Tepper vs McDonough

Question

Hi all,

Thank you for reading my post. I'm lucky enough to receive offers from Tepper and McDonough, both with scholarships. As deposit deadlines are approaching, I would really appreciate if you can share your perspective and help me make a decision.

Short-term goal: Tech or IB
Long-term goal: VC or Tech Entrepreneurship
Location: NYC, DMV, Texas

I like the culture in both schools so it's not a big deal for me.

Carnegie Mellon - Tepper  (Cost of attendance: $190k-$80k)

+ Tech focus
+ Higher ranking
+ Better entrepreneurship center 
+ I like the curriculum better
- $50k more for student loan
- Location
- Tartans < Hoyas
 
 Georgetown - McDonough  (Cost of attendance: $190k-$100k)

+ Location
+ Better placement in IB and not so bad in tech
+ Venture fellow
+ Lower living cost (will live at my uncle's)
- Lower ranking
- Lower average salary

Note: I will withdraw if I get something from better ranking schools in round 2.

Thanks

bb · Answer

Congratulations on your admits and scholarships!

There is a difference in rankings between the two schools but I see with fairly minor at that level.

For a US person, DC offer some good opportunities and definitely easy access to the East Coast. Also having your uncle live there may prove helpful to have at least some kind of a network locally. With Democrats taking office, likely more government jobs will be opening up in DC and so that tide will be lifting all boats.

However, VC and ID are off-campus recruiting only. I will probably start thinking about what employers you’re considering and who would you like to work for. There are lots of tech companies lining up the Dulles expressway But many offices are government focused and that’s the reason for their office there in the first place....

I’m responding on my phone and right now I’m feeling that extra $50,000 I would more than satisfy my doubts but let me poke around employment reports and see if I can spot any red flags....

Anyone feels otherwise?  Gnpth ?

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FinanceMan · Answer

I prefer Tepper to McDonough. CMU is a well-known tech-oriented university and Tepper follows suit in that they veer much more analytical in their approach to business education.

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schmuck · Answer

Thanks BB and FinanceMan! Really appreciate your views.

I'm an international applicant so it'd be unlikely getting a govt-related job, including govt-focused tech. However, I think Amazon new HQ, which is just across the river, will boost tech recruitment at McDonough. The VC Fellows at Georgetown is quite unique as it will match every Fellow with a VC firm to work part-time during studies (full-time during the summer), which most likely converted into a full-time offer. But, as FinanceMan mentioned, I also like the analytical approach of Tepper. Is Tepper worth $50k more?

Businessconquerer · Answer

If your goal is Tech- CMU is obviously a better option.

But Georgetown is an overall balanced school with superb connections in Venture capital and Private Equity and overall after Cornell is the only school that has a superlative performance on that front. It's basically in ranks of NYU, Cornell and Columbia when it comes to IB.

Alumni prestige wise Georgetown trumps CMU.

Tech placement wise CMU works in the ranks of MIT, Scheller. Brilliant ecosystem of Tech at CMU.

Consulting wise it's a tie between the two a little inclination towards Tepper because of the high number of people above 700 score (kinda matters)

For your long term benefit, I'd say Georgetown but for your ST tech goal I would say CMU.

But I don't know what transferrable skills would a Tech person or a Project/Product manager bring to the PE/VC front.

I do know that you can get in with a little exposure to a startup ecosystem with a lot of VC connections but I think you should keep your goal linear to your long term VC ambition and go with Georgetown. Tech placement may not be the best in the world or even good, but it will place you very well in IB and it will enable you to go on in VC much more easily than tech.

That's my opinion

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schmuck · Answer

Thanks for your feedback Businessconquerer!

My ST goal in tech is more into corp/biz dev side not PM. My WE 3 years in FP&A and a year in IB. Tepper has more electives related to tech, so I'm thinking that I can gain knowledge in tech side.

I tend to agree that IB is a more linear goal to VC and Georgetown has a better placement in IB and even send grads to DMV-based VC.

Businessconquerer · Answer

I don't see a Business Development role aligning well with your Long term VC goal and yes you're right about the placements of MSB in Finance side, like I said, unparalleled.

