Georgetown vs Vanderbilt vs Emory

Question

Hey Everyone,

I currently have admits to all three schools above (Georgetown, Vanderbilt and Emory). I don't have any scholarship money currently and its not necessarily an issue , but currently reside in DC area and have family in the area as well if things become tight financially.

I don't have a geographic preference, but the more mobility the better within the US and abroad; I am a US citizen.

I'm a changing careers entirely, and do not have any extremely relevant experience in any of my target careers.

Post-MBA Goals: Ibanking and Consulting (Commercial, not federal), and I'm interested in Real Estate as well.

Which school do you think provides me with access to 1. Best career opportunities (ie access to top firms BB's, MBB(s) if possible and tier 2 being more likely, also Real Estate as a whole but more specifically REPE) 2. Quality of life/student atmosphere 3. Additionally which provides a better brand currently and moving forward

Thanks for the help!

teleste · Answer

McDonough sends 59% of its class into Financial Services or Consulting
https://msb.georgetown.edu/mba-career-center/students

Owen sends 52% into Finance or Consulting
https://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/employer ... report.cfm

Goizueta sends 58% into Finance or Consulting
https://goizueta.emory.edu/documents/FTM ... report.pdf

They all place graduates into MBB firms, but, in my experience at Vanderbilt, it was usually 2-3 graduates per year...not a consistent pipeline. I am guessing it is a similar story at the other two schools.

I visited Nashville, Atlanta, and DC when I was recruiting. For me, Owen was the runaway winner as far as the school culture and the cost attendance were concerned. That being said, I liked all three programs and locations. Going by your post, you may be a bit better off as a Hoya. You're already in DC, you have family there, and Gtown places a higher percentage of their class into Financial Services and Consulting. (BTW, it is a higher percentage of a larger class than Vandy or Emory...which means a much greater number overall...which is probably good news for your situation.)

I would recommend visiting all three schools if you haven't already. My experiences visiting Georgetown and Vanderbilt were very different, and it was clear right away that Owen was a better fit for me.

Wherever you go, you should try and negotiate for scholly money...perhaps especially at Gtown. The COL is dramatically higher in DC than it is in Middle Tennessee or Atlanta.

Good luck!

Mo2men · Answer

Congrats

I totally agree with 'teleste' that you should give a visit for all those in order to search your 'fit'. Also, you will contact face-to-face with career office. Also, you will feel the city or place where you will study. I know people to feel that Nashville has its own vibe. Others find DC is better. Good luck

PugLyfe · Answer

If you can narrow down your focus, I think it would be easier to help you make a decision.

If consulting is your primary focus, I would go with Goizueta. They have a very solid deloitte and pwc pipeline. MBB's are less likely from any of these programs. For finance, I'd give them less of an edge. I think this choice can really come down to fit and what your ultimate goals are.

Good luck

TheFloridian · Answer

Compared to the other two schools listed, I would say that Vanderbilt does a really good job sending people all over (Northeast, west coast, etc.). I know that at Emory, a ton of people end up staying in Atlanta. As an Owen student who is going to MBB consulting this summer, I will say that while we have not had a consistent pipeline in the past, we are definitely starting to build it. There is a huge interest from these firms in building a pipeline at Owen. And if you have the GPA/GMAT/etc. to get a first round interview, you're basically on equal ground with everyone else going through the process. (I don't know how this compares to Goizueta or Georgetown.) Plus, if you're also interested in Deloitte (and others), they have a strong pipeline already existing at Owen. As a final note, I think the Vanderbilt brand travels particularly well in the US, and the quality of life at Owen is pretty close to unbeatable. Nashville is incredibly walkable, with free/low-price concerts and other events going on all the time. Not to mention the cost of living is excellent. If you have any other questions about Owen, please feel free to let me know. It's been a great decision! :-D

bkhu · Answer

I'd say Emory has a leg up compared to the other two. 50% placement in Atlanta and 25% placement in Northeast (I'm assuming that most of that is NY). 95% accepting jobs.

jstatham3 · Answer

I'm in a similar situation as the OP. I have to choose between Owen and Goizueta.

I'm looking to go into consulting, so the employment reports/reputation/rankings would all suggest that Goizueta would be the better option for me.

However, I am a lifelong Atlanta resident, and I would like to experience living in another city for a while. Considering my post graduation job will likely be in Atlanta, it seems like a good opportunity to leave town temporarily.

So - I'd be willing to go to a marginally lesser school (Owen) to experience living elsewhere temporarily, but I'm having a hard time determining just how much "better" Goizueta is than Owen. Can anybody shed some light on what exactly makes Goizueta a better school for consulting? Does 5 or 6 spots in rankings really make that big of a difference? Does Owen offer competitive on campus recruiting opportunities? How does their CMC compare to Goizueta's?

Any and all help, advice, or insight would be much appreciated.

