Oxford Said($) vs UVA Darden ($$)

Question

I am facing a dilemma here which school to chose. I haven‘t seen a previous discussion about Darden MBA vs Oxford MBA before. Here is my own assessment:

Oxford:
Pros:
-Oxford name and integrated to Oxford collage system
-Generalist MBA with a focus on having a globally broad view on things
-Proximity to London
-One year program, roughly USD 80K cheaper overall (will pay 80% of the tuition)
-EU citizen, so landing a job in EU would be easier from Oxford

Cons:
-Young program and low ranking(vs LBS and INSEAD)
-1 Year: no internships, limited transition opportunity
-Limited Alumni network, to be honest with you I can‘t really assess the real value of its alumni network
-Weak on campus recruiting from Bulge Bracket or MBB

Darden:
Pros:
-Top 15 US school
-Strong alumni network (2 CEOs in Fortune 500)
-Some MBB and Bulge Bracket recruit from here
-Case method and top class faculty
-Small class size and located in a small city

Cons:
-Employment risk in US Market
-Not enough a super elite name to open doors 
-Travelling New York requires a flight 
-Close knit community and located in the south
-Hefty tuition USD 140K (I will pay 60% of the tuition)

I have one year of consulting and three years of corporate and investment banking client coverage (analyst than associate) experience
Post career goal: Associate at a Bulge Bracket IB in NY or London or MBB(Corporate Finance Advisory) in NY or London

I am looking forward to hearing your view on this!

Posted from my mobile device

Maupassant9 · Answer

This is like comparing oranges with apples. An objective comparison is just not possible. Darden is an elite school and so is Oxford. If someone is unable to open doors after passing from these schools then that person lacks the skills and competence to succeed in life.

gikdGMAT · Answer

Dear Maupassant9

I am sorry but your response is neither productive nor helped me anyway to proceed with my analysis. What you just did is indirectly undermining my competence to succeed in life. If it makes you feel better at least I made one person have a higher self-esteem in comparison.

It is not comparing apples and oranges but rather comparing both schools' success in landing a job in IB and MC in NY(for Darden) and London(for Oxford). The reason why I asked this is that I received some mixed feedback about UVA with regard to their career placement success. For Oxford, a lot of discussions on forums indicate that it is only the Oxford name that resonates it as an elite program but their network and the program management is not yet fully established to give the required boost to land a bulge bracket job.

If anyone has more insights I am happy to hear!

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits!

Darden places very well in the IB Space (still one of the few schools that does). I think it is meaningfully more mature and established than the Oxford new program that still has growing pains and frankly suffers from a credibility challenge with not as many strong applicants or reviews: https://gmatclub.com/reviews/business_school/oxford-25

I would strongly pick Darden, taking into consideration it is a 2-year program that would give you some footing and get a shot at IB/Finance in the US, which would be hard to break into for a career switcher. Granted, IB is a pretty tricky space to get into. It is an elite track and you are betting on some level of uncertainty esp without prior work experience can be tricky. However, the best bet/value of the MBA will have with on-campus recruiting, which Darden will do better than Said any day of the week.

While Darden is not a household name, it has been climbing in rankings and is #11 this year. That comes with certain benefits and value in terms of classes, professors, classmates, recruiting, etc. I would not pass it by unless you have an issue with 2 years or case method.

Congrats!

Apply2020 · Answer

Your an EU citizen so it makes more sense to go to Oxford as you'll have no work visa issues.

Oxford Said($) vs UVA Darden ($$)

Which MBA would you choose

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