As a person who manages people with no prior experience in HVAC and QA, I think managing will not require you to have too much knowledge about a particular area. It is about having enough knowledge to have an oversight of the things without getting played by your subordinates. At least that is what I learnt from my Uncles when I was in Undergrad

Also, I could be missing something when I am seeing a misalignment between Business Development and VC, I would like to know your perspective on this though. How do you plan to do the pivot about 10-15 years from now?
(I am asking this for my own knowledge- we all learn new things everyday, right?)

Also, I could be missing something when I am seeing a misalignment between Business Development and VC, I would like to know your perspective on this though. How do you plan to do the pivot about 10-15 years from now? (I am asking this for my own knowledge- we all learn new things everyday, right?)

schmuck · Answer

Thanks again for your feedback! Your uncles had a really good point

As I understand, biz dev is normally strategic partnerships and organic growth strategies. I think experience in biz dev aligns with early stage investing, VC is somewhat more involved in growing its portfolio companies - guiding founders especially those who don't have business background. Pivot routes to VC in 10-15 years: - MBA -> biz dev at big tech -> biz dev at high-growth startup -> VC - MBA -> IB -> corp dev at big tech/high-growth startup -> VC - MBA -> IB -> VC - MBA -> VC

Businessconquerer · Answer

Negotiate a higher scholarship with Georgetown and go there would be my suggestion in such a case, you can get into many options than just One so, it is kind of a better choice.
But if you are looking at Tech Only, Tepper is significantly better in Tech.

gmatexam439 · Answer

Hi Congratulations on getting the admits.

I myself have been stuck between Rice and McDonough. The things that I have understood about McDonough till now are that most of the jobs are fedral related for which international students are not eligible. Most importantly talk to the current students about the companies that recruit international students at both the places. I am saying this because even though, for instance, Deloitte recruits at McDonough it doesn't sponsor the internationals. I also understood that this behavior of companies is not consistent across schools.

At the end of the day both are great schools and you have to get a placement. I would suggest that talking with their respective careers department would be really helpful as, more or less, they don't sugarcoat stuff.

Further, I noticed that Texas is one of your favorable places. In that case neither of the schools would be better than Rice or McCombs. I haven't really dug up on VC or IB related courses at both schools but my suggestion is to make sure that right firms are there to hire internationals. Especially, at DC since most jobs are fedral related.

Good luck!

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schmuck · Answer

Thanks for your insight gmatexam439

May I ask if you are a current McDonough student? Yes, I heard that most jobs in DC will be federal related and international won't be eligible to apply. The international student placements are pretty similar in both school.

Regarding Deloitte doesn't sponsor McDonough students, does that include Deloitte CF in NY office?

Thanks for your suggestion about Rice and McComb. I was looking into them but occupied with other applications in round 2. I will ask them if it is possible for internationals to apply for the next round.

Gnpth · Answer

Thanks,  bb , for the tag.

Congrats,  schmuck , on the, admits to two great schools.

If you are looking for opportunities at Tech - Tepper is the best place to be. They have many alumni in the tech space, so networking and finding a job should be easier. McDonough also sends around 20% of the class to tech space, so finding tech jobs is also easier, but the network is growing in the tech space.

For IB - McDonough has a lot of banks recruiting for IB roles. There are a lot of connections and Alumni currently in IB space from McDonough. So I would suggest McDonough if your ST goal is IB/VC.

My Suggestions for your ST goals
Tech -> Tepper(McDonough is not far behind)
IB -> McDonough Hands down(unless you can get into other top IB focused schools(Stern, Columbia, Booth, Wharton, etc) in R2/R3).

gmatexam439 · Answer

Hi,

I am also an international applicant like you and have just received admits from 3 schools. I was researching McDonough and Rice because I am interested in these two. Although, unlike you I am inclined towards strategy consulting that's why I offered my apologies earlier as I didn't research VC/IB placements/courses.

One more thing I have understood during my research, if the two schools that you are targetting are almost equal, then you might want to seek more scholarship opportunities from both schools. That can also help you make a better decision because being an international you gotta also think about money.

All the best mate! Cheers to our future

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schmuck · Answer

Congrats for the admits! Have you decided which school?

I'm afraid I can't negotiate more for Tepper as it was given after my appeal. As for McDonough, I will try to negotiate for more scholarship. Really appraciate your insights.

Best of luck for us!

Tepper vs McDonough

Tepper vs McDonough

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