Deciding between my MBA offers

Question

Good Evening,
I got accepted into the only 3 MBA programs that I applied to and was wondering if anyone had an insight on any of the programs. The schools are Florida State University, Oregon State University, and University of North Carolina Greensboro. 
All the schools are AACSB accredited. Difference in price isn't a factor. Startclass isn't that helpful in this case.
Any insight on reputations of those programs, personal experiences, post grad salaries, alumni networks in business, or anything of that nature would be very helpful in me making my decision.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Have you studied the employment reports for each School? In my opinion it's best to think about an investment in terms of the return. And so considerate what it is you want to do Post MBA and go to the school where people are recruited to do said thing.

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zjd13 · Answer

I haven't studied the employment reports for each school, not really sure where to find that. Thats why I'm posting here. Could you point me to where I might find that?

Every school lists some companies where former students get jobs, and every school claims 90% of graduates have jobs within 3 months. I want to maximize my salary, don't care about what I'm doing or the industry. So post grad salaries would be my ideal measuring stick. Which no college gives out that info on their websites.

ThadGA08 · Answer

zjd13  if you're not finding full employment reports on their websites (kind of a concerning sign) and only care about starting salary then you might as well check out each school on US World News' business school profiles since average base salary is something they list. I'd imagine they're all somewhere between $55,000-$75,000. But it doesn't tell much of a story without the full employment reports. There could be some high salaries skewed by consulting or banking, students sponsored by previous employers, etc. I would really recommend not picking just based on that and also not go into business school thinking you'll do whatever industry/role gets the highest salary. Those kinds of roles require a lot of planning, hard work, and luck to be successful. They need to be your goal pretty much right now and have a strong plan very soon to make it happen (and know if that's even feasible given your background and skills). Don't really know anything about those particular schools but if the highest salaries are banking you may need to have previous experience for that to be doable from the particular school, if it's consulting you're gonna need to prepare for recruiting as soon as you get onto campus pretty much and know that's your goal now to prepare for it. Having little idea what you want to do with an MBA isn't likely going to help in maximizing salary. That'd be true even for students entering the top schools (everyone needs to start with some direction and plan even if it eventually changes).

Why did you apply to those three particular schools in the first place? Can those reasons help with the decision now? They are in very different parts of the countries and really a bigger factor in making the decision will be where you want to live after business school. Oregon State you would be looking at roles in Portland/Oregon, Florida State will be northern Florida and maybe Orlando, and not really sure about UNC-Greensboro. That's just a guess from a moderate awareness of the first two universities more generally in their states. If you've seen what companies hire there you should look if that indicates geographically where they place. And even the salaries might be based on the geography- OSU will likely be higher because some alums place in Portland with higher salaries but cost of living is higher, FSU salary is lower because a lot place in North Florida, etc. (so picking OSU just for salary might not even make financial sense if you're not comparing cost of living). This is also why you would hopefully find the full employment report to get this info more clearly. If you just can't find it you should ask the school. If they don't provide it that's a concern.

I haven't seen many people talking about those three schools on here, so not sure you'll get much info on all three schools (and unlikely even one that someone knows well). Ask the schools for employment reports, ask to talk to current students and be connected to alums to ask questions about the classes, recruiting, and return on investment, and really think what industry/role you want before making this decision. Those are my suggestions if they are helpful.

Mo2men · Answer

Hi  zjd13

I actually support what  ThadGA08  has mentioned in his post above. I tried to get any employment info from their websites. It is either non-exist or very vague pages about careers. You need to be very cautious when applying to such schools. You want to get rewarded with job after your program.

What were your goals when you applied to those schools? Have you got any info about them? I hope so.

zjd13 · Answer

I'm in a unique situation, I applied to those three schools because someone else is paying for my MBA education and those three schools are within the budget without me having to pay anything out of my pocket. I chose those three schools because those are 3 places I wouldn't mind living while I am going to grad school. I also choose these schools because they cater/tailor the programs to students coming straight out of undergrad, like myself. Which are better suited for me right now than other programs designed with working professionals in mind.

Immediately following completion of my MBA I will be traveling the world for a year, possibly two. So I won't be going right into the workforce in one of those locations. Therefore I'm not considering other schools that are much likely better, because of budget and other reasons. So I have to choose between these three.

