Waitlisted at top choice (McCombs), now what? Cox vs. Kenan-Flagler

I'm planning on doing that. I'm trying to consider all angles and would probably rank school fit for what I want to do and strength over the location if I'm honest with myself. I can always move back to Texas and honestly I'd prefer Austin over DFW. While $70k is a lot, the difference in salaries is also a lot - UNC claims $112k on average with 75% employed at graduation, while Cox claims $97k and 61% employed at graduation. The difference in cost is made up in 4-5 years and that's before you account for the starting salary being the base for raises, bonuses, etc.


I'm pretty fluid in terms of location at least temporarily, most of my friends have actually moved in the last couple years - best friend moved to Washington, another friend moved to Austin, another moved to Corpus Christi... and yet another is talking about getting a new job and possibly moving. I'm leaving my job regardless, so that's not a factor. It may end up being good for me to relocate and start fresh... Especially since SMU will be 40min away from my house and that will make extra-curricular socializing more difficult. The job determined where I bought the house, as I wanted a 10min commute during the week and 40min to downtown rather than the reverse.

I honestly worry somewhat that my preference for Texas might be out of comfort rather than anything else, but that's something only I can really determine. On paper, NC is actually a far better fit for me - I love the outdoors and hiking, camping, riding curvy roads on my motorcycle, and don't really like "big city" type stuff. In DFW most of my time is spent riding my motorcycle way north, hiking the trails that do exist with my dog, and camping when I find the time to drive ~3 hours to the nearest good camping areas. DFW is a much larger job market than the Triangle, though...

I'll have to make new friends regardless, given the above. I do already have one close friend from high school living in Raleigh, which is good. The MBA is meant to be a pivot or "restart" for me anyway, as I've found I don't like finance (despite having stayed in it 6 years, I really should have left 3 years ago...)

What I worry about with SMU is that the reputation it has locally for the undergrad carries over somewhat in people's mind for the MBA program - it's a party school for rich kids who haven't left the Highland Park bubble... There's also the rankings and whatever weight is put in them. I've heard some saying that outside the top 10 no one really cares, but I'm not sure...

If I were to ignore money and they were both in the same city it'd be an easy pick to go with UNC, I am more confident in the strength of their program and the fit with my goals, but the $72k is real and moving halfway across country is always a bit daunting.

Again this is just me and my personal preferences, but if your house is 40 minutes away from SMU, I think you might find yourself, as you rightly noted either (A) missing out on the social aspect of the MBA program or (B) moving closer to SMU and being faced with the same scenario of renting / selling your house.

I am personally not the world's biggest fan of the whole "I'll make the larger salary at a better school therefore I'll take on more debt" line of reasoning, as in a lot of cases it isn't as much of a sure thing as I think some students make it out to be. For example, if somebody were to say don't take a big scholarship at Michigan to go to Northwestern because you'll be better positioned to land that big paying job at Kellogg, I'd disagree with that line of reasoning. However, I think you are totally justified in making it here. Looking at the employment reports and from the anecdotal experiences I've had at UNC so far, I'm quite confident that you will be able to make up the money in 3-5 years. $72k is real and there is a good chance you'll still be able to make the pivot you want out of SMU, might be the change of scenery + extra opportunites + physical new stage in your life to help make this transition out of finance to marketing more tangible.

Truthfully, your priorities seem to jive with a lot of the people I've met so far at UNC and I think you'd be a great fit there like you said!

I can relate...in so many ways.


If it comes to this, go to Cox. (Or look into UT-Dallas evenings...they also have a solid program.) KF is great, but if you're looking to be in Texas long term, I think you'd be crazy to spend an extra $72k+ to go get your degree in North Carolina only to then try and come back to the Lone Star State. You have a great undergrad degree (Anchor Down!) and it sounds like you have great work experience. Those + being in Big D already + SMU > paying through the nose to be a Tar Heel IMO (given your goals).

FWIW, I would not count on escaping the Texas' waitlist. My understanding is that they WL large swaths of candidates so sneaking into the program is pretty difficult.

tl;dr, Given your current choices, I think SMU sounds like the best route. If you're really down on that idea though, I don't think you're in a bad spot. You can get solid options out of KF or you can wait a year and have another go at McCombs with an improved GMAT score.

