UCLA Anderson($$) vs. Yale SOM

Question

Hi all,

I'm very excited to attending Bschool. It's really both happy and tough choice. 
I'd love to get anyone's thoughts on these choices. Thank you for your advice in advance!
To provide a little background, I'm working in Asian IT company which doesn't have global reputation and I would like to have as many as options after grad. (not only IT)
Most people say 'fit' is important. But because I have a plan to come back my country, strong global reputation is also important. 
And I really wonder if I go to Yale SOM, there will be less job chance related to IT compared to Anderson?

Yale
- pros: strong reputation, brand new facilities, a little high ranking(and I'm sure it will be higher thanks to a dean Ted Snyder)
- cons: cost, New Haven, not IT

UCLA
- pros: more chance of IT(job, ulumni), many Asian, great weather and location, scholarship
- cons: relatively weak reputation

Wilch · Answer

Yale SOM has the better reputation in Asia because well, it's Yale.

So if you're looking to leave within 2 years after graduation, you should seriously consider Yale.

If you want to be placed in the west coast, UCLA might make your life a lot easier.

dreamisrainbow · Answer

Yes. I totally agree with you! 
That's why I cannot decide TT

aerien · Answer

Hey  dreamisrainbow , thanks for posting. Congratulations on getting into both schools.

I am a little bit confused by parts of your post, so I'm hoping you can add some more clarity. What country are you looking to go back to? Both schools have different recruiting placements and geographic reach in terms of alumni, so more information could help us all direct the conversation better.

Wherever you go, you'll be able to leverage your IT background and pivot into another direction if that's what you want to do. However, based on your post, I am not sure what you want to do -- you say you want "not only IT" options but you also give UCLA kudos for having "more chance of IT" and you ding Yale for being "not IT". What direction do you want to go into?

In terms of "global reputation", Yale is hard to beat. As  Wilch  said, Yale is Yale. Most everyone in the world recognizes that, and I would say that especially holds true in Asia. Yale SOM also has the added factor of being a member of the  Global Network of Advanced Management , so it is connected to a number of business schools around the world, including AIM in the Philippines; Fudan, Renmin, and HKUST in China; Hitotsubashi in Japan; IIM Bangalore in India; NUS in Singapore; Seoul National in Korea; and Universitas Indonesia Faculty of Economics in Indonesia. If you follow Dean Ted Snyder you also know that this has been one of his major initiatives at SOM during his tenure so far. This global network gives you the opportunity to partake in classes with students around the world and there are also opportunities for 1-week exchanges as well as semester-long study abroad opportunities. SOM also opened up a Leadership Center in Beijing last year, which if you were interested in pursuing opportunities in China could be helpful for you longer-term.

In terms of tech, I'm hoping  8088  comes out of the woodworks and provides some stats (I know he has them some where...) Tech recruiting at Yale is quite strong. For my class, the Class of 2015, tech came in 3rd behind consulting and finance for industry placements.

Geographically, almost one-fourth of my class went to the West Coast, presumably a lot of those people are in the San Francisco Bay Area working at major tech firms. I can't guarantee anything, but by and large, if you want to be on the West Coast post-MBA, Yale can get you there. If you want to be in Asia, 25% of those pursuing international opportunities went to Asia, so yes, Yale can get you there as well.

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I would go Yale here with its global reputation and your desire to work in Asia I think going that route makes more sense for you.

ekr546 · Answer

I'm actually in the same situation -- UCLA with a 60k scholarship or Yale with no $$. I'm looking to go into marketing (brand management), and I plan to stay in the US post-graduation, but beyond that, location isn't super important to me.

I would have a tough time turning down everything that comes with the Yale name (especially considering its recent "top 10" ranking), but 60k is a lot of money... and the avg. graduating salaries at both schools are pretty similar when signing bonus is factored in.

Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance for your help!

aerien · Answer

ekr546  - PM me and let's chat brand management opportunities!

dreamisrainbow · Answer

aerien I really appreciate your advice. Even though I'd like to have as many as options after graduation, I know that it is really difficult to have a job which isn't related to IT. As I heard that it's hard to change the industry I work, I consider more chance of IT. Anyway, I'm very happy to hear that there are a lot of Tech recruiting opportunity at Yale :-D

VeritasPrepDozie I totally agree with you. Yale has higher reputation in Asia, and this situation will not change for my whole life! ekr546 I'm sure that Yale's ranking will bee higher in near future, and that's one of the reason why I would like to go to Yale. I think we have really similar situation including the amount of scholarship

Which industry do you plan to work? Tech? As I have tech background, UCLA gives a lot of opportunity both network and education.

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