mittal
NYU (no $) v/s Ross (no $) v/s Tepper (50%) v/s USC (100% $). Yet to hear from some schools, but these may well be my options.
Can anyone advise me on making a choice?
Here is how I would look at it:
Will this university provide me the opportunity to my target career i.e. can I reach my short term goal(s) and have a foundation for my long term goal? If you want to go to MBB – go the careers website and search for the university. If you can’t find a dedicated site, I would hesitate (personally) to go to school b/c it’s only going to get harder than what it is. On campus recruiting is important and I am sure that other MBB consultants and any consultant for that matter will attest to it.
Also scavenge LinkedIn. Do your due diligence to see if the numbers on the career sight and the representation align.
Does my learning style agree with the style at the school?Not sure about the others but I am obsessed with MAP and the hand’s on learning style. It is the way I love to learn, have learned in the past and hope I can go to a school where I can continue to learn in that way.
If you are all qualitative and hate the quantitative side, I can almost certainly say you will probably hate three out of four schools listed above.
Will I feel confident saying that I went to School X when I am presenting my company at an IPO or a major ceremony?This is more of a gut check and how you feel about the school. Imagine yourself about to enter the ranks of Partner or at the IPO speech for your venture – would you feel the pride in saying that you went to school x? It’s fairly insignificant honestly but this is more for personal satisfaction
What is the brand perception of the program?I hate this part but you need to be real in the brand perception at least early on in your career. Accommodate everything – the university name, the name of the program, and the specialty. Ask people or their opinion but use your judgment about what the brand typically resonates with. Often this is a gut check, do I like what I hear, is this is what I want to hear etc.
I will be 100% honest and say that Stern and Ross are always given a high level of respect and this is after speaking with senior management at major companies. Everytime I speak with someone from Ross, I start to wonder what does Ross do to create such a deep sense of loyalty. Alumni rave about the program, the community, the classes, and the “experience”. This is consistent from intern to CEO. Walk around Trader Joes, Whole foods, etc. and it's not uncommon to hear "Go Blue" randomly.
Visit the school.Honestly, you will never know until you visit. Look for those little things that you care about e.g. “yeah” v/s “yes”, “Prof. First Name” v/s “Prof. Last Name”, “jeans and tee” v/s “plaid, boats and collar shirt”. These are subtle but you need to be honest and think about the environment you enjoy. This is your decision after all and you want the ability to say why you finally came here over every other school. You are on the verge of making an appx. $150,000 bet on yourself, you might want to make sure that you are going to make a good one.
Closing thoughts: USC & Tepper: Both fine schools and will probably give you a ton of options. But you have Stern and Ross that are in an entirely different league.
A note about Stern – I did the whole “commuter in a city” life when I studied abroad and honestly it isn’t what some might think. You have the collaboration and the community aspect and typically a tight community. Think about it, you have folks from all over the world coming in and they are probably going to try and want to build their own community as well. If you are going to be constantly distracted by the city, think about why you want an MBA in the first place? to move to a new city or to provide you with the network, skills, and experiences to shape the future of the business world. I know Stern gets a bashing for being a commuter school etc. but I have worked with a ton of Sternies and they are smart and have loved the MBA experience.
Finally, Use all comments with a grain of salt – this is your decision.
If you are seeking data to make the case for one school over another that is typically a bad sign and you ought to go with your gut on where you fit both now and where you want in the future.
Hope this helps.
WOW that was long. ☺
21 Feb 2014, 20:12