Good luck!

I considered UT-D as well, but if I'm staying in Dallas they're not terribly much cheaper (due to scholarship) and SMU has a stronger reputation. I'm trying to come to grips with my preference for Texas and whether or not it's simply due to friends and being in my 'comfort zone'. If I'm completely honest, I hated it for the first 2-3 years and only have come to enjoy it in the last couple years as I've found my niche of friends and things to do. I can't say it's anything specific about Texas that I love (besides no state income tax, haha) other than knowing the ins and outs of the area and feeling like I've established myself here. I grew up in TN and there was a lot I *loved* about it there, and some I didn't like, but it was also a different time in my life and that colors my memory of living there (I've only lived there up through graduating college). I imagine NC has a somewhat similar feel, moreso than it's similar to TX.

I've also read that McCombs adds a lot of applicants to the waitlist, but has a poor take rate on students they've accepted, so they may accept more off the wait list than might be expected. Then again, they may accept more than the class size, accounting for that, and not have much room for WL candidates... I'm able to accept either way, but I need to pick between UNC and SMU to put a deposit down in the mindset that McCombs and Duke are both nos.

Waiting a year is out, I have already made the decision to leave my current firm regardless and don't want to have to deal with getting a different job and explaining that in applications next year, having to re-do all of my applications, and not being guaranteed a spot at UNC or even SMU, particularly if I turned them down once already.

You've visited both KF and Cox, right?

If not, do it. Visiting different programs made a huge difference for me--I was all set to go to one place then switched to another. (And thank heaven that I did!)

I know you said you're perhaps interested in Marketing and Entrepreneurship...have you made a list of the firms you think you'd be interested in joining post-MBA?

If not, do it. See if either KF or Cox has a direct pipeline to said firms (in the functional role you're after). This could also add some clarity. If KF is a core school for several firms you're definitely interested in that do not have an on-campus presence at Cox, all of the sudden that $72k looks like a bargain in terms of reaching your goals. Then again, if it is a wash, or you're certain that Texas is where you want to be independent of the firm/industry/functional role, Cox will seem like a clear winner.

In any case, good luck! Update us with how all the chips fall.

I've visited all the campuses of schools I applied to. I also researched the firms that recruit on campus at each and that's one of my biggest hangups about Cox as a program - there are very few firms that recruit at Cox that I'm interested in, especially since recruiting is biased towards consulting and finance at SMU over marketing. UNC has a greater number of firms overall as well as more that I'm interested in. It seems that everyone who recruits at SMU recruits at UNC as well.

For what it's worth, Tesla Motors has hired MBA grads from UNC and that would be one of my dream jobs. I'm a huge car enthusiast and have followed Tesla since the original Roadster.

I'm young and single, so I'm beginning to think it may be silly of me to make location a determining factor in where I get my MBA - if anyone has flexibility as to where they live, I do. My closest family is a 10 hour drive.

This is not a permanent move. This is not a vacation. It would be a bad idea to consider this from a perspective of where you like to live, your hobbies, friends etc.

Think about this as a 2-year conference. You are going for the content and the networking, not because you love Las Vegas.

Recommend that you get a feedback from a consultant about why you were waitlisted and use that information to put together a great update letter for Texas and Duke.

Phone call already set for Monday AM with the admin consultant I've been working with. While it isn't permanent or a vacation, the strongest showing from recruiters will be from the region (40% of UNC grads in southeast, for example) and by extension, the network is also strongest where most grads end up. Lower placement elsewhere doesn't mean impossible, just more difficult.

The decision being made here is which school to choose for now between those I've been accepted at, barring an acceptance off the wait list at McCombs or Duke - I do not intend to put it off another year. I'm 90% sure the reason for the wait list was my GMAT score since my quant was very low at 34th percentile. I'd wager it'd have been a flat deny if it wasn't for work experience / background that is strong in quant. I anticipate spending most of April and May studying and to take the GMAT again between mid-May and early June, depending on what timing my admissions consultant suggests.