As far as just getting an MBA to get an MBA goes, with essentially having no direction. Thanks. I've heard that a lot. But the MBA will serve my purpose. Instead of starting at 45k with a bachelors I will hopefully start at 65k or more if I'm lucky. That alone makes it worth it for me in my situation. This is a unique, specific situation.

I really appreciate both of your general advice.

ThadGA08 · Answer

Ok with that context zjd13 I would:

-Talk with the career service department at each school and get real employment numbers. I'd say at least to the level of detail of this infographic from UNC (Kenan-Flagler) but I've seen it broken down even further (ex. high and low salaries for each industry/function)- https://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/~/medi ... .pdf?la=en. If you can't get at least that level of information (% going into each industry, average salary in each industry, % going to what geographical region) from them directly I think that's a big flag.

-Also talk with career services about their support of people coming straight from undergrad (you mentioned they tailor the larger program more specifically to people doing that which is good) and then also what support they might offer you when you return from your travels abroad after a year or two. A lot of the salary bump from getting an MBA typically isn't just from having the degree but accessing a school's networks and alumni. Whatever the higher paying jobs are from a particular school it likely maybe because it's coming from on-campus recruiting and where a lot of alums end up and that might not be as available to you 1-2 years out after you've been traveling and on top of coming straight from undergrad. Take what they say with a grain of salt (it might be BS) but if you get the feeling 1 or 2 of the schools will offer more support after your travels (could you participate in on-campus recruiting 1-2 years later?) that could be a big determining factor.

-I would also talk with admissions to try and be connected to students and hopefully second years who came straight from undergrad to hear their experience recruiting for internships and now full-time roles. Plus talk with students so you get a feel for the school more generally.

-You may see if anyone created "Calling All" application threads for OSU, FSU, and UNC-Greensboro and try to talk to those applicants since I don't think you'll have much luck on people who know those schools coming across this on the more general "Deciding" message board. But overall likely better to go directly to the schools for this kind of info.

-If you already have tried these things above, apologies, but your previous questions for a lot of info and where to find it made me want to offer those suggestions.

If you can't get info on all of these things (and especially if they can't provide somewhat comprehensive employment data) then I would consider cutting that particular school from your list. After that point (with cost and where you want to live after being equal it sounds like) it pretty much will all be fit (culture, size) and where you want to spend two years. Have you had a chance to visit each of the schools? From my experience, Corvallis and Tallahassee have felt pretty similar but Tallahassee is bigger and is more accessible (has an airport that can take you some places) and has parts that don't feel as dominated by the university (but close to campus they feel decently similar). Never been to Greensboro.

We're all just strangers on a message board so hopefully the advice pointing you in directions to gain more info is helpful and the rest you can disregard but if some of it came off (or continues to come off) as questioning it is because we want to help make sure whichever school you choose can meet your expectations. And that you're seeing some potential pitfalls coming up. You may find different info from the full employment reports, but US World News says the average base salary at Oregon State is $76,167, Florida State is $60,933, and UNC-Greensboro is $61,000. I think for your purposes you should consider the average as your ceiling (in evaluating schools and ROI- in reality it may turn out different). There may be some special things in your academic background or college internships, but it would likely be a good strategy to expect that the people making above the average are those with prior work experience and that are leveraging the resources of the school in their second year to land jobs (not taking 1-2 years off). And just be prepared (and why you want to see employment reports) that there are schools out there where people with MBAs legit end up making the same as people straight out of undergrad at 45-50k and sometimes struggle even with that because employers think they are too educated. Even if the "average salary" looks pretty good. I don't know if these three schools are like that, but you should wanna analyze the employment reports carefully for that info. But just based on average base salary looks like Oregon State might be the only one that meets your expectations re: wanting a 65k salary.

vks0088 · Answer

Hello everyone I have two admits hec montreal and ted rogers mba-mti program. Both are summer start. I have tech. Background but i am targeting consulting as my postmba goal. I hav no scholarships from both schools. HEC Montreal us ranked higher but I dont know french which is atfirst may be required to get a job there.where should i join..i need help

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bb · Answer

Please start a new thread by using New Topic button and don’t highjack this thread.

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Deciding between my MBA offers

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