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Which B-school to attend

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offeygurl
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Joined: 20 May 2018
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Owen ($Full Ride$) vs Darden Updated on: 25 May 2018, 16:05
Originally posted by offeygurl on 20 May 2018, 17:17.
Last edited by stonecold on 25 May 2018, 16:05, edited 1 time in total.
EDIT :- Added the Poll. All the best :)
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I have a very difficult decision to make and need help! Owen is offering me a full ride but I also got into Darden. Rankings are significant but so is a free MBA.

I'm 30 years old and work as a product manager at a life science company. I've worked as an analyst at a prestigious hedge fund, consulted in the pharma industry and currently work as a product manager at a life science company.

I ultimately want to go into VC or private equity focusing on healthcare/biotech/pharma. Which school would you pick?
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teleste
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Schools: Owen '16 (M)
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Owen ($Full Ride$) vs Darden 20 May 2018, 18:43
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offeygurl
I ultimately want to go into VC or private equity focusing on healthcare/biotech/pharma. Which school would you pick?
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I don't know that either Darden or Owen will be a great launch pad into VC or PE careers.

Owen definitely has a solid Healthcare track though...

Do you have particular firms in mind you'd love to work for? Have you checked if those firms visit either UVA or Vandy for on-campus recruiting? Is there a particular geography you'd ultimately like to end up in?

Given your stated background, I think you will do just fine recruiting at Owen, and be competitive for all the same roles you would otherwise recruit for at Darden. With that in mind, I'd follow the money to Nashville. I don't think Darden's prestige (be it measurably better than Owen's) is worth $120k+ out of your pocket. I definitely wear my bias on my sleeve though. Anchor Down!

Good luck with the decision.
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MBAHanover2018
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Owen ($Full Ride$) vs Darden 21 May 2018, 07:51
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In my opinion, you should go to Darden, the brand and alumni network are super important
and congrats !
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Shredder
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Owen ($Full Ride$) vs Darden 22 May 2018, 12:54
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100% scholarship at Owen makes it a competitive option.
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BeenThere
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Owen ($Full Ride$) vs Darden 22 May 2018, 16:03
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offeygurl
I have a very difficult decision to make and need help! Owen is offering me a full ride but I also got into Darden. Rankings are significant but so is a free MBA.

I'm 30 years old and work as a product manager at a life science company. I've worked as an analyst at a prestigious hedge fund, consulted in the pharma industry and currently work as a product manager at a life science company.

I ultimately want to go into VC or private equity focusing on healthcare/biotech/pharma. Which school would you pick?
Show more

Ultimately, your degree will be what you make of it, and a full ride is a compelling factor. Looking towards the statistics:

- Owen's 2017 full time employment report lists out 25% of the class headed to financial services, 10% to investment banking, negligible to Other Financial Services. Similarly, 24% of Darden goes to financial services, 15% to investment banking, 4% to Other Financial Services. Neither lists out PE or VC separately, which likely indicates a relatively limited amount of students going directly to those industries.
- Healthcare is only 4% of Darden, while representing 10% at Owen.

Accessing PE and VC directly post-school is hard, regardless of school. Your background supports a break-through if you construct your story correctly. Investment banking can offer a way to build your skills to break into PE. For VC, pursuing high-growth or high-industry specialization helps with breaking in. Mapping out concretely how you want to break in will aid your decision. Look towards these statistics, talk to the schools to see what they say, and try to find relevant alumni to support your thesis.

Hope this helps in your consideration!
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jessepinkman
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Owen ($Full Ride$) vs Darden 25 May 2018, 08:22
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darden. you will need to get into a top tier consulting/banking/tech job to try and do VC/PE down the road and darden gives you a much better chance
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BlakSnq
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Owen ($Full Ride$) vs Darden 31 May 2018, 05:35
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If you want to go into VC or private equity focusing on healthcare/biotech/pharma then Owen is a great school for your career. I agree that Darden is placed above in rankings but should ranking be the only criteria for deciding schools? If your goal had been consulting I would have said otherwise. For healthcare Owen is always a great school and that too with 100% scholarship.