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Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM

Poll: Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM

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dj1797
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Joined: 22 Jul 2020
Posts: 91
Own Kudos [?]: 36 [0]
Given Kudos: 17
Location: India
Schools: Rice Jones '25 (A$) Olin '25 (WL) Madison (A$$) Mays '25 (A$$$$) Mendoza '25 (D) Merage '25 (A$$$$) Carlson (A$$) BU Questrom '25 (D) Kelley '25 (D) Terry '25 (A$$$$) Goizueta '25 (D) UT Dallas (A$$$$) Simon '25 (M$$)
GRE 1: Q163 V153
GPA: 3
WE:Consulting (Consulting)
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Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM [#permalink] New post   17 Dec 2022, 16:27
Hi everybody! Finally down to these 3 schools from R1 and could really use your help to decide.
All opinions are welcome and appreciated.

My Profile:
- 4 years WE prior to MBA; Tech Consulting (Analytics & ERP) at Big 4 (2 years), DevOps Engineer (2 years) in IT, Comp Sci Engineer, International
- Goal: Product Management in Tech (Not FAANG or bust), Consulting (only as a back-up)

Rice:
- T25, prestigious brand name and recognition in Texas. Houston has jobs. Class size - 160 [Part Time MBA students also take part in OCR though]
- Current students do not recommended the school for Tech, good for Consulting/IB in Energy and Oil & Gas
- Tuition alone will cost 100K, trying to negotiate scholarship to see where I land.
- HCOL

Simon:
- Gaining traction lately and climbing up the ranks. Getting their dean from CMU brought lots of tech.
- Current students strongly recommended the program for PM and seem to be able to land good roles in Tech.
- Recruiting is completely virtual since it's a small city, 34% of the class moved to California after MBA
- Provides Product Management specialization, PM Workshop with consulting projects with Amazon, Dell, Google etc
- MBB has started coming from this year only for consulting, Big 4/T2 presence in general.
- Most diverse MBA program, class size - 115
- Tuition alone will cost 50K, no scope for negotiating.
- LCOL

UC Irvine (Merage):
- Overshadowed by California schools such as UCLA, USC etc
- Current students recommend the school for Tech only and seem to be able to find jobs, employment report suggests otherwise though.
- Locational advantage for Tech, class size - 50
- Consulting non-existent
- Full Ride so only have to pay for cost of living
- HCOL
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bb
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Re: Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM [#permalink] New post   17 Dec 2022, 16:44
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Congrats on your admits!!!

I don’t feel paying full ride for Jones would right. Maybe @businessconqeror can chime in.

With these options I would consider Simon or UCI. UCI is really small though with only 50 people. That’s really small. The positive is you don’t have to pay for the tuition. It will cost more to live in Orange County than Rochester.

By the way, Simon used to be a big Finance program… they switched into variety of things recovering from the finance fallout and Johnson.

Tech recruiting last year was pretty easy last year. They were hiring everyone…. And if it is virtual, it is more of off campus on your own and not worth paying for career services that are not adding value.

Ultimately I have a bit of a concern about UCI… I don’t know much about how selective they are and how good their student body is and how their reputation is…. Your option of course could always be to get the full scholarship and recruit and Netwerk on your own. This works quite well if you have a good brand on your résumé, which you do with the big four, so that is awesome to have on your résumé. That will help you get interviews.

FYI. I know you’re not recruiting for consulting, but none of the three schools are on the BCG’s eligible list of schools and so that gives you a sense of their prestige. And once you’re outside of the top, 30, or top 20 it doesn’t matter if your number 21 or 39 so much.

I would probably consider Irvine since you have a good brand on your résumé.

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mira93
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Joined: 30 May 2019
Posts: 126
Own Kudos [?]: 252 [2]
Given Kudos: 1696
Location: Tajikistan
Concentration: Finance, General Management
Schools: Simon '24 (A)
GMAT 1: 610 Q46 V28
GMAT 2: 730 Q49 V40 (Online)
GPA: 3.37
WE:Analyst (Consulting)
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Re: Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM [#permalink] New post   19 Dec 2022, 12:00
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Congratulations on your admits!
I would say that given the choices, Simon seems the best option. A lot of my batchmates from class of 2024 have secured jobs in PM Tech (FAANG, Amazon mainly), however you will need to do your researching/networking on your own. LCOL is true, however it is also very very cold in Rochester. Other than that, life is solid here. If you have any specific questions, let me know. All the best
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bb
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Re: Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM [#permalink] New post   19 Dec 2022, 12:01
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mira93 wrote:
Congratulations on your admits!
I would say that given the choices, Simon seems the best option. A lot of my batchmates from class of 2024 have secured jobs in PM Tech (FAANG, Amazon mainly), however you will need to do your researching/networking on your own. LCOL is true, however it is also very very cold in Rochester. Other than that, life is solid here. If you have any specific questions, let me know. All the best



Thank you so much for chiming in Mira!

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dj1797
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Joined: 22 Jul 2020
Posts: 91
Own Kudos [?]: 36 [0]
Given Kudos: 17
Location: India
Schools: Rice Jones '25 (A$) Olin '25 (WL) Madison (A$$) Mays '25 (A$$$$) Mendoza '25 (D) Merage '25 (A$$$$) Carlson (A$$) BU Questrom '25 (D) Kelley '25 (D) Terry '25 (A$$$$) Goizueta '25 (D) UT Dallas (A$$$$) Simon '25 (M$$)
GRE 1: Q163 V153
GPA: 3
WE:Consulting (Consulting)
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Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM [#permalink] New post   19 Dec 2022, 12:13
mira93 wrote:
Congratulations on your admits!
I would say that given the choices, Simon seems the best option. A lot of my batchmates from class of 2024 have secured jobs in PM Tech (FAANG, Amazon mainly), however you will need to do your researching/networking on your own. LCOL is true, however it is also very very cold in Rochester. Other than that, life is solid here. If you have any specific questions, let me know. All the best


Thanks Mira! I was leaning towards Simon based on my interactions with current students in the past few days. This is just the kind of answer I was looking for to finally make my decision. I think I'll see you at Simon next year! :)

Also, thanks bb for creating this amazing community and making life easy for everyone!
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Rice ($) vs Simon($$) vs UCI Merage ($$$$) for Tech PM [#permalink]
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