bb wrote:
Congratulations on your admits! And fantastic job saving up for an MBA. You’ll be in a pretty small minority…
Since you’ve been wise with your money, I’m guessing you are probably More inclined towards the scholarship. While your inclination may not matter for someone’s opinion, a lot of these recommendations are debatable and very personal.
Jobs are not coming easy at any school these days and so personal performance and Drive are very important.
Fuqua would be great for consulting it has done quite well in technology in the last five years. Not many programs can feature tech as their second highest recruiting industry. You will definitely have more opportunities at Fuqua but I’m not sure that it is worth 80,000 a year… which before taxes would be more like 120k.
I don’t think I can justify that kind of disparity. I have a feeling Fuqua may want to match your scholarship or at least give something if you ask them have you considered or have you already done that?
Considering the pros and cons, there’s a lot of chance and unpredictability in B.A. employment. We’re trying to predict what’s going to happen in three years and so much can change but out of the predictable aspects which by the way are probably about 30% and the 70% is unknown, but out of the 30% I can see The money being just too attractive… and that’s coming from a person who’s been very suspicious about Marshall’s unexpected climb in the rankings.
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Thank you for your detailed breakdown! As you've surmised, I'm leaning USC as $80k makes for a very attractive incentive. The difference (if invested wisely) is basically a down payment on a house post-MBA. As you indicated, I've already reached out to Fuqua about the possibility of matching scholarships. However, its been 10 days and I'm yet to recieve a response.
On a level playing field, I am concerned about Fuqua's lackluster placement on the west coast. As a counterpoint, USC's meteoric rise in rankings coupled with their small MBB cohort may prove a hindrance in establishing a solid plan B (don't get me wrong I would be very happy with an EY / Deliotte LA office).
TL;DR I'm leaning USC. Hopefully Duke matches or provides some financial incentive. Pros and cons on both fronts as you said.