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KF vs Kelley

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blowice27
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Hey there current 1st year UNC student and more than happy to help. Congrats on 2 terrific admits with scholarships. I will agree with most of your statements. UNC is a tier above Kelley, has better recruitment across several industries (though Indiana seems great at marketing given its location). UNC brand also stretches further, weather is beautiful and you can't beat Chapel Hill and the sports scene here. That said, depends on how cost averse you are. If you are set at Marketing, you can do that at both schools. If you think you might also switch to consulting, UNC has the edge in consulting recruitment.

I would spend the extra for UNC over Kelley but I hear Kelley is solid in marketing too. P.S I am going into Product Management and UNC opportunities were ample here.
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I would also chime in and point out that Consulting is the MAIN MBA job industry these days in many schools - everyone wants or thinks they want to go into consulting and there are many reasons but Consulting is very competitive as the result. Each program and school is able to place a decent number KF: 63 of 266 - about 24% and Kelley 37 out of 160 - about 23% as well. However, it is always harder to place 63 vs 37 folks while the chances are the same.

I would also venture out to say that most MBB's recruit heavily US applicants, unfortunately. It is very hard to get in as an international since you have to compete against fairly polished domestic candidates who are very presentable and don't have a language barrier. If you are aiming for consulting, start working on your speaking and presentation skills - those will be judged quite a bit as well as you case interviews.
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quick question - with only $5K difference in aid, why is your UNC cost $45K higher? Is it the cost of living? You can minimize a lot of that by being frugal.

Also, have you asked for more aid? You should!

Consulting can hardly ever be a plan B. It is most people's plan AAA and you will compete with them. Also sports marketing is very niche and will most likely never sponsor international students. Your best bet with be either consulting or tech, and for those reasons I would recommend UNC.
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quick question - with only $5K difference in aid, why is your UNC cost $45K higher? Is it the cost of living? You can minimize a lot of that by being frugal.

Also, have you asked for more aid? You should!

Consulting can hardly ever be a plan B. It is most people's plan AAA and you will compete with them. Also sports marketing is very niche and will most likely never sponsor international students. Your best bet with be either consulting or tech, and for those reasons I would recommend UNC.

So 10k in aid and UNC tuition is 15k higher per year.
I don't mind staying in tech(probably my best bet to get sponsorship) but still contemplating on function.
I'll make up my mind before I start school, but still weighing my options.
I will negotiate with UNC, and if I do get it it will hands down UNC.

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I got into KF(30k per) vs Kelley(35k per)- Indian-Tech
KF will cost me 40-45k more.

Post MBA : Plan A - Marketing/Brand Management/Advertising-Sales/Product Marketing Manager - No preference in Industry(Sports - NBA, Nike will be dream but these are quite difficult, havent seen NBA as a recruiter anywhere)
Plan b - Consulting(MBB or even internal strategy)

UNC wins in almost all aspects Location(Duke), Weather, Prestige and Brand Value, On-Campus Opportunities(?), Diversity(lots of Indians at kelley). Kelley wins on cost
UNC also has great sports culture(Ball is life) but not sure that translates into a job.

Both are STEM, but KF stem is related to business analytics and I dont want my job to revolve around analytics, although it can be part of what I do.

Leaning towards KF but not sure whether it commands such a premium. How long will it take to make up that difference?

Congrats on the admits! Two great programs. You are correct that KF is a tier above Kelley, but not by much. However, Kelley is a very strong marketing/brand management school. The opportunities I have been exposed to in the brand management world have been incredible, and I'm not sure I would have had those experiences anywhere else but Kelley. Bloomington also has a great sports culture here, as the Big 10 is a great and competitive division. The city has everything that you would need from a college town, at half the cost. Coming from a large city myself, I have been very happy with living here so far. Let us know if you have any other questions, or need further clarification on anything!
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Kenan-Flagler is definitely a better school than Indiana and the degree will go further than Kelley. Geographically places much better, higher salary, etc...
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Each program and school is able to place a decent number KF: 63 of 266 - about 24% and Kelley 37 out of 160 - about 23% as well. However, it is always harder to place 63 vs 37 folks while the chances are the same.
Can you elaborate a bit more bb KF places more in absolute numbers, so we should pick KF over Kelley if consulting is our target function?
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Adding WashU Olin with full scholarship. I don't think I prefer Olin, especially the way they're distributing scholarship.

But if I can get into stem dual degree for Olin, should I consider it as an option?
bb souvik101990

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Congrats on another admit!

I'm not sure if this was mentioned earlier, but Kelley just became STEM certified. I don't know if that is useful information, but wanted to make that known.
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Trying to keep the thread active.
I am planning on going into Brand Management in any industry.
UNC will cost me 125k
Kelley 80k
Olin only living expenses.
Any thoughts

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blowice27
Trying to keep the thread active.
I am planning on going into Brand Management in any industry.
UNC will cost me 125k
Kelley 80k
Olin only living expenses.
Any thoughts

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Three great schools, so you're in a great position to chose from those! As mentioned earlier, Kelley has a reputation as an exceptional "marketing school", with an emphasis on brand management. Some of my classmates are going to top companies within brand management - Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, ConAgra, Nestle, J&J, and more. The companies that recruit on campus here at Kelley consist of some of the big corporations for brand managers. Product management has also been growing in popularity, and I also have classmates going into this function within tech - PayPal, Amazon, Google, etc.

Let us know if you have any other questions!
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Hey - current 1st year at UNC. Awesome jobs at these schools! I do not know much about Kelley but I have heard they have a great reputation in brand management. I guess it would depend on geography. UNC's geographic placement will be a tad above Kelley. Also, the firms mentioned above me all come to UNC for brand management recruitment. We have a ton of people going to P&G (we are one of their core schools), Hershey (CEO Michelle Buck is a UNC alum), J&J, PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and much more. Goodluck!
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Where would you prefer to live post MBA?

Do you see yourself settling down in one place after school or moving a bit (to chase promotions or otherwise)?

The 10 yr ROI can be enormously affected by the upfront costs and the accrued interest.

If you're up for hustling a bit more (for better grades and internships / jobs), it would be tough to turn down a full ride anywhere. But, at a lower ranked school you'd need to be closer to the top of the class to compete against an average student at a higher ranked shop.

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Thanks everyone. I ended up deferring UNC.
However, I applied again and will be joining Kelley in 2021.

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Thanks everyone. I ended up deferring UNC.
However, I applied again and will be joining Kelley in 2021.

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Thank you so much for the update!
Glad you found UNC to be a good choice originally and congrats on getting a scholarship at Kelley!
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Hey guys, I kinda need your help here.
I got full scholarship from Kelley and 60% from UNC. I want to concentrate in Operations Management and Business analytics. My goal post MBA is to work in the tech industry as product manager or in strategy roles.

Given the location and the rank I want UNC but it’s tough to turn down a full ride scholarship. Any thoughts would help.

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I'd choose UNC, better ranked program, better location and more opportunities.
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