Ross x Berkeley

Question

Hi guys,

I'm have a good problem to solve. I have been admitted to Ross (no $$) and Berkeley (yes $$). I'm international, looking to change my career from industry to management consulting. I'm also considering investment banking.

Can you guys give me some advice here?

EBM · Answer

I don't know any specifics on Ross's career placement stats, but I know they produce a pretty good number of consultants on an annual basis. Haas doesn't produce as many, but that's partly because of Haas's relatively small class size (~240) along with the fact that Haas tends to get a lot of people who want to go into tech or work in Silicon Valley.

I've talked to several second-year Haas students going into consulting and they said all the big firms (M/B/B, Deloitte, etc.) recruit there, so consulting is definitely available if you want to pursue it. And the experiential learning opportunities like Haas@Work and SSS are good prep for consulting, though I'm sure Ross has similar programs as well.

Where do you want to work after graduation? If the answer is the Midwest, Ross is probably your choice. If it's west coast or Asia, Haas is probably a better option.

Then there's the big question as to whether you prefer 9 months of spring/summer, or 9 months of winter....

Av · Answer

*Moved the topic to the appropriate sub-forum.*

If you're interested in MC and IB, you'll have access to those jobs at any of the top schools. However, Ross places more students in both of those fields.

School Guides 
   Michigan (Ross) School Guide  
  UC Berkeley (Haas) School Guide

Comparison Threads 
   Kellogg vs. Ross for IB (Some comments on IB at Ross)  
  Ross vs. Haas  
  UCLA vs. Haas vs. Ross for Investment Management

hamsandwich · Answer

I would say your chances are about equal, brand names are about equal, mainly the geographical factor is the biggest difference. Haas for west coast/int'l and Ross for midwest/east coast. If that's not a big factor, I'd say take the money and go to Haas.

I went to Cal for undergrad and other than the rampant bums in Berkeley, it's an awesome place to be at with lots of bars and restaurants in a pretty concentrated area. Football will unfortunately be in SF in 2011, but back in Berkeley in 2012, right across the street from Haas at a renovated Memorial Stadium. Doesn't compare to the Big House in Michigan but still a great experience and part of the student life there.

2011hereIgo · Answer

Santiago, this is a very tough situation. I was accepted at both Ross and Tuck. I decided to accept the offer from the second school after a tough decision process.

If you had NOT received any kind of $$$, I’d say you should clearly go to Hass if you wanted to go after tech related opportunities. Since you want banking or consulting (like I do), the decision would be a bit harder than that (assuming no $$$ involved). You would have to visit both Campuses (if you haven’t done it) and talk to a lot of folks who got consulting or IB gigs out of both programs.

However, you got some money!!!! This makes a no-brainer decision to me. Hass and Ross are, brand and ranking wise, ALMOST peer schools.

As Steve Miller says TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN!!!!!

Feel free to PM me to discuss your decision.

2011

Ross x Berkeley

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