Indian Applicant - admitted to Anderson ($$), Kellogg, UW Foster ($$)

Question

Hi all,

I have seen these posts to be quite helpful with replies from current students as well as GMAT club moderators, so sharing my situation here:

I'm fortunate to have been admitted to a few schools and am currently considering among with 4 options (UCLA Anderson (50% scholarship), Kellogg, UW Foster (50% scholarship), Duke Fuqua. Here are some considerations that are important to me:

1. Pivot to tech  : I'm currently working as a consultant at a top US-based consulting firm and have had the opportunity to see the US consulting industry up close with multiple projects onsite in the US. My first option after MBA would be to ideally pivot into a Program Manager / Strategy role in Big Tech. Second backup option would be consulting, where I could ideally return to my own firm but in the US. This is the reason I'm also considering UW Foster among others.

2. Financial Considerations  : Like most students, I'm planning to take a student loan for most of the cost of attendance and it would be much more significant in case of some schools over other. I am a bit more worried about the loans and payback especially because of the current political environment and limited jobs for international students, hence this is an importance consideration for me. I am planning to stay in the US for at least 5 years after MBA. Here are the details of loans that might be needed:

Kellogg - $230K
UCLA Anderson - $150K (because of scholarship)
UW Foster - $80K (because of no housing cost as I have family in Seattle + lower cost program + scholarship)
Fuqua - ~$200K

3. Entrepreneurship  : This is another learning area that I want to take away from Business school - although I would be recruiting for Big Tech and Consulting after MBA (also owing to visa limitations for international students for entrepreneurship), I do want to venture into the startup world some point down the line - be it in the US or back in India so it is important for me to learn about starting your own business and potentially making connections in the startup world.

Finally, on a separate note, I'm also wondering if I should apply to Berkeley Haas or Yale in Round-3 if admits from them might completely change the dynamics of this decision and path. Thanks all!

Sarcentaur · Answer

bb  - looking for your advice here. Thank you!

bb · Answer

Congratulations!!! That's fantastic result. Have you gone back to check with Fuqua if they had a bit more $?

bb · Answer

P.S. I saw your post come in but on a call so could not reply much more than that 😇

Sarcentaur · Answer

Thank you!! Yes I have tried to re-negotiate scholarships as most of these schools but have not been successful there. Although all of them mentioned they might be able to reconsider one R2 results are out but unsure how that would look like.

bb

Congratulations!!! That's fantastic result. Have you gone back to check with Fuqua if they had a bit more $?

Sarcentaur · Answer

No worries, thank you! Pls let me know if having any more info would be helpful for sharing your thoughts.

bb · Answer

A few more thoughts and sorry for being somewhat random, just sharing top of mind:

1. Applying in R3 is not the most productive thing to do BUT, you may as well so you don't have regrets. It seems it would not take all that much to repurpose your essays. Not likely to change things but I would just for the heck of it.

2. Tech has been beaten down lately and tech PM recruiting has suffered greatly. I know folks from M7's who have struggled for a long time to find jobs and took not their first choice though at least something in a big Tech firm. Having top consulting experience is great and hopefully you can leverage and bring some PM qualifications to the table. However, it is hard to break through into an attractive position without PM experience as so many PM's have been laid off and looking for work.

3. This leads me to the fact that you will likely be applying to both Tech and Consulting and perhaps Consulting first as it has the earlier timeline for recruiting and Tech is more immediate so to speak and later and hopefully improves in a year. For consulting, Fuqua and Kellogg would be significantly better than Anderson and Foster and Kellogg is clearly higher ranked and more resource-rich than Fuqua, so that would be one choice that would not be wrong under any lens.

4. Risk. Foster is theoretically much less risk as you borrow significantly less and hopefully you have bit of a network (through family) in Seattle. Everyone works for MSFT, Amazon, Meta, or Google here and the key is networking and getting in touch with the right people. At the same time, you have to be realistic that Foster is not Kellogg and the caliber of alums and their roles is not going to be on par (on average at least) and some of the roles folks take from Foster at Amazon or Microsoft may be quite different from what folks from M7 may get offered but you are not just offered a better role solely because you have an M7 label (otherwise HBS would annihilate everyone) and just as with consulting, your prior accomplishments, experience, and ability to impress and perform in the interview matter quite a bit. You have to stand on your own 2 feet when it comes to recruiting and in some way those will be the same 2 feet whether in Evanston or in the U District so the question is how much growth and reliance you want to have on networking of your school's network.

I see these reasons to go to Kellogg:

If you did not have a strong brand on your resume, absolutely, but you do already with a consulting firm so not as valuable for validation 
 If you want to rely on School's network for recruiting into Tech and don't have much of your own connections. Foster helps but the less selective a program, the weaker connections. 
 Consulting - Kellogg Consulting club will absolutely be way above and beyond of what you can find at Foster in terms of practice, support, prep, and training. Your chances of getting into MBB will be significantly better as the result.  
 You don't want to settle for a lower-prestige role at Amazon for example (though you can move quite easily with time) 
 More recruiting on Campus (employers are more motivated to recruit from Kellogg than Foster or even Fuqua to some extent). Kellogg is bigger, greater reach, more alums, more prestige, etc.  
 No regrets that you made a bad decision when things don't work out. You got the strongest brand you had, so money is well spent even if things are tough with a job.

Reasons for Foster:

1. Less financial risk (but potentially less reward)
2. You are not concerned about potentially getting into the top roles at Amazon, MSFT, Apple, or Meta and would be Ok starting in the retail vs. AWS at Amazon or in operations at Apple vs. product. (though frankly these are even the roles M7 folks are settling into)
3. You have a network in Seattle and you feel the lack of prestige and personally you can network well

TargetKellogg2024  - any thoughts on Kellogg vs. Foster for Tech?

amrithdeepak99 · Answer

I would suggest applying Round 3, since there's no harm in trying.

Regarding your options, I think Kellogg is the strongest school. I think they'll have the best resources for entrepreneurship. Purely for moving to tech, the schools with scholarship would work too.

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Go to Kellogg man!

Indian Applicant - admitted to Anderson ($$), Kellogg, UW Foster ($$)

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