Tepper (CMU) vs Marshall (USC)

Question

I was wondering which school is better in general? Any thoughts? Both are very similar...

Marshall ranked 21
Tepper ranked 17

I do not know what I want to do atm, but I definately want a career change. Either general management or finance...

Thoughts?

nomsg7111 · Answer

I think if you want to stay in California post-graduation (esp southern california), it would better to go to Marshall. USC has a VERY strong alumni network.

If you want more flexibility with regards to geography Tepper would be the better choice. Tepper also strikes me as a very strong finance school just because of the quantitative nature of the school (and CMU in general).

lsuguy7 · Answer

All you need to know is this:

USC was unfairly given a share of the national title in 2003 (although it was only the AP title and they didn't get the BCS trophy) for beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

CMU has never wronged anyone. When in doubt football should always be the tie breaker.

domtri33 · Answer

agree with above posters. CMU unless you have a strong desire to stay in the southern california area after graduation. That is of course if you are using post graduation career prospectus as your metric. Now, LA vs. Pittsburg?

Raabend · Answer

Put me down for Tepper.

P.S. These X vs Y threads are way too "BW" for my taste. Come on guys!

bostonsparky · Answer

mikah, Not sure your familiarity with the 2 areas, but I think one absolutely has to take the weather into account here. You're talking about one place that is a 9 out of 10 weather-wise and one that is a 2 out of 10. This is 2 years of your life. Not saying Marshall for sure, but take it into account.

And Raabend though I agree that 'X vs Y' debates are often misguided, it's a perfectly reasonable question to ask. With the way some schools are offering great scholarships to attract top candidates away from the UE/elites I think a good number of us run into this thought process.

What I think gives GClub the upper hand is that people will be more about 'here are some facts about X that you may not know, here are some about Y', leaving YOU to make the decision, rather than just saying X rules Y sucks like they do on BW.

maverick2011 · Answer

I think they are OK as long as the responders are helping the OP's think through their personal situations without bashing any school.

azngaucho · Answer

Alright, I was in the same situation as you and my choice was pretty easy. Maybe eeter1 can chime in as well as we had a whole discussion on this in the USC thread...

I think it really depends on your personal preference on weather (LA vs Pitt), girls (I dont think thats even a contest), which country you are considering working in (USC has a huge presence in ASIA and LA, but nobody else really gives a damn about Marshall), School culture (Marshall- commuter school, not much networking, rich kids driving lambos & Aston Martins vs. Tepper- small class size, quant focused, group oriented, more tight-knit feel), industry ( Marshall- Entertainment vs Tepper- IB + MC), strength of alumni network (Marshall holds a huge advantage here) along with many other factors such as city life, family, blah....

But looking at it holistically I chose Tepper as it has a better reputation than Marshall, the quant focus will get you in some doors, and just knowing the caliber of student at Marshall (a lot of my friends go there, or went there... Im really not impressed).

Hope this helps.

eeter1 · Answer

I was in a similar situation deciding between the two schools as well. After research at the BW forums I came accross this post.

From PhearME BW Forums (USC Student)
 Factual Rankings

USC > CMU and top 10 in: 
Accounting
Entrepreneurship
International Business
Media Marketing
Real Estate
Sports Management

CMU > USC and top 10 in: 
Information Systems
Production/Operations
Supply Chain Management

USC > CMU in Asian Reputation 
USC has spent milions of dollars and thousand upon thousands of man hours building a repuation in Asia. USC has a top 10 rep in the majority of Asian countries. This is part of the reason it has such a high ranking in International Business.

CMU > USC in East Coast Repuation

USC > CMU in West Coast Repuation

CMU = USC in undergraduate business reputation 
Both schools are perrenial top 10 in undergraduate business and are curently 1 rank apart. 
Subjective Rankings (no official rank for either program)

USC > CMU in the intangibles: 
Tradition
Network
Location
Weather
Entertainment
Dining
Attractiveness of Student Body
etc. etc.

USC > CMU in VC 
Because USC has so much exposure to VC firms and Angel Investors via its top rated entrepreneurship program (I've met 20+, had dinner with 3, and been offered a partnership with 1) I'd have to give USC the edge for VC

CMU > USC in Technology 
Because CMU is second only to MIT in its repuation for technology this is a no brainer.

CMU > USC in Finance 
This is purely based on CMU's repuation as a technical school and the perception that CMU students will be better prepared for hard core quant.

USC = CMU in Management Consulting 
A simple look at the recruiting guides will tell you that MC is a tie.

USC = CMU in Pre-MBA scores 
USC GMAT 692
USC GPA 3.3
Current USC Salary 140 *This is not post-graduate, but career projection*
23% admitted
CMU GMAT 700
CMU GPA 3.35
Current CMU Salary 119 *This is not post-graduate, but career projection*
29% admitted
(Information accumulated from Forbes)

Finally, I dont think one should base a decision upon rankings alone Tepper - 17 USC - 21 (UsNEWS). Being so close to each other and especially this years applicant pool being so competitive Tepper will once again for the 6th straight year raise its median GMAT score. In additon, USC only admitted 23% of students from its norm of 29-30%. Thus, I think rankings are definately up in the air and standards are rising.

Both schools however are very similar your choice should be dependant upon your goals, career, location, etc... Both schools offer different things; nothing is guranteed.

Hope this helps!

v1shwa · Answer

i am an international applicant looking at a marketing/product management role in technology industry. 
marshall holds a strong appeal appeal for me as i have immediate family in l.a, and therefore a great support system. i can practically land there a day before the program begins and manage. 
at pittsburgh, i need to begin from scratch.
yet, purely based on the strength of the curriculum, (numerous tech oriented management courses), i am inclined towards tepper. 
tepper will eventually work out to be much costlier than marshall. 
at what cost difference should i opt out of tepper and choose marshall? for example, should i go for marshall if it is $25k cheaper than tepper, or $40k, or $50k? or should i just select a school irrespective of the cost?
does marshall's alumni network, and its proximity to silicon valley negate the advantages of tepper's strong tech-oriented program?

shadow · Answer

the one thing that would worry me if i were in your shoes is businessweek's profile for USC. it shows that 0% of its grads went on to work in a technology industry. if you already have a tech background, then this might matter a bit less. however, if you are hoping to switch into this industry, then it might be tough

i think for the second part of your question, you should look at various loan calculators online. a difference of 50k tuition/housing will work out to be much greater in the long run because of interest rates, etc.

v1shwa · Answer

hi shadowsjc
thanks a lot for your inputs!

regards,
vishwa

v1shwa · Answer

Hi shadowjc
yes i am working in the tech industry..but looking to change my function to probably marketing
and i now have schol info as well..marshall will work out to be arnd 60k cheaper than tepper...
plus ideally i would want to be based in l.a or arnd if possible becos theres family there...
heart says marshall...mind says tepper...tough to decide

v1shwa · Answer

hi shadowsjc

the other thing u mentioned abt the recruitment at marshall..its strange that BW lists tech recruitment at 0%.
but the list of recruiting companies includes cisco and micrsoft; + ibm for internship

Av · Answer

I have my doubts about Marshall compared to UCLA, but I'd definitely choose Marshall over CMU if it saved me $60k.

Tepper (CMU) vs Marshall (USC)

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