Urgent!!! MBA at Vanderbilt vs MBA at Notre Dame??

Question

Need your help! Got into Vanderbilt and Notre Dame for my MBA. Background: Indian(M29), 7 years in oil & gas industry(Operations, marketing and sales), aiming for consulting post-MBA. Notre Dame offers $100k, Vandy offers $104k. Which should I choose? I request the current students, alumni, etc to throw some light.

bb · Answer

Hi. What about UNC you have on your profile? That’s out?

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bb · Answer

It is harder for internationals to get into consulting so this will be a slug. Hopefully the job market will be back to Crazy hopping again one of these days but in the average conditions, it’s hard for an oil and gas engineer to transition to consulting unless you are really good and polished with presentation and communication skills.

I would not give up on your dream but I would have a dream2 as well.

Looking at class sizes, it looks like Owen has a larger class size and it is in Nashville which has employers right there. My vote would be for Owen but I am not an alum or student at either of these places.

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AstaUzumaki · Answer

Hi..Got only $20k/ year scholarship from UNC. So that's out for me. Considering financial constraints, have to finalize Vandy or Notre Dame. I understand the thin possibility of getting consulting roles given my background. Considering that, I have a plan B to enter operations management roles if things go south.

I've read that the alumni base of Notre Dame is far better than Vanderbilt's. However, I've heard from a student that the location of ND is a disadvantage for recruiting. For an international student, what should be a safer bet?

bb · Answer

I’m not sure about the alumni. I cannot speak to it. Both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame are extremely highly rated undergraduate programs. There’s a private very expensive colleges. People who graduate from Notre Dame or Vanderbilt who often get an MBA from Harvard or Stanford or booth with a scholarship. That is the caliber of the undergraduate population. Unfortunately, it doesn’t translate into business school or connections. It will be hard for you to bridge from business school to undergrad.

I don’t think it matters a whole lot which of these top 30 programs you choose. I do feel a larger class size at Owen is a plus because the school will have more resources and more alarms. Being in the city and have options to fly and travel and Have access to better quality of life is also positive but perhaps this is where the stronger alumni network comes from, if you’re locked in the middle of nowhere together, you’re forced to resist together and it bonds you but if you’re in the city, then everyone has their own thing they’re doing . I think a lot of your success will be driven by chance frankly that is impossible to predict 😭

No employer will look at Owen or Notre Dame and admit you or ding you just because of that I would recommend choosing the program where you can feel you can be more successful. This means potentially a stronger consulting club or stronger alumni base or perhaps a personal network you have somewhere or easier access to financing. These things will matter more than looking at the employment report from two years ago…

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Urgent!!! MBA at Vanderbilt vs MBA at Notre Dame??

MBA at Vanderbilt vs MBA at Notre Dame??

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