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13 Apr 2021, 12:03
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I was fortunate enough to be admitted to both UCLA Anderson and UVA Darden (no scholarship awarded at either). Unfortunately, I'm really struggling on what the right decision is for me.
For background, I am currently a data scientist aiming to transition into a Tech PM role. I was blessed enough to have my current company (a small software company in Atlanta) sponsor my MBA, so I will not have to pay for the education, but will owe them 3.5 years upon returning post-MBA. This removes any need to utilize the career center for internship / full-time job search. Long term, I would love to work for an early stage start-up and (very) long-term likely pursue VC / entrepreneurship.
I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA and have built a decent network here. However, I am a bit burnt out on the Southeast and would love to live out West for a while. I love Southern California, but due to the HCOL and my company sponsorship, I would probably opt to live in the Rockies post-MBA (I can work fully remote). Long term I will probably bounce between the West and East.
Here are the major pros / cons for each school that I have come up with so far.
Darden Pros:
- Prestige (Darden typically borders Top 10 rankings)
- Venture Capital curriculum (there are VC bootcamps, clubs, and various connection events; they also claim that Charlottesville is the #1 fastest growing city for VC)
- Tight knit community (being a small town, it seems like the MBA students really get to know each other)
- Cost of living (significantly lower cost of living, I may even be able to purchase a condo and then rent it out after graduation)
Darden Cons:
- Heavy workload (this may detract from being able to participate in VC clubs, network, etc.)
- Network is predominantly East coast (Darden's job report says that 15% end up in California & another 15% end up in the West)
- Small community size may make it difficult to meet people outside the program (I'm currently single and am open to finding a SO)
- Case based (Darden is 100% case based, I'm sure I'd get the hang of this but I'm not too experienced here, so there's a risk I don't adapt to this learning style)
Anderson Pros:
- Recruits heavily for technology (employment report shows 30% of students end up at Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, etc.)
- Proximity to start-ups (Lyft, Snap, etc.)
- Activities (let's face it, LA sounds like a much cooler place to spend 2 years than Charlottesville)
- Curriculum (fairly flexible with capstone projects, such as Business Creation Option, that let's you build a company over 2 semesters)
- Large city (high odds that I could find a SO outside of the program)
Anderson Cons:
- Slightly less prestigious (borderline Top 15; may get "crowded out" by other top west coast schools such as Haas and GSB)
- No clear VC curriculum (at least none that I could find)
- HCOL (LA is an expensive city, I think there would be ~$25k total swing between Darden & Anderson)
- Less school "identity" (I've heard from some Anderson students that they feel less connected to their classmates; likely a result of their being so much to do in LA)
I would greatly appreciate the communities perspectives, opinions, or frameworks on how to make a decision! Thank you all so much!
For background, I am currently a data scientist aiming to transition into a Tech PM role. I was blessed enough to have my current company (a small software company in Atlanta) sponsor my MBA, so I will not have to pay for the education, but will owe them 3.5 years upon returning post-MBA. This removes any need to utilize the career center for internship / full-time job search. Long term, I would love to work for an early stage start-up and (very) long-term likely pursue VC / entrepreneurship.
I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA and have built a decent network here. However, I am a bit burnt out on the Southeast and would love to live out West for a while. I love Southern California, but due to the HCOL and my company sponsorship, I would probably opt to live in the Rockies post-MBA (I can work fully remote). Long term I will probably bounce between the West and East.
Here are the major pros / cons for each school that I have come up with so far.
Darden Pros:
- Prestige (Darden typically borders Top 10 rankings)
- Venture Capital curriculum (there are VC bootcamps, clubs, and various connection events; they also claim that Charlottesville is the #1 fastest growing city for VC)
- Tight knit community (being a small town, it seems like the MBA students really get to know each other)
- Cost of living (significantly lower cost of living, I may even be able to purchase a condo and then rent it out after graduation)
Darden Cons:
- Heavy workload (this may detract from being able to participate in VC clubs, network, etc.)
- Network is predominantly East coast (Darden's job report says that 15% end up in California & another 15% end up in the West)
- Small community size may make it difficult to meet people outside the program (I'm currently single and am open to finding a SO)
- Case based (Darden is 100% case based, I'm sure I'd get the hang of this but I'm not too experienced here, so there's a risk I don't adapt to this learning style)
Anderson Pros:
- Recruits heavily for technology (employment report shows 30% of students end up at Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, etc.)
- Proximity to start-ups (Lyft, Snap, etc.)
- Activities (let's face it, LA sounds like a much cooler place to spend 2 years than Charlottesville)
- Curriculum (fairly flexible with capstone projects, such as Business Creation Option, that let's you build a company over 2 semesters)
- Large city (high odds that I could find a SO outside of the program)
Anderson Cons:
- Slightly less prestigious (borderline Top 15; may get "crowded out" by other top west coast schools such as Haas and GSB)
- No clear VC curriculum (at least none that I could find)
- HCOL (LA is an expensive city, I think there would be ~$25k total swing between Darden & Anderson)
- Less school "identity" (I've heard from some Anderson students that they feel less connected to their classmates; likely a result of their being so much to do in LA)
I would greatly appreciate the communities perspectives, opinions, or frameworks on how to make a decision! Thank you all so much!
