Simon Vs Owen

woody93 please advise.

mradamsmith please advise.

teleste please advice.

Thank you for your reply, bb. Should I be worried that Owen has a STEM concentration and that I'm not interested in the Finance concentration. Shoul I not be worried that I should be working in the same field that I'd studied to be eligible for OPT extension? Could you please elaborate?

stonecold please advise.

Mo2men please advise.

As long as you’re not planning to drive a taxi or flip burgers, and hold a business position you should be OK because MBA stands for master of business administration so as long as you have some administration and some business in your job description you are OK.

However, you are always welcome to be worried

Congrats PerfumeLove for your admit

Welcome to the nice dilemma

First, I advise you not to think of reasons behind less international students in certain school compared to others. It is all about school's policy. You won't go any further with reasons.

Second, consulting, especially strategy, now maybe is out reach for international students as many MBB stopped sponsoring internationals. There are many topic in GC recently popped up about this issue.

Third, I find Owen really better than Simon but the idea of STEM in Simon is tempting as well. It is up to take the risk for Owen and work hard to get opportunities or play safe and join Simon to be shielded under the umbrella of STEM. Maybe I lean those day to take opportunities as safe as possible.

have you spoken with any current students in both schools? Do so.

Owen has STEM designated Finance concentration but I'm not sure I would be interested in Finance and if I should work in the same STEM designated field to have OPT extension.

This is what I'm saying. In other words, you do not want to force yourself on somethings you do not want to do. Meanwhile, you can take your shot in Owen without STEM or going to Simon with fully STEM. It is your call. Neither is wrong choice. But I feel in Owen choice you will work hard for job opportunity.

Good luck

Owen now also has a STEM designation for its Operations & Analytics concentration: https://business.vanderbilt.edu/news/2020/03/05/vanderbilt-mba-operations-data-analytics-concentration-receives-stem-designation/.

It's also fairly common for students to complete multiple concentrations (especially since some classes are shared between concentrations). So you could pair an Operations & Analytics (or Finance) concentration with a Strategy or Marketing concentration.

Or potentially not worry about concentrations at all because I am yet to encounter an employer who would be looking at your diploma with a magnifying glass to see the concentration printed in small FinePrint.

Maybe my experience is unique, but I feel is that you control your narrative through the recruiting process. You send in the resume and the questionnaire and you do the interview. You could do an MBA in animal science or boat building - they would never know.... Nobody has ever asked to see a copy of my diploma, though I’m sure the background checker has called my business school to verify that I have attended and graduated as i claimed...

Concentrations are really for applicants and to provide certain tracks and paths. You can definitely take multiple classes and do multiple concentrations but you also don’t have to. You could take a couple classes you really like and be done with it or if you really like school you can surely take them in your last semester.

Just saying.... let know if I am off.

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Ok I understand where you are coming from. Correct me if I am wrong but the question becomes three-parted:

1. You get into Simon and get STEM OPT and have 3 years as long as you match the requirements that your STEM degree helps you do your job better.

2. You get into Owen and get approved for STEM OPT thanks to the finance concentration but you end up in consulting or other jobs that are not finance related. So you may be curious if your STEM OPT holds true for the job you have.

3. You get into Owen and do not do the finance concentration so you do not fit the STEM OPT criteria.

So in order to help this problem you want to look at potential employers. Neither Owen nor Simon is a target MBB school so you have to fight very hard for those interviews. However, in my limited research, I think Owen would have EY coming to campus that does sponsor internationals. You may have a slightly stronger network for tech too. So let's look at two possibilities:

1. You get into consulting. Your HR will look at your STEM OPT favorably and often tailor your job description to match the OPT reqs and you will have no issues with the STEM extension if you do not get the H1 lottery. Same applies for tech jobs too. And in the worst case (which is not a bad option at all), you will go to another country (Canada or EU for tech or practically anywhere in the world for consulting) and spend a year or two and come back to the US on the L1 visa - a much stronger alternative to H1s.

2. If you get any job other than tech or consulting it becomes tricky. Your employer can decide whatever they want and it may happen that your finance concentration does not match the STEM OPT requirements.

Anyway, so those are the considerations. Having said that, I would not make a school choice purely on whether they have the STEM OPT option. Is is one of the considerations? Absolutely. But a lot more important factor is whether you will get the job you want - and on that measure, I think Owen wins.

Thank you Souvik, for the detailed and insightful reply.