticeable nonetheless.

Plus, good luck getting a west coast location in consulting from tepper. The kids I know who got McKinsey offers are in Detroit and Pittsburgh, not exactly prime desinations.

It's not like going to Tepper for consulting with 70k in scholarships is a bad thing. The 115k starting salary and 25% consulting placements speak for themselves. You could take the money, go to Tepper, and easily get a consulting gig. But because you want to go the MBB route and work out west, Sloan's your best bet.

jhubaseball08 · Answer

I would tend to agree with what others are saying.

There are a LOT of industries/specializations/foci in which the difference between MIT and Tepper is so negligible that you would be far better off taking the money, but for your particular goal, I really think Sloan would be the smart choice.

And that's from someone who's a HUGE Tepper fan, btw.

vixer · Answer

I'll weigh in as a current student at Tepper (albeit one that doesn't care about consulting). This year has been pretty decent for consultants at Tepper, and I think that you'll probably see positive signs for consulting at any school compared to the past few years. Those saying that MBB consulting firms don't come to Tepper are clueless.

The McKinsey interns this Summer are in several locations, including NYC and Chicago. I think we have 2 in the Pittsburgh office. None of them previously worked for McK and I don't think any of the interns I've talked to had prior consulting experience.

Outside of McKinsey, the other consultants I know are mostly going to ATK, PwC, and Deloitte. They are primarily going to NYC and Chicago. Additionally, I am pretty sure that many/most of our interning consultant are not ops/IT. If you are interested in west coast I know that Tepper has a strong showing in the Bay Area (thanks in large part to Tepper/CMU's brand in the tech community) and we have had consultants there in the past. I can't speak to any other west coast locations though - in all honesty it would probably be easier to leverage non-Bay locations coming from MIT.

I am not going to recommend you go to one school or the other. I wanted to correct some of the false statements made in this post. I would strongly recommend contacting current students at MIT and at Tepper to get a better idea of what you're in store for. I would not trust a $70k decision to anonymous strangers on a message board.

reapplicant · Answer

MIT. Does LGO program have joint MBA too?

1. You seem to want to end up in west coast offices and not Philadelphia or Boston offices. Usually, WC offices(SF) are tough to get into. MIT will help you. 
2. Interview slots might be more for MIT. For MC, they are looking for certain polish. It does not matter whether you are from MIT or Tepper. 
3. Quality of student body might be better at MIT, as a result, you will have smarter alumni network.
4. Also, you may not want to choose a school based on increased probability of getting into consulting. Did you research about opportunities that exisit in an industry of your choice? If you realize midway that you dont want to do consulting, what other opportunities exist for you at each of these schools is an important thing to consider.

Talking to current students who are not designated ambassadors of school will help you. You are in a great position. Enjoy.

MIT vs Tepper w/$70K?

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