Tepper v Kenan-Flagler

I'm glad to see you're being realistic. I think a lot of folks get their heads in the cloud when they see that MBB recruits on campus - the reality is low single digits end up there at schools outside of the top 10, whereas at school like Booth McKinsey will take 40+. https://poetsandquants.com/2013/11/26/mckinsey-ups-mba-hiring-at-chicago-booth/

Both schools are going to offer similar career opportunities. The next question is cultural fit: Tepper is kind of like Sloan in that it's a techish program and a lot of your classmates are probably coming from an engineering background. Don't know how to classify UNC, but it definitely wouldn't be "tech"

Next is post-graduation location. Both are probably stronger in their respective regions, so you'll probably do best in consulting offices close to the school. Again, some people think they can go to a top 20 B-school and recruit for Bain in San Francisco, when in reality, that's one of the toughest spots to land because everyone wants to be there. If you go to UNC for instance, be stoked if you can land a spot at McKinsey in Charlotte, because that probably won't be easier either.

Best of luck, and congrats! You don't have to spend your holidays writing essays!

I'd say these schools are definitely peers. Given that you loved both, I'd also suggest thinking about whether you're more interested in living in the South or the North East during and after business school.

I'm curious about why you went from schools in the top 10 (Tuck/Dartmouth) to schools below 20 (CMU/UNC)

What about schools in the 10-20 range? If you're looking at consulting, I would look strongly at Duke and UVA if I were you. I'd also look at UCLA and Ross, although they have slightly less placement in MC.

Did either Tuck or Kellogg interview you? If so, that's a good sign that you might be more competitive at Duke/UVA.

Unfortunately, Tuck and Kellogg both have open interview, so it's tough to tell.

Thanks all for the input. Just to elaborate on my profile, I did apply to Duke, dinged without interview. Tuck and Kellogg I did interview with, as it is as Cobra mentions open. As far as UVA, I am a military applicant, and they get a TON, so with a 2.8 UGPA, I was prioritizing my time there, as the military background is much less unique.

I have considered second round applications to Booth and/or Sloan with a GMAT retake (I am practice testing 760/770 consistently) to make myself more appealing to top-10s with my low undergrad gpa.

Dave: I am curious, which rankings do you follow? UNC and CMU are top 20 on US News (19 and 20) and on the businessweek rankings, CMU is as high as 11th. Also, Duke and Ross are more of a top 10 institution as far as I know.

I am mostly looking at the cluster list, which I think does a good job of differentiating between Elite programs and trans-elite programs. I think the biggest difference is in placement - UNC and CMU are both fairly regional programs, while UVA and Duke can place you anymore in the country, ableit leaning towards the south.

If I were you, I'd go to Emory... which is comparable to UNC and CMU... but that's because I want to end up in Atlanta.

Yeah, same cluster as Emory... UNC is very successful in Atlanta as well - especially with Deloitte to my understanding. Rankings are nearly identical too... maybe another option for you as well. I loved it there during the visit.

If you're gonna do it, do it right. This blog post came out and is very relevant to your situation: https://essaysnark.com/2013/12/its-that-time-of-year/

Also - worst case scenario you end up in Chapel Hill partying with UNC Sorority girls. Just sayin'.

Big essaysnark fan but hadn't read that one yet. Great point. Best to focus on the next step possibly.

This is not a debate. UNC isn't in the same stratosphere as Tepper. Go to Pittsburg and be glad you made the right call.