Anderson ($$) or reapply to Wharton / other top-5

Question

Hi All,

I work in PE (FoF) in NYC. I applied to four schools this year - HBS, Wharton, Kellogg and UCLA. I was dinged at HBS, waitlisted then dinged at Kellogg, and remain on the summer waitlist (essentially a ding) at Wharton. Got a call last Friday from UCLA with an acceptance and a $70k scholarship. Here's the hard part...

I want to do PE in the LA area after school since I have family in the area and want to be there long term. So Anderson makes sense in that respect, but I also don't want to regret not giving Wharton another shot.

With the relative strength of the two schools in mind (especially in PE), the question I really have is, are there PE funds in the LA area (headquartered or satellite) that would hire from Anderson? Or would it make sense to try to defer Anderson a year and re-apply to Wharton (or maybe Stanford or Haas)?

It is extremely tempting to just take the $, go to Anderson and spend more time with family, but I have to think long-term as well.

GPA - 3.7 from top public undergrad
GMAT - 750
4 yrs WE in banking / PE

Thanks in advance for any advice! Would really appreciate any insight.

Michmax3 · Answer

Do some research about the firms in the LA area that you would want to work for or contact some current students at Anderson and see what companies they are going to. Personally, if I wanted to stay in the LA area long-term, I would take the money from UCLA. You will have a chance to build a network there and go on company visits, and UCLA is very respected regionally. I would guess most of the students going to Wharton for PE are probably looking to work in NY, there may not be that many applying to LA firms, but I'm not too familiar with this industry so can't say for sure.

neildiamond · Answer

I am not too familiar with PE funds in LA, but from what I know about local PE funds are that since they are usually very small they don't do a lot of recruiting anyway so the best way to "get in" is to know someone or to network. The best way to do that is to go to a school with contacts in your preferred industry. My hunch is that most PE managers are from top schools. But another decent way to break in is to go to a well-respected IB group in LA and establish relationships/headhunters from there. Some big PE groups are HQed in NY but have branch offices. My hunch is that they do recruiting on a national level and recruit at top schools.

If you think you can beef your application enough to get into a top program (higher than UCLA) then by all means go for it. My guess is that for PE (since brand matter a lot) most of the local well known schools won't be able to pass the resume test as easy as resumes from top program.

If you think you can beef your application enough to get into a top program (higher than UCLA) then by all means go for it. My guess is that for PE (since brand matter a lot) most of the local well known schools won't be able to pass the resume test as easy as resumes from top program.

ingoditrust · Answer

The amount of funding you are getting from UCLA is definitely hard to ignore. I dont think there is any comparison between Wharton ( a world renowned brand) and UCLA (probably not so renowned across the globe). If you believe and have the confidence that you will make it to Wharton or any other school better that UCLA that puts you closer to your goals then no doubt go for it.

Best thing would be if you can get a deferral from UCLA. My personal advice and you can completely ignore it if you want, whatever you end up doing make sure that you are sure about it so that 5-10 years down the line you dont regret the decision you made now. Do your research talk to students at these schools. I think as an admitted student at UCLA you can call up their career services to get better idea about the PE recruitment etc.

Good Luck

neo12345 · Answer

If you want to break into west coast PE, your best bet is Stanford followed by HBS followed by Wharton. There are a lot of PE firms that only recruit at h/s, and Stanford has a huge regional advantage here. I think it will be difficult to crack into many top PE firms without a brand on your resume. As long as you are 28 or under when you apply, I don't think waiting a year will hurt you too much. You have strong stats... it's worth a shot.

Don't worry about the $70K, that isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, and it will pay for itself many times over. If the terms of your admission allow you to defer without restricting you from reapplying to other schools or forfeiting your aid, you may as well give it a shot though. I would imagine that at the very least, you will get the same or comparable offers next year so I wouldn't stress too much about this.

estreet · Answer

Couple thoughts
-What are you doing now that is going to make you a more competitive candidate? If you think that what you will do in the next 6 months will tips the scales in your favor, you can take another shot (and maybe include some schools between Wharton and UCLA). If you are on the same trajectory already in your application, maybe take the money and move down that path.

-If the rumors are true, PE recruiting requires lots of patience and networking. Since you want to be in LA, it's going to be a lot easier networking at UCLA, and being patient will be easier with a nice subsidy (not to mention the nice resume fodder). I imagine PE recruiting is going to be a lot more than them taking the name at face value. It's going to come down to your experience and that of your competition. If you go to UCLA and have to compete with your profile doppelganger at Wharton for the same PE job in LA in 2 years, would you trade your networking opportunities for his/her brand name?

Strong position to be in regardless. Congrats and good luck

lagomez · Answer

If you already work in PE then why even bother going to school just to get back into PE? If you've worked at a legitimate firm then you must have legitimate contacts. Tap into those contacts and get yourself a PE gig in LA and forgo the expense of school.

UCLA is a regional school, for the most part. If you want to work at a small PE shop then your best bet is to go to UCLA because you need that face time with recruiters which you won't get at Wharton because the small PE firm is probably not going to recruit there. Big firm with an office in LA, go to Wharton.

But, that's not to even say you can get into Wharton. Let's say Wharton doesn't work out, then what?

Anderson ($$) or reapply to Wharton / other top-5

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