Where to go for LDPs - Tepper or McCombs

Question

I have funding that will make Tepper cost about 100,000 and McCombs cost around 120,000. My goal is to get into an LDP like Amazon Pathways.

All else being equal, should I pick one over the other?

Higheredguy · Answer

No feedback?

bb · Answer

Hi Higheredguy! Sorry I am late and your post was a "strange" time for so I have missed it in the sea of others

Are you still on the waitlist at your dream school? or is one of these it? Usually LDP's are a bit tricky as only so few spots are available but it usually provides a nice cushy start to your career (not sure if anything is cushy at Amazon... but other companies for sure). If you are looking for Tech, I think both companies can lead there. I would actually vote a little bit more towards McCombs and not because of the money but the location and long term engagement with the McCombs community. Anyone familiar with LDP's or Amazon Pathways?

souvik101990 · Answer

Yes. Very familiar with pathways. It is not that hard to get into especially if you have done ops in the past. Both should be good entry for Amazon Pathways program, with McCombs probably a very slight edge? I see them hiring in a very school-agnostic way.

Higheredguy · Answer

Thanks for the tips everyone! Why do you guys think slight edge to McCombs? Even a slight edge with the funding difference?

Souvik, looks like you have ops experience. Are there any similar roles like pathways you know of?

bb · Answer

I think the reason McCombs is getting a bit of an edge is the same as foster. It’s the location. You won’t find a big foster community in New York or Chicago doing finance or consulting But if you work for Amazon or Microsoft, you dub and foster are big well know names.

Both schools have their clout in part due to undergrad and in part due to location being so close to some of the fastest growing companies and some of the richest companies in the United States. Being close to employers provides a number of extra opportunities for the career services and students to network.

Living in Redmond for example, three of my neighbors on my cul-de-sac, worked at Microsoft one used to work for Microsoft but moved onto healthcare company and another one worked for Google.

As a matter of fact, all of them worked in tech, granted not all of them were leading divisions at Microsoft and perhaps doing database programming but still they were insiders.

Many of the students, full-time or part-time have work at the tech industry and could service connections or reference points. Maybe they don’t hand you the job or introduce you to the key decision-maker but they tell you about the process. They tell you what to avoid and what to watch out for. That’s worth something and a lot of times it’s an edge enough.

Granted, not all tech jobs are the same. If you have a great amazing experience and you went to the top three and you’re recruiting an Amazon or Microsoft or Apple, you’re probably looking at a different set of opportunities compared to someone with decent profile but coming out of McCombs or foster. However, hi Seo the role you get is not necessarily decided by the school you went to. Obviously some programs recruit only from certain schools. They can’t be reviewing resumes from thousands of schools but once you make a certain cut, a lot of times it’s your experience pre-business school that sets the tone for your role how long was your internship

Does this make any sense?
I guess I’m saying that if you’re looking for a tech job in Austin, it’s worth 20,000 to go to McCombs.

Posted from my mobile device

jd03 · Answer

FWIW, if Amazon is actually a target and not just an example Tepper is one of the best places to be to break in. Their CFO is a Tepper alum and they are the No.2 ranked MBA for operations ( https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/production-operations-rankings

I think a lot of people might prefer the idea of Austin to Pittsburgh but Tepper has a much more spread out alumni base which is kind of rare in the T20 and really appealing to me. I also think Tepper being cheaper tuition should be important considering these are peer schools and Pitt is much lower COL than Austin!

bb · Answer

Thank you! 
Good point about the operations side of things with an Amazon. So many people think of Amazon is a tech company but it’s their operational excellence and ability to execute what really matters and that doesn’t mean writing good code but rather managing the projects!

I see about 53 people out of 230 for the class of 2019 have gone to the West Coast. I am guessing that some positions probably were Midwest or East Coast-based?

Posted from my mobile device

Higheredguy · Answer

This is all quite true... I am leaning towards Tepper now.

Where to go for LDPs - Tepper or McCombs

Which school for LDPs

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards