BadgerNeeraj wrote:
Indian male engineer. Background in market research and consulting and the plan is to move to Tech post-MBA.
Admitted to UCLA Anderson and Texas McCombs. No scholarship at either of the schools. However, I have paid enrollment deposit of $2000 and student fee of $900 at McCombs.
I know both schools are great for the Tech route. Thus, not able to decide which school to choose. Parameters I am considering for making a decision are recruitment, brand name/recognition, location, and total cost of attendance.
How are Tech recruitment at UCLA for internationals with a non-tech background?
While LA is an amazing place, I have heard that Austin is a great place too. Any info on location would be helpful. Total cost of attendance for UCLA is of course higher but is it going to be considerably higher than McCombs?
Hi @BadgerNeera
Out of blue sky, I would always told you to go UCLA.
That's because I personally like UCLA and personally like LA, therefore I am little bias.
However in your particular case, there are also good reasons to go to McCombs.
McCombs is the best business school there is in Texas and excellent brand in US.
Austin is exactly what you need, tech thriving city.
In recent rankings by esteemed World Economic Forum Austin ranks as number one in the world for tech, even before San Francisco.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/04/ ... -for-tech/UCLA: Anderson ranks on 25. place in Financial Times MBA rankings versus McCombs who is on 44. place.
UCLA: Anderson has 160,487$ starting weighted salary and 107% salary percent increase.
University of Texas at Austin: McCombs has 148,978$ starting weighted salary and 98% salary percent increase.
We can see that UCLA graduates have 7% higher salaries.
https://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolra ... nking-2018Regarding living costs, it doesn't come as surprise that living in Austin is actually cheaper.
Compared toe to toe, you would need around 4,796.25$ in Austin, TX to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 5,800.00$ in Los Angeles, CA, assuming you rent in both cities.
Consumer Prices in Austin, TX are 9.01% lower than in Los Angeles, CA.
Consumer Prices Including Rent in Austin, TX are 17.31% lower than in Los Angeles, CA.
Groceries Prices in Austin, TX are 7.98% lower than in Los Angeles, CA.
Most importantly,
Local Purchasing Power in Austin, TX is 29.76% higher than in Los Angeles, CA.Regarding rent, if you rent apartment (1 bedroom) in LA City Center that would cost you on average 2,096.61 $ versus the same apartment in Austin for 1,671.77 $ which is 20.26 % cheaper.
Of course you dont have to live in center, so again rent of apartment (1 bedroom) outside of center in LA would cost you 1,632.90 $ versus the same apartment in Austin for 1,069.73$, which is 34.49 % difference.
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/c ... ComparisonBy opinion of applicants here on GMAT Club UCLA places on 13. place versus McCombs on 17. place.
I looked on Economist ranking and again UCLA is better placed, UCLA is on 6. place both regionally and overall versus McCombs on 24. (regionally) and on 35. place overall.
Furthermore, UCLA beats McCombs in every category as per Economist.
You will find more info below in picture I am posting for you.
Since you are international student McCombs will cost you around $51,804 (2017-18 academic year) versus UCLA $59,866 (2018–2019).
Moreover, here are total figures for UCLA as Estimated 2018–2019 Student Budget :
Estimated Student Charges 59,866
UC Student Health Insurance Plan 4,426
Room/Board 21,473
Computer Allowance (1st year only) 986
Books/Supplies 1,073
Travel 4,652
Personal 4,787
Loan Fees 1,436
Total $98,699All in all, if you can afford you should go to UCLA, I would
Having said all that, I dont think you can go wrong with Austin, especially since you already invested $2900.
Good luck with your decision and keep us posted !
Attachments
ucla vs. austin economist tool comparison.png [ 35.33 KiB | Viewed 6509 times ]
close
20 Jun 2018, 09:03
