Cornell ($100K scholarship) or UCLA (no scholarship)

Question

I've seen several Cornell vs UCLA posts in the past but I am really at a crossroads here facing this particular decision. Assuming the only financial aid I have is to take out loans (federal + private), no savings/other aid, **which is the better choice - Cornell with $100K scholarship or UCLA at full price?**

* Choosing Cornell means taking out roughly $100K in loans.
* Choosing UCLA means taking out roughly $200K in loans.

**Background**: I'm currently in LA in the media & entertainment industry working in Strategy & Operations within tech & engineering. For post-MBA roles, I am looking into product management in consumer tech or shift to a different function within media & entertainment (ie. marketing, content strategy, other creative areas), and maybee consulting. I am born and raised in LA and intend to stay in LA after graduation, and to eventually start a family.

I do prioritize the network I'd be building while getting my MBA but not sure if it's worth taking out an extra $100K in loans to do so in LA. If UCLA, I love that I have the option to include my significant other to events and wouldn't have to maintain a long distance relationship. However taking that extra $100K in loans would still be a burden on us, which I am most concerned with. We are looking forward to an eventual wedding + house as well.

**Cornell vs UCLA**: I've been told Cornell has the stronger national brand and is slightly higher in rankings. I don't care too much for that since they're pretty comparable in my opinion, given the stats of those that go into tech, consulting, and media/entertainment. What matters to me is the quality and quantity of career opportunities and network.

**Questions that run in my head**: Is it difficult to build a strong network or find great job opportunities on the west coast if you attend Cornell? How much of a network, one that you can maintain strong connections with, can you build if you move cross-country right after graduation? How much of a burden is it really to take on an extra $100K in loans? Suppose I find a job post-MBA that pays $200K, is that even enough to comfortably pay off my loans? Is location more important than $100K?? Do I even get an MBA??? (jk)

I would appreciate any insight on this decision! Thank you so much in advance!

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits!

Anderson would not match any money? Or you have not approached them? That seems to be a sticking point.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/negotiating- ... 12949.html

Posted from my mobile device

ljyxcl · Answer

I tried! It was just today that they said they won't match, nor give any money

Any insights/advice you have knowing this?

bb · Answer

Ah. Wow. Interesting.

My guess is they are probably out of money at this point… so I’m sure they would like to offer some thing but they don’t have anything to offer.

Interestingly enough as I’m trying to look up employment report for Johnson, I’m getting page not found for both of the last years… 🥴 is this because they have an issue with it and they’re hiding it or restating it or updating it? The new US news ranking is supposed to come out next week. This is kind of odd. Not at all related to your decision but just weird since I looked it up earlier this week and it was working and I can still see the cash version of the page…

You may know that Johnson doesn’t really have a strong presence on the West Coast. The place people mostly in New York area which provides them was amazing salary fingers. At the same time only about 15% are on the West Coast. Primary focus at the school are finance and consulting and tech is a distant third.

The Sims are getting upgraded to business class on the flight to the wrong city. Would you rather fly in business class but the wrong city or flying economy back to your city?

So it’s not like UCLA is going to blow open a bunch of doors for you in LA. Media and entertainment are a strong referral and relationship type of industries and you already have experience and connections there. I feel your best opportunities after MBA would be leveraging your own net work or Alumni network. Obviously LA is full of people from Anderson and UCLA so you will be able to network with people plus be there.

With Johnson, or you can try to locate those 15% of the class, but 30 people who go out west, probably most of them in Seattle and San Francisco however. So I think you’re connections would be a personal ones mostly. I would tell you based on mine and everyone else’s experience, business school is extremely busy so it will be challenging to maintain your old networks even the ones you have right now while you are in business school. So there’s a pretty good chance he would be losing Your personal network strength while also not gaining much in your target geography. But you would be sort of gaining 100,000 but you wouldn’t have actually access to it so it’s fake money… you’re not getting anything, you’re borrowing less. I mean it would be tricky to find people to help you just because I’m guessing there’s not many of them in Los Angeles but they’re definitely some in Tech.

As much as I’m trying to see a way for you to save money and get an MBA from her national brand with an ivy league umbrella, it just doesn’t seem to fit. I can’t really find an angle 😬 I think if you were looking to go into consulting, I would definitely recommend Johnson. You would have better chances there. 30% goes into Consulting And it’s a solid pipeline.

He also doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of reason to leave LA only to come back later.

