W.p. Carey full scholarship vs wait and try for t-15

Question

Hi everyone, appreciate any input. I understand that most people on this forum are top 15 or bust , so Im hesitant to post this, but I am anyway.

Offered a spot in w.p. carey forward focus full time mba which includes full scholarship. Still going to have to do about 40k in cost of living loans though.

I have always wished to attend a world elite mba. Booth or Northwestern would be top choices. Applied to Booth but denied. Cknsidering giving it another go for 2017 intake, applying in first rounds to increase chances (applied late for 2016 intake)

About 6-7 years work exp. But not much business exp. 700 gmat. 3.79 gpa. I believe I'm an attractive candidate as far as interesting experiences and leadership, and good interviewer, but since I don't have a lot of business experience and gmat is below average at most t 15, I'm not sure how likely I could get into t15. I think booth is not possible, so kellogg is where I'd have my sights set on. Family is in Midwest and spouse and I currently live far from there, so would like to do a program in the midwest. Considering Ross also, but we'd like to live in a major city, so Chicago seems to fit the bill nicely. I've lived there before, and I know the winters suck, but also know what the city has to offer. If I retook the gmat and scored higher, I would also target t10 northeast schools.

I'm leaning towards w.p. carey, if you look it the career stats salary signing bonus and average internship pay are quite good. But I'm nervous about the mid 30s ranking and that so many grads are doing SCM, since I'm not sure that SCM is for me. Career services at carey was confident that they can place well in chicago and midwest, and even northeast, insisting that the reason they dont place a lot of students there is that most prefer to stay in thr southwest/west.

Thinking outside the box, what are your opinions on enrolling at Carey while applying for 2017 intake at my dream schools? I imagine admissions committees would raise eyebrows, but I believe I could explain well my reasoning.

If you made it this far, thank you!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

@bravas are you crazy? Have a little faith in yourself! Good God. You busted your ass to get a 3.8 in your undergraduate over the course of 4 years. And you can totally deal with taking the GMAT again and getting a little higher score. Not that that's even completely necessary because as much as it would be nice to go to Booth there are a whole lot of schools in between Booth and Arizona. What happened with those? Apply to Ross. I realize that most people don't wake up in the morning and say I'd like to live in a small town outside of Detroit . But it's not like you're going on a vacation. Its 21 months out of your life and honestly you could be anywhere it will not matter you will be busy as hell . And the Alumni network is great at Ross as well. You know you will be assured of having Chicago connections there. The thing is if you go to Arizona you are going to be losing on every front. You're not sure about SCM you're not sure they'll even be able to get you a job in Chicago, and I'm not inclined to go on faith with that. And you won't be living near your family, and you will not have fulfilled your dream of getting an elite MBA. So I am just not at all understanding why you think this is a good course of action. I would not be deflated about getting a ding from Booth with a 700 GMAT, it's a very Quant oriented program but did you actually say you applied late last time? If you applied the third round then you especially have no reason to feel like you should throw the towel in. That's just a whole other set of circumstances there like no seats left at the show. I can understand how the idea of taking a full-ride at AZ seems like the safe decision but I honestly do not think it is, financially or otherwise and I don't think you're going to be happy with that down the road. That sounds like a Woulda Coulda Shoulda situation right there. Did you work with a tutor on the GMAT last time? Did you work with an admissions consultant on your apps last time? Invest in yourself and your future and give it your all. You are worth it!! Come too far to give up now.

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

Mo2men · Answer

Attending mba program is invetment in time and money. You must be convinced by the your choice. However, this is not you case. From you words, it is clear that you do not prefer Carey, although, in my opinion, ranking is not at all the point of judgment. I know one Russian student who wised to go to Carey as aw way to be recruited by Starbucks. Also, you do not see yourself in SCM which is the strength of Carey. Based on that, I advise you to retake the GMAT and apply in your dream schools because you are so close to get good score. Do not do it while you are in Carey as adcom won't be convinced of any reasons. They might see you immature person who can't judge about your life. You do not want to create this perception at all.

What are your short and long term goals??

What are your short and long term goals??

bravas · Answer

Thanks for the feedback I really appreciate it. I have a gut feeling to delay b school and focus solely on gmat to gain entrance to an elite mba, but it's really hard to pass up a full tuition mba scholarship at a t30, and predictions are w.p. carey will be t25 as full tuition scholarships for all students continue and average gmat and gpa rise. My calculation is by delaying b school and trying for ross or similar, I'm losing over 200k. 100k in lost salary because it will be an extra year until I earn the post mba salary, plus well over 100k debt, unless I got a nice scholarship offer from somewhere. (Maybe if I get a 750 gmat?).

So while my heart does long for an elite mba degree, it's hard for me to justify, since I have the rare opportunity for a full ride mba at a solid schol.

So while my heart does long for an elite mba degree, it's hard for me to justify, since I have the rare opportunity for a full ride mba at a solid schol.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Please don't ignore your gut feeling. How has that gone in the past, when you ignored your gut feeling?

Go for what you want and believe you can get it. Whole purpose of getting an MBA is going for what you want. I don't really even see any purpose in it if you're going settle, sacrifice and compromise.

Just because they want you at Carey doesn't mean you have to go it's just an Open Door. You can totally pretend that didn't even happen it does not have to dictate the rest of your life . The fact that they're offering you a free ride is kind of a signal that you are settling.

I was recently emailing back and forth with a very successful edtech entrepreneur who graduated from Stanford. And he said that if you're focused on opportunity costs you're not ready to get an MBA.

Getting an MBA is an investment in yourself your career and your dream. It is not about settling and playing it safe.

Sometimes people just need to learn life lessons on their own and I honor your journey. Ive said my piece.

Farrell Dyan Hehn, MBA
Admissions Consultant & Verbal Strategist MBAPrepCoach.com

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I would focus less on the opportunity costs either way because you can justify it either way especially in the LTV of going to a more elite school. You are not excited about Carey even with the full ride. I would say to take some time and really dig deep and see if you can close in on a 720 to improve your chances but also keep in mind there is a GMAT gap between the bottom end of the T-15 and Booth/Kellogg so some of those other schools may also be realistic for you even without retaking the GMAT. I do want to mention that if you did not get into Booth don't expect to waltz into Kellogg these schools are both elite and Kellogg has historically been the higher ranked program and with rising GMAT scores there you will have to retake to be most competitive there as well

bravas · Answer

Thanks again, I appreciate that. 
Agreed on Kellogg, didn't mean to imply I could waltz in, I guess I meant I'd focus there for Chicago since Booth already denied me. Would take gmat again, but would really need to bear down on quant, a decent increase there could really boost things.

Have lost some sleep over this... you don't think it's a one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, situation? I mean imagine I wait a year, at a job I dislike quite a lot, spend 100to150k extra, go to somewhere like ross, and at the end of the program get a job with say, amazon? Well hell, I could totally accomplish that at carey. So what would be the reason to wait a year and spend a whole lot more? Possibility at MBB? Shot at Wall street? Even at t10 only the best and brightest are going there. The biggest reason would seem to be prestige... which I have to admit is certainly alluring (that's why I'm posting all this and struggling)...but that prestige might hurt a bit when I'm shelling out 1500/month in loan payments for the following 10 years. And the freedom from debt makes starting my own business that much more feasible (something I'd eventually like to do).

No one thinks that Carey is on the rise though? They plan on continuing the full tuition scholarship for all full time students, had a lower acceptance rate than Harvard this year, revamping the whole curriculum. Again, imagine I turn down the offer, wait another year, and in two or three years Carey is a t20 (who knows!) That's a could a shoulda woulda too.

I can't help but feel Carey is worth a shot...if I hate it then I hate it and re-evaluate, lost time either way, and not losing much money. And hey, maybe I'll love it.

PsychGuy17 · Answer

Such a tough situation! However, I would say I don't think anyone can decide for you except you. From your tone, it seems you probably think you should head to Carey; you'll regret it if you don't.

I personally would probably take the money and head to Carey since I financed my bachelor's and first master's degrees and already have substantial debt. For some of my friends whose parents financed their educations and they aren't in any debt, they would personally never accept the Carey offer. A lot of people approach this knowing they'll spend the $200k... they're truly T15 or bust. One way isn't better than the other, it just depends of your unique situation. If you're risk averse, dislike your job, and/or truly don't think you'll be able to raise your GMAT score to get into Booth or Kellogg with $, I don't think it makes much sense to reject the Carey offer.

Either way, you have a great profile with a lot going for you. Best of luck with the decision and congrats on your full-tuition scholarship!

MBAsailor · Answer

It seems to me you are convincing yourself that you should do Carey even though it's not what you want deep down and I do understand the appeal of no tuition.

I think Ross is an excellent choice. If you're looking for the Mid-West then Kelley would also be an excellent and very affordable choice. Notre Dame is also right at that top 25 area. If you're not looking for Wall Street or McKinsey then you really don't need to go to a top 10 school.

It would also be very unwise to preclude a program because it was not in a large city. At these top 30/25 schools you have brand recognition that should travel fairly well, you will be in especially good shape if you go to a school in the Mid-West where it seems you want to stay. Who knows, you may find after two years you like living in a less densely populated area. A good idea would be to find out what companies recruit at some of these schools in smaller population areas. I think you'll find these top 30 schools have companies from nearby cities taking lots of graduates every year. It's usually more difficult to find a good job outside of a city.

My two cents. Good luck!

stonecold · Answer

NOTE => PERSONAL ADVICE

A 700 on the GMAT.=> check
An Outstanding profile=> check
Work Experience=> check
Good interview skills => check
Good writing skills => check

If had those many items ticked on my application regime => I would have been off to one of the top 3 MBA programs.

If you like WP carey as a school => Go ahead Join it .
I can understand as we have our likes and dislikes and some schools that we become passionate about during the application cycle.

BUT If you are going there so that you can write B school application next year while studying at WP carey=>
 Smack that Acceptance letter.
You are much better waiting
Its worth it if done in a right way mate.
Dont think about the money too much,
At the end it wont even matter.

As the GODFATHER said => " Look at the bigger picture here " and "Write the essays the TOP business programs could not refuse "

Regards

STONE COLD

shreyans_jain · Answer

Hi,
I'm caught up in the same boat this year.

Indian candidate with 3.5 yrs work ex, sales and marketing, graduated from top ranked university. 
Post MBA, I would like to take up product management or marketing management roles at a tech company.

I have a good profile and I am sure I can bump up the score to 730+.

Situation: Having studied at top ranked university in India, I understand the prestige and network it follows. That's one negative I can see about Carey.
Another would be it's strong focus on SCM, which could make my transition into marketing a little difficult.

But the good thing is that it's offering a full ride and as an international student, visa situations do worry me. I don't want to graduate from a t15 with a hefty debt. I am pretty sure of what I want to do, but at the same time I want the liberty to switch careers without worrying for debt repayment.

All opinions are most welcome.

W.p. Carey full scholarship vs wait and try for t-15

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