Hi Everyone!
I was fortunate enough to get admitted to two great programs, and I am having a hard time deciding between these two.

About me: I am an International(Indian) and come from a Software background and looking to use the MBA to pivot into Product Management or Consulting. Tech is my first choice, but I would like to keep Consulting open as well.

Foster is great with Tech and has many companies in Seattle. I have already formed a good relationship with my incoming cohort, and it seems to be a good place to be. But if I were to get into consulting from Foster, it may be a challenge as Foster does not place many into consulting. Whereas with Tepper both Tech and Consulting seem plausible. For Tech, I would like to stay in the west, but for consulting, I would like to stay in the east. Does Tepper have a reach over these two?
Foster gave me close to a 50% scholarship, whereas Tepper barely gave me any. If I decide to go to Tepper, I may need to pay an extra $100k. I was wondering if Tepper is worth the extra bucks.

Also, down the line how much does a Tepper brand add value vs that of Foster.

Need some advice here.

Consider the following probabilities.
1. You are doing MBA and get offers from Tech as well as Consulting firms? which would you choose and why?
2. If in long run the short term ROI vanishes what would you do?
3. if 100k seems like a burden then would that cover up if the placements done by tepper get you those bucks back?


if you answer these questions ultimately you will have a clear consensus of what needs to be done. I may be wrong but IT INDIAN people should have strict and strong priorities where to be next. keeping options is not bad but dont think of those while you make your decision.

Thanks

It depends on your long term plans. If your plans are to work for sometime and return to India, consider schools which put a less financial burden on you as there is no dearth of IT companies in India and you could easily return and continue working here. If your plan is to stay in US and also have more opportunities, consider the school which offers more opportunities and diverse cultures rather than scholarships.

Please leave a kudos if you feel my answer helps you even a little. Thanks

I agree with the previous answers. Plus being at Foster, I have seen the consulting offers grow in the last 2 years first-hand. It ultimately depends on your evaluation of the financial risk and opportunity cost involved in spending the extra 100k with the forecast of market conditions in the coming years, as well as how you have strategized/prioritized your post-MBA plans (plan A, B, best-case, worst-case, etc.).
For more context, I was in a similar situation 2 years back and chose Foster over other higher-ranked schools because of the projected ROI, small classroom, and location (my plan A was PM, plan B consulting), and so far I have not been disappointed in any of those factors.
That said, both the schools are great and congratulations on achieving their offers. All the best!
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Thank you learner311 for your feedback!

I would agree, I feel Foster would be a good choice taking into consideration a significant scholarship you are offered. It also keeps your relationships and plans intact for moving to Seattle for the next 2 years (into the rain! )

I would not hesitate per se unless you were very specific in your career goals and were very determined. Otherwise, you can use $100K to do lots of things in terms of recruiting trips, opportunities, etc, though most likely you won't need to tap into that kind of money.
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Thanks for your inputs ajinkyajadhav, mobab, learner311, bb.
Fortunately, I negotiated a scholarship with Tepper. I used the negotiation template shared here in GMATClub, and that turned out to be very useful. Most probably I will be heading to Tepper as I feel it has a better brand name in my country(India) and opens up opportunities across the country(US).

Congrats! Thanks for reporting back on the template 👍

With a matching scholarship, You can’t go wrong. But we will miss you in Seattle 😇

Tepper’s top placement industry is consulting by the way, followed by Tech. Foster is heavily focused on tech since you obviously have every possible tech company in Seattle … many of them have satellite offices here and Google has a very strong presence poaching Microsoft and Amazon people. Facebook has a sizable presence, poaching people from Google which reproached from Amazon and Microsoft 😂

However, Tepper has a much better brand internationally and it’s a lot stronger when you’re wearing that T-shirt to carrying that bag with that logo. It may create some opportunities you never know.

Congratulations on making your choice 👍👍👍

Posted from my mobile device
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bb, I might probably end up in Seattle post-graduation I am excited to learn what life has in it for me. At the moment, I am going to celebrate my admits