Negotiating with school; Pay two deposits?

I will say McCombs is a better choice. But that's my opinion. Tagging experts to know about their insights.
ARINGO Admissionado we could use some help here.

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I have a feeling that being undecided all the way through summer will mess with your commitment and success. You’ll be sitting on two chairs at the same time trying to be involved with two communities.

Also, I’m not certain that they will have the funding still available all the way in the summer. That would be not doing a good job of managing their financing and attracting the best talent. Moreover, the fiscal year at each of the programs ends on June 30 so even if there were any financial aid left over, it will likely go poof on July 1. But personally I sort of doubt they would have things to offer unless somebody in a similar position to yours bails out and goes elsewhere. But everything happens.

No, if you are okay riding to bicycles and sitting on two chairs and dating multiple people at the same time, you are a stronger individual than I am and I think it’s totally cool to pay two deposits. It’s not that much and technically since you have a full ride to Jones, you would get that refunded back to you.…. I think. I think I got a refund of my deposit. I can’t quite remember anymore.

Anyway, in terms of choosing between Jones and McCombs at half price, I can go either way. If you are frugal, go to Jones. If you’re looking to go into tech, I would plan to go to McCombs. You can try to retake the GMAT period it’s worth a shot but I wouldn’t take more than two months to do it. I would just figure out a way to prevent the situation when you get a great score but there’s no money left

Posted from my mobile device

That makes sense, and I thought the same thing when admissions said that. Little background on me: I would like to get into either Product/Program Management/Marketing in Tech or Consulting post-MBA. My pre-MBA career has been in supply chain (currently a manager), so this would be a strong pivot. I feel like McCombs has the edge for recruiting into these functions (especially with my pivot), but again, tough to pass on a full ride.

If you have a strong brand on your résumé, meaning your current or former job, going to McCombs will not be as impactful for off-campus recruiting. However, if you’ve worked for small and medium size companies you will need some validation and McCombs would do a better job of that and would have stronger on campus recruiting. I don’t know if it’s worth paying $80,000 for but it’s definitely worth something 😇

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Totally get that. I don't have any STRONG brands on my resume (but they are large companies), but trying to land one through the MBA. Also, it would be closer to 55k after scholarship for McCombs...but still not chump change.

yashikaaggarwal and @bastudentnow:

Responding your decision, there's no doubt that McCombs is the stronger program. Even though both are in Texas, Rice (Jones) feels much more regional than Texas (McCombs).

If you are really keen on tech/consulting (MBB), you must go for McCombs. It definitely has the edge in recruiting. It also doesn't hurt to have multiple "brands" on your resume. It creates a narrative - fairly or not - of a high-quality candidate.

McCombs is definitely the better option especially if its gonna probably cost you around 55k after the scholarship. Also if you are too worried as Bb pointed out pay the deposit anyways at both of them and get your GRE/GMAT retest done asap and decide from there on out.(The worst you would do is basically lose the deposit at 1 of the 2 schools).

Hello mbastudentnow,

Having read all the responses and considering your goals, McCombs is definitely a better option and one you should consider. Being on both sides may not help you orient yourself prior to the start of the program. However, if you can absolutely not decide, you may pay the deposit at both schools. Good luck!

Thanks.