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Which school?

81% [22]
18% [5]
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Total votes : 27
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infam0s1992
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 27 Apr 2020, 07:17
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Hi everyone,

Extremely lucky to have gotten admits from two great schools, CMU Tepper and Cornell Johnson. I have half tuition scholarship from Tepper and no scholarship from Cornell. My post MBA goal is tech/digital consulting (not MBB or bust) and general management/ops in tech as back up. The scholarship from Tepper is important because I don't have much in savings, have existing undergrad student debt, and am from a first generation immigrant family so borrowing money from my parents is out of the picture. I'm not an international student. Both schools will get me to my career goals but the scholarship gives me more flexibility and I loved Tepper and the people when I visited. I didn't get a chance to visit Cornell due to COVID. Pittsburgh also is a lower cost of living compared to Ithaca. I'm just worried about the impact of the Cornell brand and ivy league status in the long term. Please help me decide.

Thanks!
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 27 Apr 2020, 07:40
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I think you know the answer.

Tepper, and it's not close.

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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 27 Apr 2020, 08:13
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infam0s1992
Hi everyone,

Extremely lucky to have gotten admits from two great schools, CMU Tepper and Cornell Johnson. I have half tuition scholarship from Tepper and no scholarship from Cornell. My post MBA goal is tech/digital consulting (not MBB or bust) and general management/ops in tech as back up. The scholarship from Tepper is important because I don't have much in savings, have existing undergrad student debt, and am from a first generation immigrant family so borrowing money from my parents is out of the picture. I'm not an international student. Both schools will get me to my career goals but the scholarship gives me more flexibility and I loved Tepper and the people when I visited. I didn't get a chance to visit Cornell due to COVID. Pittsburgh also is a lower cost of living compared to Ithaca. I'm just worried about the impact of the Cornell brand and ivy league status in the long term. Please help me decide.

Thanks!
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Tepper and Cornell are peer schools, I would maybe even give Tepper the edge. IF you took away the “Ivy”, which no one really cares about as it pertains to the MBA world, it would be Tepper outright. The fact that they’re giving you a half tuition is the cherry on top. Neither will give you a significant advantage over the other-money is not a luxury so take the cheap cola and tuition merit. Best of luck!
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 27 Apr 2020, 08:33
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I understand that financial buden is of your concern. I think CMU Tepper will be wise choice in your situation.

It will be a different case if Cornell offers you half or even full scholarship. If this were the case, I would pick Johnson.

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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 28 Apr 2020, 13:37
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infam0s1992
Hi everyone,

Extremely lucky to have gotten admits from two great schools, CMU Tepper and Cornell Johnson. I have half tuition scholarship from Tepper and no scholarship from Cornell. My post MBA goal is tech/digital consulting (not MBB or bust) and general management/ops in tech as back up. The scholarship from Tepper is important because I don't have much in savings, have existing undergrad student debt, and am from a first generation immigrant family so borrowing money from my parents is out of the picture. I'm not an international student. Both schools will get me to my career goals but the scholarship gives me more flexibility and I loved Tepper and the people when I visited. I didn't get a chance to visit Cornell due to COVID. Pittsburgh also is a lower cost of living compared to Ithaca. I'm just worried about the impact of the Cornell brand and ivy league status in the long term. Please help me decide.

Thanks!
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Congratulations on your admit. Both Tepper and Cornell are phenomenal schools. Given your goals of digital/tech consulting, I would give Tepper the edge already and along with the half-tuition scholarship, it definitely has a clear edge. Pittsburgh has a much lower cost of living as you rightly noted but its also a fun town with warmer climate than Ithaca. I would pick Cornell Johnson if your post-MBA goals are in IB or you are set on working in NYC. I do agree with your point about the brand of Cornell but Johnson is very comparable to Tepper and CMU has a big brand in Tech community. Personally, I would take Tepper in your situation. Good Luck!
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 28 Apr 2020, 14:20
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Thanks everyone!
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 28 Apr 2020, 23:26
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If you have a backup field, that would also make your choice a little more simple.

For example, you are interested in Tech/digital consulting. Fine. But if you don't get into that, do you have a secondary field that you'd prefer? For example, maybe tech? or Perhaps banking? If you have more of an affinity to tech, then Tepper makes even more sense, because of their strong tech placement. However if consulting doesn't pan out and you think you might want to do banking, Johnson might be worth some consideration.

FWIW, I would pick Tepper. Even though Tepper and Johnson are both in the middle of nowhere and therefore both have low COL, Tepper has given you a lot of money.
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 29 Apr 2020, 05:29
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ANALysis
.....Even though Tepper and Johnson are both in the middle of nowhere and therefore both have low COL,....
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Dude - Where do you get your information from? Pittsburgh isn’t in the middle of nowhere - it’s a real city, it’s got better public transport than even the Bay Area in California.
It does have many businesses, but it has Google, IBM, the 5th largest bank in the country, at least two large health care providers, US Steel and three large universities. It’s got a lot more going on than Ithaca.

My vote is for Tepper because for your post MBA goals Tepper would be equally good. Save $$$

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infam0s1992
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) Updated on: 29 Apr 2020, 06:05
Originally posted by infam0s1992 on 29 Apr 2020, 06:02.
Last edited by infam0s1992 on 29 Apr 2020, 06:05, edited 1 time in total.
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ANALysis
If you have a backup field, that would also make your choice a little more simple.

For example, you are interested in Tech/digital consulting. Fine. But if you don't get into that, do you have a secondary field that you'd prefer? For example, maybe tech? or Perhaps banking? If you have more of an affinity to tech, then Tepper makes even more sense, because of their strong tech placement. However if consulting doesn't pan out and you think you might want to do banking, Johnson might be worth some consideration.

FWIW, I would pick Tepper. Even though Tepper and Johnson are both in the middle of nowhere and therefore both have low COL, Tepper has given you a lot of money.
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Thanks for your response. As I have mentioned in my original post, my back up goal is general management/ops/finance in tech. Also, I would disagree that Pittsburgh is in the middle of nowhere, its a decently sized city with large employers, universities, NFL, and NHL teams.
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infam0s1992
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 29 Apr 2020, 06:03
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JohnJohnJ
ANALysis
.....Even though Tepper and Johnson are both in the middle of nowhere and therefore both have low COL,....
Dude - Where do you get your information from? Pittsburgh isn’t in the middle of nowhere - it’s a real city, it’s got better public transport than even the Bay Area in California.
It does have many businesses, but it has Google, IBM, the 5th largest bank in the country, at least two large health care providers, US Steel and three large universities. It’s got a lot more going on than Ithaca.

My vote is for Tepper because for your post MBA goals Tepper would be equally good. Save $$$

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Right, not sure why the person said Pittsburgh is in the middle of nowhere. In any case, thanks for your response.
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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 29 Apr 2020, 07:50
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infam0s1992

Right, not sure why the person said Pittsburgh is in the middle of nowhere. In any case, thanks for your response.
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Go Steeler!

It’s a public forum, people don’t need to back their comments with data, they can say whatever they want....

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Tepper ($$) vs. Cornell Johnson (no $) 29 Apr 2020, 19:51
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Tepper.

Johnson tried to push into tech, but the reality is all their tech placements come from the school's 1 year NYC Cornell TECH program and not the full time program.

Tepper places better in tech and the school is 100% behind the effort into its core MBA program.