In descending order of what industry I'm aiming for:
Brand Management
General LDP
General Management
I've been fortunate to be admitted into all the programs I applied to. I'm coming from a non-traditional background so a school that has an established pipeline in my desired industries is nice.
Kelley:
Pros -
Fantastic school for CPG
Facilities seemed top notch & campus was beautiful
Student body seemed helpful
Cons -
Most expensive
Wife isn't thrilled about living in Bloomington but said she will
Student body is helpful but most of the people I met seemed extremely similar with their body language & behavior (could be an effect of business school?)
Midwest career most likely
Wisconsin: (haven't visited campus yet)
Pros -
May be giving me most financial aid (currently qualified for in-state tuition but may be eligible for more)
Again, fantastic school for CPG
A bit smaller class size than Kelley
Alumni network seems great
Madison is a bigger city
Cons -
I haven't visited in person so haven't been able to interact face-to-face with students
Wisconsin winters (Texas boy here)
What happens if CPG/Brand isn't what I end up wanting to do once I get there?
Midwest career most likely
Texas A&M:
Pros-
Aggie Network/Aggie Ring (this is the biggest draw for me right now for Mays)
When wife and I visited, everyone was extremely friendly. During my class visit I loved interacting with the students, very laid back.
Close to home
Accelerated program, done in 18 months
Decent scholarship & eligible for diversity fellowship
Places well with Texas companies & could get into O&G worst case
Cons -
Smaller program than the others (could be a good thing?)
Hardly any placement in CPG (much harder to get foot in the door from there)
Would definitely need a backup option to CPG because of their placement, don't know what yet.
I know each school has something great going for it. I picked these school to apply to because of that. I know if I want to go CPG, the obvious choice is between Kelley & Wisconsin. The Aggie network is huge in Texas (somewhat globally) so that may help make some inroads to positions I seek. Would love to hear from others just to make sure I'm not missing something huge here. Thank you!