Help Needed: Ross vs. Johnson vs. UNC (Full Ride)

Question

Hi guys!

I need help in deciding which school to attend come Fall. I have been admitted to Michigan Ross and Cornell Johnson (where I have been "waitlisted" for fellowship) and have a full ride at UNC Kenan Flagler.

I am an Indian Male (Technology) with 5 years exp in a family business of Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Products.

Post MBA Goal: Management Consulting (think MBB / Deloitte / Accenture) / General Management Rotational Programs (Ecolab / Danaher) preferably East Coast.

Ross seems the obvious pick due to its strength in Consulting (with MAP) and Gen Mgmnt, but would it be worth forgoing a full ride at UNC and paying the extra tuition for 2 years?

Also, does Johnson have an edge over Ross outside the US ( with H1-Bs becoming more difficult)?

I have until 15th April to make a deposit at UNC (have upto May to decide between Ross and Johnson), so any inputs would be appreciated.

P.S. - I am waitlisted at Tuck and would definitely pick Tuck if that came through between now and June!

jaigandhi · Answer

Hi guys!

Would really appreciate any sort of input here!

Mo2men · Answer

Congrats for admit From just pure ranking , Ross first then Cornell then KF. However, all the schools will serve your post MBA goal with different degrees in different geographic places. MBB & second tier consulting recruiter from all those schools with Ross being higher. In general management, big names goes to all schools like amazon, Schneider..etc. You cited MAP program in Ross. KF has also its STAR program and Cornell has Consulting Track as well. IMO all schools have large similarities, so KF full ride will be awesome. I would enjoy free tuition with less burden (only living expenses in Chapel Hill). Please find below some articles for consulting career in different universities in the US. https://poetsandquants.com/2014/01/17/wh ... sulting/2/ https://poetsandquants.com/2016/01/11/wh ... ba-talent/ I hope it helps.

whitman · Answer

I am skeptical that there is some huge divide between Carolina and Michigan. I have heard Carolina does very well in consulting, so I would take the money and run. No question. You could go to Kenan-Flagler, buy a Tesla, and have a down payment for a house to use in whatever city you get your consulting gig.

jaigandhi · Answer

Thanks guys!

I understand this is not the easiest pick. Some people studying at US B-schools felt that the cost at Ross would be worth the extra opportunities it brings (more diversity in recruiters). Also, there are a few people who have voted for Ross. Any particular reasons there?

archie9 · Answer

I voted for Ross just going by it's brand. It always have shown on top of UNC in all ratings but I sincerely believe that KF's quality is equally competitive. Go to KF and am sure you will come out with a job offer equally well as you would have from Ross.

alphabeta1234 · Answer

Ross/Kenan-Flagler/Johnson are all in the same tier and have roughly the same reputation.

If you turn down a full ride at Kenan-Flagler to go to these other peer schools, you should have your acceptances to all these schools rescinded.

jaigandhi · Answer

Hey! I'm not from the US so I wouldn't know if it was that obvious! Here, we have to depend a lot on the rankings, which rank Ross in the top 10 regularly. And that's why I asked for opinions. Maybe you could have put that in a better way. Cheers! :-D

MWMBA · Answer

Yeah I wouldn't worry about that. This site puts Ross and Johnson in the elite tier, and KF in the trans elite tier, so there is a difference. And even then, schools in the same tier are not necessarily equal - I don't think people would say Dartmouth and UCLA have equally strong programs - so it's important to make distinctions between schools. These schools do not all have the same reputation.

All of this said, I think when it comes to full-ride vs. no scholarship decisions, it comes down to your personal situation. If you're thinking MBB or bust and money is not an issue, go to the school that gives you the best shot at getting there, which I think would be Ross. If this were me, however, I would take the money at KF, because the thought of an extra 120k in debt is very daunting to me, and the opportunities that KF would provide would probably be good enough for me. My vote goes to Kenan-Flagler, but I don't think anybody could say you're dumb or undeserving of your admit if you picked Ross.

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Really tough choice here. I would lean UNC with the money, and Ross w/o the money. All great programs but I'm not sure the delta in program caliber is enough to pass up that scholarship money. Congrats on all of your offers!

Duke234 · Answer

Along the same lines as others have stated, I think it really comes down to your desire to shoot for MBB vs your personal financial situation. When it comes to consulting, Ross>Johnson>UNC. Not that you can't break into MBB out of any of them, but you will have an easier time at Ross just due to interview slots/network. Cornell also does decently well with consulting placement (you need to take into account that they have a smaller class size and percentage of that class focused on consulting), although not as well as Ross. Think about location, if that matters, as well. UNC places well in Atlanta I believe, Cornell will place in the north east (FYI McK will staff out of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, etc from Johnson), and Ross will place better in the midwest. You can work your way into other cities, but those will be the hot spots. Also look at who recruits on campus - I know BCG does not for Cornell, I would check UNC. The other big things is international network - Michigan is huge, but I've heard Cornell has an amazing international brand (no clue about UNC).

The first thing I would do is talk to Cornell and Ross to see if they will give you money. You probably have a better shot with Cornell, but you really just need them to cover something around 50%. Most larger consulting firms will pay your 2nd year if you turn your internship into an offer (and accept that offer). May not be universal, but this is what I have heard from current students.

Honestly, it's an expensive decision to give up a full ride to go after MBB, but you're not going to get another MBA. So pick the school that feels right and the one you think you will have the least regrets about. Would you regret giving up the money or opportunities more?

If you have any questions about Cornell, I'm happy to help - just send me a PM. I disagree with the statement above that it's Ross vs UNC. Don't underestimate Cornell - especially if you liked Tuck. MBB will have a lot more to do with you as a candidate than the program you go to.

alphabeta1234 · Answer

#1 Harvard University 
#2Tie Stanford University 
#2Tie University of Chicago (Booth) 
#4 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 
#5Tie Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) 
#5Tie Northwestern University (Kellogg) 
#7 University of California—​Berkeley (Haas) 
#8Tie Dartmouth College (Tuck) 
#8Tie Yale University 
#10 Columbia University 
#11 University of Virginia (Darden) 
#12Tie Duke University (Fuqua) 
#12Tie University of Michigan—​Ann Arbor (Ross) 
#14 Cornell University (Johnson) 
#15 University of California—​Los Angeles (Anderson) 
#16Tie University of North Carolina—​Chapel Hill (Kenan-​Flagler)

It's more like Ross>Jonhnson≈Kenan-Flagler
The employment reports between Johnson and Kenan-Flagler are identically similar.
Also UNC-CH is better in consulting than Johnson. Places more grads in consulting jobs and at tops firms like Mckinsey.

Duke234 · Answer

As much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong. UNC = Cornell more or less. It looks like they sent 15 to McK last year, 2 Bain, 3 BCG which is more than Cornell for McK, about the same for the others, maybe slightly less. Class sizes are the same, % in consulting are the same as well. UNC also had 13 interns at McK last year, so it looks like that could continue. Looking at Michigan's employment numbers, they sent around the same about to Mck - 22, BCG -14, and Bain - 9. Keep in mind though that Ross's class size is double UNCs and has a higher % going into consulting.

I think unless you loved Cornell, you can narrow your decision down to UNC and Ross. Again, not sure about the international brand, but having MBB on your resume will open up doors abroad anyway. Also, I believe once you get past the initial interview and chose the office you want to interview for, it's more or less an equal playing field. If you deserve the job, you won't get turned away because you chose UNC over Ross.

Side note: Cornell is in an interesting spot - some consider it peers with Ross/Fuqua/Darden/Yale and some consider it more like UNC/UT. Seems to be caught in the middle somewhere in no mans land.

Flyte · Answer

Go to Ross if your goal is MBB or an elite general management program (Danaher, 3M, Amazon, Walmart, UA, etc.)

Ross is close to a core school for all three of MBB. Cornell and UNC while fine programs are not in the same ballpark in terms of perception or results. As for the four general management programs I mentioned above, they all recruit at Ross. Aside from Amazon, the rest do not recruit at Cornell or UNC.

alphabeta1234 · Answer

I appreciate GmatAssociate admitting UNC = Cornell. Everyone here keeps thinking Cornell is Harvard. UNC keeps rising in the rankings and all of its universities departments outside of Bschool rank in the top 10-30's, consistently. I turned down Duke Fuqua for $ at UNC and I would not have done so if it wasn't such a great of a school. NC is an amazing state, the research triangle is a silicon valley of the biotech industry, Cornell is in the middle of no where, trust me you will like Chapel Hill.

jaigandhi · Answer

Thanks a lot guys! appreciate the inputs.

For the record, I had my request for scholarship turned down instantly at Ross. At Cornell, it's still under consideration. I understand that Cornell University has a great reputation, but if I had to pay, I'd pay for Ross definitely. A lot of people have told me it's a great school for career changers. I am concerned that, coming from a small family business, I'm gonna need the best possible career support and network, to break into consulting or leadership rotation programs. That's where I feel, Ross may have an edge over UNC.

Small question: With UNC, I would have "Full tuition and Dean's Fellow" on my resume. Could that make a huge impact during recruiting?

integral · Answer

My request for a scholarship at Ross was also turned down. In the end, I picked UCLA (80% tuition) over Duke (very small scholarship) and Ross (0 scholarship). You should read my decision making here. Important because we share similar attributes - experience in pharma, ambition in consulting and a high GMAT score. fuqua-vs-ross-vs-anderson-210481.html#p1644123 You should also read: value-of-a-top-10-mba-213365.html and anderson-vs-ross-194062.html

alphabeta1234 · Answer

According to USNews MBA ranking
Ross is 12th
Kenan-Flagler is 16th
Undergrad Bschool
Ross is 4th 
Kenan-Flagler is 7th

Both UNC and Michigan are top univerisites, and top public universities. The overall reputations of the two schools are the same, despite Ross being a slightly better reputation.

Turning down a full ride for an incremental move up in the ranking between the two schools makes 0 sense. In the general public eyes they are both top public schools. Turning down UNC for Berkeley is one thing, for Michigan, makes no sense.

By turning down your full ride all your doing is giving your money to the person one spot behind you to enjoy .

jaigandhi · Answer

Guys, just wanted to update my decision. Admitted to Tuck and joining! Thank you everyone for your opinions!

zirconium · Answer

Congratulations! Tuck is a great school!

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