MIT Sloan ($$) vs Duke Fuqua ($$$)

Question

Hi! Need help with this difficult decision.

I have been accepted to both Sloan and Fuqua with scholarships. Total cost of attendance difference would be $100k more for Sloan.

Interested in pursuing general management in finance.

Both schools seem to have great recruiting at my target companies. Fuqua has strength in general management and Sloan tends to have interesting smaller company recruiting.

My network already overlaps a little with Fuqua and I loved the culture and the people I have met.
Sloan would be a new network for me and I am more interested in recruiting in the Northeast.

Is the slight name prestige of MIT over Duke worth $100k with similar short-term outcomes? The opportunity cost of what I could do with $100k feels so big.

Thanks for any insights or help.

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits! Awesome Job!
I wonder what Arro44 would say on Fuqua +100K vs. Sloan? Any thougths?

It is a good dilemma and it is funny how you would have probably be happy to attend Fuqua without scholarship if that was your only admit or perhaps Sloan if that was the only admit too. It is only when we have equally interesting choices, do we have a dilemma to deal with. I almost feel it is up to Sloan to convince you so to speak, and I am sure they would be happy to put in the effort too and connect you with a number of general management alums/students. I would use this strategy to see if you can nudge Sloan to reconsider you for some additional funding. While Fuqua is not going to be a big mover for Sloan (Booth would have been), you can still do it under the cover of "I am really struggling with a choice" which takes away some awkwardness. More ideas are here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/negotiating- ... 12949.html and I think $100K is big enough.

At the same time, Regenerate put together some rankings and a trade off matrix here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/financial-ai ... 42190.html and Sloan and Fuqua are actually in the same bracket and by that measure, Fuqua would be a more advantageous choice.

Any time you get a new product, be that a car or a tool, we don't know what actually matters, what's important ,and that is extra that we will never use. In part that's because we never used the product and in part, because we never faced a challenge after/during using the product. Similarly, it is not easy to judge the value of an MBA if you have not done it. Having gone through it, I can say that giving a Tesla or a Porsche 911 to Sloan is probably not a great investment of your money. You could use for a downpayment for your house or invest in the market that seems to have lost its roof. At the same time, you probalby would have gone to Sloan had you not received this scholarship. The loan amount will drown in the long term financial implications of a lifetime.

What I noticed is that it is not about saving but rather spending. No matter how much money you give someone, if they don't cut their spending, they will end up with nothing. Similarly, you can save no matter how much you make. I have noticed that if I have extra money, it just disappears unless i am disciplined to put into savings, college fund, or elsewhere. Living on the East Coast, you will likely have a 1M house, a few cars, kids, possibly in private schools, and kids college - that is easily 2-3 million. If you are disciplined, then sure - you should take the savings but if you are someone like me who thinks they are disciplined and then goes on a shopping spree, then perhaps you don't need a scholarship since it will be gone anyway

I see you have applied a few years ago and now reapplied. If you don't mind me asking - what has changed? What do you feel made your profile stronger?

MBAaustralia · Answer

Love this way of thinking!

bb · Answer

Thank you though it’s a little bit out of the context of what I was alluding to 😊 If you’re going to take that scholarship and use it to buy a Tesla or a Porsche, is that really a good investment?

Had the OP not received a scholarship from Fuqua, this would be a totally awesome investment. At the same time, someone looking for a specific career track with specific goals in mind, may find Sloans offer stronger. Also someone who may want to avoid risk and who wants to maximize their potential, would also likely find MIT’s program more appealing 😎

Posted from my mobile device

Arro44 · Answer

My two cents around finance recruiting:

Don´t just focus on the bschool as you´ll benefit from the general alumni network of a given university when it comes to finance recruiting (at least in Ibanking).
Thus, schools like Columbia/Stern might be stronger than Kellogg/Haas in that regard due to their location and strong alumni networks in finance.

That being said, both Fuqua, as well as Sloan, are part of universities that tend to place quite strongly into financial services and 100k is a hell of a lot of money.
Therefore, I can completely understand why that would be a key decision factor, although I would disagree that the schools are in the same tier (my subjective opinion, but I´d be surprised if we lose many cross-offers without financial support factored in).

If you want to talk about Sloan in general or the finance field at MIT in particular, feel free to reach out!

Other than that, congratulations on getting an admit to two great schools - don´t think you can go wrong with either choice.

bb · Answer

Thank you Arro!!!
I agree that it is a bit surprising that they got grouped in @regenerate’s rankings - something to flush out and consider I guess...

Posted from my mobile device

variantguy · Answer

Agreee with  Arro44  here - I think Sloan is not in the same tier as Fuqua and perhaps belongs in the same tier as Booth, Kellogg, and Haas. I personally know a couple of people who picked Sloan over Fuqua + money and Ross + money.

Coming back to OP's dilemma, based on what has been discussed here, it looks like Fuqua + 100k can help achieve similar outcomes and so should be the way to go.

One additional consideration here for the OP is to also take into account their recruiting Plan B and also perhaps think about which school offers the most flexibility and breadth of resources in case OP goes to school and does a 180 on their initial goals (which happens all the time).

Cheers and good luck!

supriyam · Answer

It depends on what that 100k USD means to you. If it is something that you can easily afford without having to burn a hole in your pocket or take a huge loan, I'd say go with Sloan. If your financial situation isn't that good and the 100k burden would be difficult to manage post MBA then don't and go for Duke with scholarship. Sloan is totally worth it especially for the name but nothing is worth your peace of mind (which you won't have if you have a huge loan on your head).

Nevertheless, the school you go to, only helps you get a foot in the door, after that, it is your skills, relationships, charm, etc that you need to work, to grow.

Nevertheless, the school you go to, only helps you get a foot in the door, after that, it is your skills, relationships, charm, etc that you need to work, to grow.

ANALysis · Answer

sloan

happybschool · Answer

Thank you all for your thoughts and responses. Tough decision and really went back and forth. Did not particularly want to buy MIT a Porche

MIT was able to raise the scholarship a little. Still did not make it equal but was a nice and appreciated gesture. Ended up choosing Sloan. Diving into the process while career outcomes were similar and great, the culture and experience at the two schools were more different than expected. Reasons for choosing Sloan: New network in the northeast with a powerful brand inside and outside of the business community. Impression of quant and innovative skills that come with that brand. City-living vs suburbs. Been there done that on Durham and excited about living in a more vibrant city. bb actually wrote this post for a good friend not on gmatclub. We have similar profiles and I got rejected from MIT after an interview. Both of us went to graduate school before business school. The biggest difference is a couple of years of work experience after graduate school vs applying to business school immediately after. Went to UNC Kenan-Flagler on a full-ride, loved my experience and career outcomes could not have been better (got my dream job that I did not know existed). Probably would have chosen MIT if I had gotten in and it might not have been better for me.

MIT Sloan ($$) vs Duke Fuqua ($$$)

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards