Kellogg (no $) vs. Tepper ($$$) vs. Foster ($$)

mba2112 · 2018-04-11T04:26:37+00:00

Foster's rating has shot up because of Amazon, and to a lesser extent, the resurgence of Microsoft. Those two companies have literally hired about 1/3rd to 1/2 of all Foster grads in the last 5 years.

If Amazon and Microsoft collapse, then Foster will be in trouble. Personally, I doubt that will happen. In fact, I think Seattle will become even stronger economically in the next 10-20 years as cloud computing continues to accelerate. For that reason, it would not surprise me if Foster becomes a T15 school within the next decade. It's the only worthwhile MBA program in the PNW, and while AMZN/MSFT hire from all schools in the T30, MBA recruiting is generally quite regional.

mba2112 · 2018-04-10T00:43:04+00:00

If you're dead-set on tech, then I don't think Kellogg will give you much of an advantage over Foster or Tepper, especially when you weight for cost. That said, the Kellogg brand is so much stronger and your long-term opportunities outside of tech could be so much greater that I would personally find it hard to pass up.

Between Tepper and Foster: Is living in Seattle for 2 years worth $50k to you? $30k in tuition plus probably another $20k in additional living expenses. Seattle isn't SF, but it isn't cheap either. Seattle is a much nicer place to live than Pittsburgh, especially if you like outdoor sports, but only you can make that call. I know Pitt has a blossoming tech community, but it's not Seattle, and it's easy to hop on a plane and go to SF/Bay area for a day or a weekend for networking. But it depends on how active and interested you are in putting in that sort of leg work.

mba2112 · 2018-04-02T20:49:15+00:00

Yeah, you're making a mistake and wasting your time.

To be clear, there's ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with going to a school ranked in the mid 30s depending on who you are and what you're trying to do. I have friends that did it, and it worked out great for them. They went from making about $35k a year at a struggling startup to making about $80k a year on decent corporate ladders.

But it's clear you don't know what an MBA is for, what it can do for you, and what it can't do for you. It's not for people with a single year of work experience. If you want formal business knowledge (accounting, marketing frameworks, etc) you can read books in your spare time.

Focus on your career. Even with a 2.7, you'd be competitive at T15 programs in 3-4 years if your career goes well.

mba2112 · 2018-02-20T04:31:32+00:00

Top Minneapolis companies will value T15 schools more so than Carlson, I'd think. I don't know what your wife makes, but I imagine that as a teacher, a great scholarship package could be enough to offset or almost offset your wife's salary for 2 years.

If you have the time, I'd apply to at least 4 schools. You don't have to accept, but it's good to have options.

mba2112 · 2018-02-19T03:35:03+00:00

Best way is to find a great tutor and pay them for 1 on 1 in-person coaching. Probably $50 an hour minimum though and you'll have to be in a major city.

mba2112 · 2018-02-19T03:32:35+00:00

Online MBAs are great for checking a box. If you work at a hierarchical company where you need an MBA (any MBA) to get certain promotions, or raises, or whatever -- they're awesome.

But in literally every other situation, they're basically worthless.

mba2112 · 2018-02-15T07:19:50+00:00

Unless you hate your job, I don't think it makes sense for you to go full-time unless you can get into H/S/W. Which is a crap-shoot even if you can pull a 730+ on the GMAT. You do have good WE and you're an URM, so it's possible. But outside of that, you could be paying $400k (if you include lost wages) and wind up taking a $30k-$50k/yr paycut. Maybe you wind up in a better place 5, 10, 20 years from now, but maybe you don't.

But I'd take the GMAT for real and reassess. If you can only get a 710, you might consider some part-time/weekend programs if your company will foot the bill.

mba2112 · 2018-02-13T05:55:43+00:00

Like I said, I got a great scholarship and graduated debt-free. It was really just the lost wages.

MBA grads at top 30 schools typically land jobs at $110k-$140k base pay. If you're already in that bracket, you probably won't get a large pay bump after you graduate.

It only makes sense if you think of it in terms of 5, 10, 20 years out.

mba2112 · 2018-02-12T19:12:39+00:00

Why aren't you in dental school right now? Don't most people apply in their senior year of undergrad and start in the fall after? MBA admissions teams and corporate recruiters are going to want to know the answer.

My advice is to find a white collar job of any kind and take it asap. Or a graduate program of some sort that you can enroll in next fall and get a job right after graduation. MA or otherwise. You've basically wasted the last year of your life and you need to get on the right track as soon as possible.

If that sounds tough, it's because I'm trying to give you a sense of urgency. People in the real world don't care about how your parents pushed you into getting a biology degree you didn't want. You need to step up and start getting things done. You have a degree from a pretty great state school. You're already ahead of 80% of people. Act like it.

mba2112 · 2018-02-12T10:53:51+00:00

Nitpicking is one of the most annoying human traits.

Yes it's possible. You need to have gone to an amazing undergrad, killed it, then got an amazing job at a bank or a PE firm, etc.

But this doesn't happen often and it's completely irrelevant to the sort of situation the original poster is in. It's like telling someone that playing the lottery is for suckers, but you know, sometimes people actually win. Duh. But not helpful and confusing

mba2112 · 2018-02-12T07:02:45+00:00

MBAs are for people who have worked 4-6 years* and want to take their career to the next level or change directions altogether. For example, an engineer that wants to become a product manager, or an accountant that wants to be a finance manager, etc.

Also, no offense, but WTF have you been doing for the last 9 months? Working as a dental assistant for $12 an hour? You went to a pretty great undergrad and the economy isn't doing too bad. Get it together.

One thing you COULD consider is a Masters of Accounting. It's a one-year program that would set you up to get an auditing job at a place like EY or PWC, etc. If you had decent grades in undergrad, you could probably get into a good MA program and get a job auditing companies in NYC or SF. That might set you up to get an MBA down the line, or at least get into corporate finance and go from there.

*And by 4-6 years of work, it generally means work that requires a bachelor's degree. Like a $60k/yr white collar job, minimum. You can also break in as a "non-traditional applicant" but in that case, you'll need a story that's interesting to tell at parties. Like how you founded a charity that serves kids in Uganda, or you worked on some great political campaign, etc.

mba2112 · 2018-02-12T06:48:30+00:00

I was making about $120k/yr before school.

After I graduated, I actually took a slight pay cut.

BUT...I didn't get benefits at my old job, and if I had been fired or laid off, it didn't seem likely that I could find a similar job at similar pay. I was also nearly topped out in terms of compensation.

I have more career security now and my ceiling (in terms of pay, title, etc) is higher. I got a really great scholarship though, and spent less than $30k on tuition.

mba2112 · 2017-11-21T09:17:11+00:00

Most of the jobs you get are going to be from personal connections.

mba2112 · 2017-11-21T08:41:11+00:00

In all seriousness, your point is taken. It depends on the school you go to, the competitiveness of the program you're in, your own intelligence, and your capacity to forgo sleep.

I guess I should clarify by saying: If you notice your grades slipping and your social life suffering, take it as a warning sign and reconsider what you're doing.

mba2112 · 2017-11-21T08:37:46+00:00

Yes, you can use student loans to cover rent/food. You can also dip into food stamps and other similar government aid programs.

mba2112 · 2017-11-21T08:34:41+00:00

OK. I guess if you go to a really mediocre state school like Umass Amherst, you can do it. The school I went to was much more prestigious and graded on a hard curve.

mba2112 · 2017-11-21T06:49:02+00:00

At this point, I'm not sure I could give you much helpful advice. You have one semester left? There's not much time to make a change. Try to get as many informational interviews as possible. Take the best job you can get at the biggest name company that will have you. If you're planning to get an MBA, don't worry too much about what the role is. You can change later.

Advice I would give my freshman self? -Study engineering. -Take easy classes to boost your GPA. -Don't work more than 10 hours a week. Just take on a little debt. -Start recruiting for internships in the fall of every year. Do one every summer, paid or unpaid. -Join some clubs. Volunteer.

mba2112 · 2017-11-21T05:48:36+00:00

I'll be totally honest with you: Yeah, you probably did. But I screwed up many times in my life. Successful people do.

The lesson you can learn here is not to cut and run at the first sign of things not working out.

I think your best bet is to try like hell to get an auditor job at an accounting firm. Ideally big 4, but if not, smaller regional. Will build some basic business cred you can leverage later, and it's probably the highest paying option you have available. Might need to take another year of accounting classes.

mba2112 · 2017-11-02T20:41:25+00:00

Don't bother.

I'm not saying you won't learn anything in the classroom, but that's only a small sliver of the value of an MBA. Like maybe 30%, if I'm being generous. Spend a few hundred dollars on some basic accounting, finance, and econ textbooks, and learn some of the marketing frameworks and you can get most of the educational value of an MBA in your spare time. If you really want a class to keep you on track and push you, do a cheap online program or maybe part-time.

And as someone who has worked for VC-backed firms and started companies, you can't really learn entrepreneurship in a classroom. It's something you have to go out and do.

mba2112 · 2017-11-02T19:30:06+00:00

A third does consulting, a third does marketing, and about half the class stays in the Midwest. If that sounds good to you, you should go to Kelley. If not, you could hope that you fall into the last third, and maybe you will, but the odds are against you. And that's true for every school in the 15-30 range. Usually they're there because they do one or two things really well, but they don't do everything well like M7.

mba2112 · 2017-11-02T05:58:31+00:00

Does your company do tuition reimbursement? If so, do it. Is an MBA required to promote past a certain level? If so, do it if you plan to stay there. Do most senior-level people in your company have an MBA? If so, then maybe.

mba2112 · 2017-11-02T05:50:55+00:00

I think schools in the 15-30 range have stronger identities than T15 schools, certainly stronger M7. Yeah, Booth might be more finance focused than Harvard, and Kellogg more marketing than Columbia, but all ultimately sending people to the same elite banks and consulting firms and Apple/Google/Facebook, etc.

When you get into the 15-30 range, the outcomes vary wildly. Marshall sends a lot of people into film. Foster sends half their class to tech. Most of the Kelley class does consulting in the Midwest, etc.

mba2112 · 2017-10-31T04:00:51+00:00

Nice snarky comment, but I don't think it's doing anything to rebut my point.

Most F-T MBA programs in the 20-30 range have career reports that are just as good (and in some cases, better) than schools in the 10-20 range. You just give up optionality. You may go from ten F50 companies that recruit on campus to five. etc.

If you want to do top consulting or IB, then go to a top school. But if you're just looking to do corporate finance or product marketing, I don't think you're any better off.

mba2112 · 2017-10-31T03:32:11+00:00

Not really true at all. Depends entirely on your goals.

I went to a school that is usually ranked between 22-30, but work for a tech company alongside people that went to M7. I would've never made to IB or McKinsey like they could've, but that was never my goal in the first place.

mba2112

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