Tyler2434 · Answer

TheFloridian  similar position to OP but ultimately what will hurt me the most when it comes to recruiting for MBB/BB/Top Tier firms is that while I have a high gmat(760), I also have a low ug GPA(sub-3.0), so while I check the gmat box the GPA will be problematic; although again im not sure how much ug GPA matters to these firms, care to shed any light on that?

TheFloridian · Answer

Hey!

Great questions. I also considered both Goizueta and Owen, and I also grew up in Atlanta and before coming to Owen (with a stint in FL in between). Some may consider Goizueta "better" for consulting because Goizueta sends 38% of students into consulting at a median salary of ~$135k, and Owen sends only 28% into consulting at ~$125k.

However, the reason for this is that Owen sends a larger portion of its students into healthcare consulting in the Nashville market, which typically has a lower salary (due to the lower cost of living in Nashville and the healthcare focus). On the other hand, a number of my classmates and I are going into management consulting in Atlanta this summer, and we will make the same salaries as our internship-mates from Goizueta (not to mention HBS and Wharton).

Atlanta is a strong consulting market (airport!), and Owen does a great job of placing people in Atlanta for consulting through both on-campus interviews and resume drops (with off campus interviews). Owen also has a very strong case interview preparation series to help everyone get ready for interviews, and the CMC has been very helpful/supportive.

I will say that, while Owen can place people in the major firms in Atlanta, Goizueta probably does a better job of placing students in the smaller/boutique consulting firms in Atlanta (just like Owen does a better job of placing people in the smaller/boutique healthcare consulting firms in Nashville). If you know which specific firms you’re interested in, you’d definitely want to compare the two schools’ recruiting bases. It’s not impossible to make it into a smaller/boutique consulting firm in another market, but you would likely need to network your way in since the on-campus recruiting isn’t there.

Overall, I think you can be equally successful in consulting coming from Owen or Goizueta. Nashville is an amazing town, and is a super fun place to spend two years; I also feel like now I have strong networks in both Atlanta and Nashville. I also value the fact that my Owen network is spread out geographically and not amassed in one city (becomes even more important once consulting travel starts). Finally, I would say definitely visit both schools. In my mind, the cultures of these two schools contrast quite a bit, and the vibe you get from the students is not really comparable. At this stage, I wouldn’t use a five-rank difference as a guide (Owen’s ranking has swung by 5 spots in one year before); a lot of that is based on what percent of students go into the higher paying industries (e.g. consulting, banking), not based on how well the school develops leaders and places students in their ideal job. Try to figure out where you feel the greatest fit with the school’s culture.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reply/DM me or I’d also be happy to hop on a call. If you’re coming to Welcome Weekend at Owen this weekend, Id’ also be happy to meet up—it’s going to be a blast!

TheFloridian · Answer

I think GPA is important and I get the sense that these firms, particularly MBB, are looking for people who are well-rounded on all fronts (past experience, GPA, GMAT, interpersonal, etc.). I'm not sure whether a sub-3.0 GPA automatically discounts you from getting into a top firm; this might be a good question to ask on a site like Wall Street Oasis-- I'm certainly no expert. My guess is that it will hurt, but if you are exceptionally strong in all other areas, you may be able to offset it, particularly if the firm is open to you networking with current consultants and establishing yourself as someone who would be good (not all firms are super into networking though, so be careful).

Buck3y3Guy · Answer

Same position, but a general question. Most of these schools specifically Vandy and Emory place 40%+ in the south. Is that a function of people who want to end up in the south go to these schools? My situation is I want to end up consulting in NY but Emory or Vandy is my best bet to break into the consulting industry. Is there a decent chance I could get a good Tier 2 consulting job in the northeast?

I have on friend who got a consulting offer to EY from Gtown and they gave him a list of 10 locations to choose from as his home office. Is that typical?

I have on friend who got a consulting offer to EY from Gtown and they gave him a list of 10 locations to choose from as his home office. Is that typical?

TheFloridian · Answer

Hey Buck3y3Guy, The 40% in the South figure is driven by two things: 1) A large chunk of Vandy students are from the South & want to stay in the South (like me), and 2) as with any school, the companies that actively recruit at the school are more likely to be located in the South than in other regions. My suggestion would be to network (contact via LinkedIn or through school's admissions team) with some folks at both Vandy and Emory who interned at the consulting firms you are considering. You can ask them about how geographically flexible their firm is. I know for some firms, you interview for one specific office, whereas for others, you interview and then get to choose your office. Similar to what you mentioned, I have had classmates that received offers from EY and got the chance to pick their location (I think one may even be going to NY). I don't know whether that same rule applies to the remainder of the Big 4 (I want to say that for Deloitte it does not, but I'm not 100% sure). I do know that the northeast is typically one of the more competitive regions for consulting jobs, simply due to the concentration of top MBA programs there.

Georgetown vs Vanderbilt vs Emory

Which school to choose?

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