About your concerns for pay and paying back the loans, the last few years have been really good in tech and so I have seen people being in the green in less than three years. Amazon used to have a 75,000 sign on bonus when they were hiring last year…. And people graduating with $200,000 in debt, would have a net worth that would be positive taken into consideration savings and stock vested. Granted there would be taxes if they sold the stock and all that stuff but the bottom line is that’s an extremely fast payback timeline even with West Coast cost of living. I guess there wasn’t a whole lot of going out and travel in the last few years but I’m sure it’s even possible to never save enough money in 30 years if you’re constantly spending it 😇

PS. I think you can consider option of not doing an MBA. It’s definitely been possible to transition into p.m. rolls through other means when PMs were hot a year or two ago. I think if you really wanted to, you could find a way to take a pay cut and work your way up in the p.m. world somehow. However, right now it’s kind of a terrible time as everyone is dreading upcoming layoffs and all of the tech companies so may not be a bad time to get a degree well everything is crashing and burning but timing the market is always tough so… I would say if you feel your career kind of peaked for the time being, it may be time to go to business school but if you can still keep pushing attend keep getting promotions and other girls opportunities, you can also consider reapplying next year if things are good.

Posted from my mobile device

Flypaper3533 · Answer

Congrats on the admits. Graduating from either school will allow you to pay off an extra $100k in no time (assuming you don't depend on a getting a visa). Maybe even as low as 3 years if you make frugal lifestyle choices. Even lower if you get a nice sign-up bonus.

Personally, in your shoes, I would pick Cornell, save the $100k, and work a few years wherever I have to. Then start applying to jobs in LA and planning to move back.

But don't listen to the poll. This is a personal choice. How badly do you want to live in LA vs experiencing a new city? Will you be able to make long-distance relationship work?

AstroNut · Answer

Pros of choosing Cornell -

-  EXPLORE!  - You said you have lived in LA all your life, it would do you good to explore other places for a little while. I would certainly see it as an opportunity to explore and leave your comfort zone for a couple of years.

-  CORNELL!  - Cornell University is an amazing place to be, its campus has a looooooong history and you can feel it while walking around the campus. I miss being there. The four seasons are breathtakingly beautiful to experience.

MONEY  - You save $100k+the interest and lets agree interest is a b* ch ! I just paid off 47k student loan and the interest rate was 10% from 01 April. It took me 11 months after college ended to pay off and I paid off the loan aggressively because I didnt want to pay interest and still ended up paying $3500, thats roughly 7% of the principal amount. And after 11 months of working at top consulting firms, I have saved close to $0! Imagine interest on $100k and how much free money you will have to pay for how long (you can calculate and decide if thats something you want or not), all I can say is - its not worth it.

OPPORTUNITIES  - A question that you must answer is what is it that you will miss if you join Cornell instead of UCLA? I believe you can look for jobs in LA, network in LA and take few flights to LA and pay for it from the 100k tall stash of money you saved (if needed), in an era of zoom, you wouldn't miss out on opportunities solely because you are at Cornell.

Cons -  
- Cornell is located in Ithaca, its a small town, big city folks dont like it, I loved it because I dont like big cities anyways.
- Airport is a little far - nearest airport is Syracuse thats ~2hrs drive away.
- Snows - I LOVED winter because I love snowy winters, but a lot of my batchmates weren't a big fan of the weather

Hope it helps!

AstroNut · Answer

bb Not sure why the employment report is not working for you. can you try this link? https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/program ... ment-data/ I passed out in 2022. I can say employment in 2022 was great, very high recruitment % and packages also grew. I wouldn't be this sure about 2023 placement, overall the market is slow, limited placements, tech companies after laying off are cautious with their hiring. I would doubt if 2023 placements can hit 2022 numbers.

ljyxcl · Answer

Thank you for sharing such a thorough view! I was still leaning towards UCLA since I think there's a higher chance I'd regret not going to UCLA/building out an LA west coast network if I'd gone to Cornell, than the other way around. I would've loved to experience a new town but it may not be worth the price I'm paying in the long run. But good news! After much back and forth and from attending the admit weekend at UCLA, they offered to give me a scholarship, although it's only half of what Cornell is giving, it makes my decision for UCLA much less difficult.

Cornell ($100K scholarship) or UCLA (no scholarship)

Cornell ($100K scholarship) or UCLA (no scholarship)

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