AKDC13 wrote:
I am fortunate to have several options but I am having a hard time weighing the career potential versus the scholarship money. I have visited all of the schools and have met with current students.
Following my MBA I am targeting a general management leadership development program for a company in Auto/transportation (ex) Ford, Telsa, GM) or tech (ex. IBM, Microsoft). Within 5-10 years of my MBA my goal is to transition into a senior leadership position within local government in a major US city. While this will limit my long-term earning potential I am very passionate about working in the public sector. However this makes me sensitive to my level of debt coming out of my MBA. I have personal saving that will at least cover all of my living expenses for the two years and maybe some of the tuition but will likely need to take out loans for most of the tuition cost.
At Carnegie Mellon I would be participating in a dual public policy program which fits perfectly with my career goals and the tuition would actually be less than just doing the MBA. I also loved how integrated Tepper is to the rest of CMU but I am concerned about taking on $100k+ in loans when I intended to enter the public sector within the next 5-10 years.
I am also waiting to hear from Texas - McCombs this week.
Carnegie Mellon - Tepper - No money
Notre Dame - Mendoza - 50% scholarship
Rice - Jones - 25% scholarship
Vanderbilt - Owen - 20% scholarhsip
Arizona State - W.P. Carey - 100% scholarship
That is a very interesting place to be in. As someone who has dabbled in the non profit sector for half a decade, I understand the struggle of working in the public sector or any other sector that involves more service and less money. That said, I still think CMU might be the best option here assuming you have the risk appetite for it. The policy school will give you a strong exposure and CMU by itself is a very strong university and a very well-regarded everywhere (as opposed to let's say ASU). Notre Dame and Rice are good options too but I think Vanderbilt is probably better than them in terms of repute in the public sector. I am not too sure but i have heard good things about the law school in Vandy.
Here's hoping that McCombs comes through. I LOVED McCombs and it was a very hard decision to turn down their offer. I still have "what it could have been" moments with that call :/