Wharton vs. INSEAD vs. Cornell ($$$$)

Question

Hey all,

Fortunate to have been offered admission to INSEAD and Cornell and waitlisted to Wharton after applying to all my schools in the final rounds. A bit of background - I've been in corporate finance for the last 9 years, looking to transition to management consulting - hopefully with MBB in NYC.

INSEAD wants a decision in the next two days so I need to decide pretty quickly. I am considering drafting an email to let Wharton know that given my current offers, some including full schollies, and pending decisions from other top tier schools, if offered admission I would promptly choose them and end my search. Cornell has offered me almost a full scholarship (80% of tuition), while the INSEAD offer comes with no money at all.

Given that I have no strong preference on where I want to work (perhaps slightly towards NYC), I feel that if I go with INSEAD I would effectively be shutting the door to US opportunities almost completely. Wharton's brand is truly global, so even if I choose to work outside of the U.S. that would be possible. Cornell is great, but not in the same tier as the other two, but the money is extremely tempting.

My initial thoughts are to go with Wharton if I can persuade them to get me off the waitlist, but curious to know to get your thoughts/guidance.

Thanks!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Re: INSEAD, I don’t think you would be shutting out all opportunity to work in the US. Especially in New York for MBB, INSEAD is a consulting factory.

Is it possible to just pay the deposit for INSEAD and then hope you can incubate some thing with Wharton? Also in your letter to Wharton I think maybe a better tact would be to reinforce why are you fit with their values how you would contribute there and address any weaknesses that you might have in your application - more so than just telling them everybody else wants you - because they don’t see themselves as a peer to those schools.

with Johnson, consider how much or how little your future choices would be affected due to the loans. Would it stop you from pivoting from consulting if you hated it ? Or from starting a business ? What do you see as the upside of a different brand name in terms of dollars and cents?

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MBAGuide · Answer

Hi GK002 , hope you are doing well I agree with the previous comment. With INSEAD you would be able to recruit for any MBB office in the world (likewise for other consulting companies). Also, INSEAD's integrated exchange program with Wharton would allow you to explore interests in the US even outside of consulting opportunities. Irrespective of your decision all three are great schools and so congratulations to you

Best wishes

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Yes, you can do Period 4 or 5 at Wharton (or Kellogg) which aligns with recruitment timing

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FinanceMan · Answer

Not sure how I ended up posting a blank message.

Anywho, I would leave towards Wharton or INSEAD.

bb · Answer

Paying the INSEAD deposit is going to be expensive.

Recruiting in the US, is definitely possible for consulting unless you are a non-US person and you don’t have a work permit there. But if you’re not from the US and you don’t have a US work permit, I feel you would be in a very challenging position to recruit in the US because the US consulting salaries are so much higher that ideally everyone would love to recruit in the United States are but I don’t really see MBB going to Paris or Singapore to recruit folks for the US. Maybe I’m wrong and they have done this year? But my understanding is that those who get jobs in the US from Insead or actually US citizens and green card holders.

I do think that it’s possible to transfer after a few years and get transferred to one of the offices in the US however on a transfer visa which is usually fairly easy to get surprisingly. The key is to be able to find a transfer opportunity and do it a year or two after working.

It’s a tricky choice and kind of a bummer you don’t have anything in between these options. I guess another option could’ve been reapply next year….

Looking at the recruiting numbers for Johnson for the last year, they did fairly well with placement and based on your admit track record, I feel you would be at the top of the list for a number of recruiters and potentially give you a bit of an edge.

Keep in mind, management consulting recruiting is very selective. It’s also not the only job. You do have to go through a large number of interviews and it’s very easy to slip up in one of them. Not because you were bad but just all the personalities and the more you talk the greater the chance that someone will take things the wrong way.

Bottom line, if you have a US work permit and you don’t have a weird background that requires an internship, Insead would be very strong.

If you don’t have the US work permit and that is where you want to be in the long run, you can gamble on warden and potentially end up saving a decent amount of money with Johnson.

Your third option could perhaps be deferring to January intake. This hasn’t been an option in the past but in the last 12 months schools have been fairly generous and understanding with requests that are legitimate to defer to other intakes.

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bb · Answer

P.S. I replied on the phone and did not see you were not from the US. 
I feel being from another culture makes it tough for internationals to get into consulting and connect with interviewers during the recruiting process, sometimes having a hard time to find the balance between being too humble and too immodest....

Ideally you would have something like Tuck or Fuqua or Kellogg as an option in your choice but unfortunately those are not in the cards. 
My guess is that with INSEAD you would most likely have the best luck recruiting in Dubai. Not sure if that is an attractive option but with your background and skills it would be the most likely destination.... not a bad choice per se. London is another option of course. US would be easier if you have a work permit but tough otherwise.

GK002 · Answer

I am actually an American citizen so the work permit shouldn't be an issue. Appreciate your thoughts thus far. I got some further clarity from INSEAD and actually have a full month to decide whether I want to attend or not. So there is some time to see if anything with Wharton materializes.

bb · Answer

Awesome!

👍 in that case worth waiting for Wharton. When is the Johnson deadline or did you already pay the deposit?

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GK002 · Answer

15th of June is the deposit deadline for Johnson. Issue is Wharton don't have to make a decision until late July.

Wharton vs. INSEAD vs. Cornell ($$$$)

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