13 Apr 2021, 19:03
Kudos
Bookmarks
Congratulations! Fantastic to be admitted and also have a sponsorship. You will have to do half the work (though many actually do recruit for an internship and some even recruit for a job to see if they can get a better offer potentially or a sexier title; it may not work well with a small company but in big faceless corporations where it is an HR process, that does not burn a bridge as much).
In any case, you will be a very relaxed MBA student since all of the craziness is actually driven by the recruiting, chasing opportunities, networking, circles of death, etc.
I am very curious what you end up doing during your spare time. School will eat up a good chunk of your time but then when everyone goes on a recruiting IB trek to NYC or possibly Silicon Valley and those trips are $3-5K easily, are you going to participate or hang back? Also curious if you are going to be working PT with your current employer (it is possible while maintaining an MBA student's life style of sleeping 4-5 hours /night). Really depends on what you want to get out of your MBA. Lots of folks get burnt out of classes after the first year (which is why the second year allows you to choose your classes, many choose classes with take-home finals so that they can focus on recruiting or potentially just running the clock down while they are waiting to start a job and start actually working). MBA is very different when you don't need to recruit and that will sort of take some of the desperation and motivation from you.
As VC and IB are all high-energy pursuits, you have to really be desperate and backed against the wall or really "Type A" personality to score a role but even if you do, what are you doing to do, are you doing to leave your employer? It did not sound like that from your conversation and I am not sure that any network you build in Charlottesville or SoCal will be strong enough to give much value after 3.5 years when you are free. The MBA is much more immediate - it is what you can get when you graduate and the value diminishes over time in terms of reputation and usefulness.
I think the motivation is a big factor in business school (as you probably got from the last 3 paragraphs that all seem to be focusing on that) and I feel you won't have the natural motivation of self-perfection and self-study to do better, study all the nuances of Accounting or HR class as it will inevitably get boring and highly theoretical. Which is why I feel you will be happier at the Anderson program. It will provide opportunities to do more in the city, network, and potentially take it easy if you choose to. You will get to live in LA for 2 years which you would not otherwise experience (very different from Atlanta - nobody is from LA and everyone is welcome). It is really about looking deep down when it is November or February and you have little daylight, it is cold boring lots of books and cases to read and you already have job. What will you be betting out of this time? Might as well be in LA since you are already spending 100K/year in tuition and living expenses, may as well kick in another 10-15K to be on the beach and live the dream of no obligations (for the time being) if that is your thing... my recommendation would also be to do an exchange and spend a semester in Asia, Europe or South America. Anderson has a good size exchange network. This is something most FT students can't afford to do as it interferes with recruiting.
That's my 1 cent
In any case, you will be a very relaxed MBA student since all of the craziness is actually driven by the recruiting, chasing opportunities, networking, circles of death, etc.
I am very curious what you end up doing during your spare time. School will eat up a good chunk of your time but then when everyone goes on a recruiting IB trek to NYC or possibly Silicon Valley and those trips are $3-5K easily, are you going to participate or hang back? Also curious if you are going to be working PT with your current employer (it is possible while maintaining an MBA student's life style of sleeping 4-5 hours /night). Really depends on what you want to get out of your MBA. Lots of folks get burnt out of classes after the first year (which is why the second year allows you to choose your classes, many choose classes with take-home finals so that they can focus on recruiting or potentially just running the clock down while they are waiting to start a job and start actually working). MBA is very different when you don't need to recruit and that will sort of take some of the desperation and motivation from you.
As VC and IB are all high-energy pursuits, you have to really be desperate and backed against the wall or really "Type A" personality to score a role but even if you do, what are you doing to do, are you doing to leave your employer? It did not sound like that from your conversation and I am not sure that any network you build in Charlottesville or SoCal will be strong enough to give much value after 3.5 years when you are free. The MBA is much more immediate - it is what you can get when you graduate and the value diminishes over time in terms of reputation and usefulness.
I think the motivation is a big factor in business school (as you probably got from the last 3 paragraphs that all seem to be focusing on that) and I feel you won't have the natural motivation of self-perfection and self-study to do better, study all the nuances of Accounting or HR class as it will inevitably get boring and highly theoretical. Which is why I feel you will be happier at the Anderson program. It will provide opportunities to do more in the city, network, and potentially take it easy if you choose to. You will get to live in LA for 2 years which you would not otherwise experience (very different from Atlanta - nobody is from LA and everyone is welcome). It is really about looking deep down when it is November or February and you have little daylight, it is cold boring lots of books and cases to read and you already have job. What will you be betting out of this time? Might as well be in LA since you are already spending 100K/year in tuition and living expenses, may as well kick in another 10-15K to be on the beach and live the dream of no obligations (for the time being) if that is your thing... my recommendation would also be to do an exchange and spend a semester in Asia, Europe or South America. Anderson has a good size exchange network. This is something most FT students can't afford to do as it interferes with recruiting.
That's my 1 cent
