Undecided - 04-04-2024 | Clear Admit DecisionWire

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April 4, 2024 4:29am ET

Enrolled: Undecided

Admitted: Duke / Fuqua $ , IESE , Northwestern / Kellogg

Applied: Duke / Fuqua, IESE, London Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg

Entering Year: 2024

Post MBA Career: Consulting, Technology, Asset Management, inc. Hedge Funds, Other Companies: Bain, BCG, McKinsey, Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Blackrock, Fidelity, JP Morgan Asset Management

GRE: 319

GPA: 3.85

Location: Perú

Notes:

EU citizenship + 1 dependant (wife)
EU citizenship is a huge plus for IESE, because I could work anywhere in Europe without visa concerns and wife could work too (making about $28k/year).

Now, it is true that European base salaries tend to be way lower, and my potential base salary in the US going to Duke/Kellogg (+$150k) would be much higher.

Like (2)

Show Comments (8) Last: April 16, 2024

eliot Verified User. Likes Earned: 1900 Congratulations on your acceptances to Fuqua, Kellogg and IESE. A few questions. 1) Would you like to have a post MBA career in the US or in Europe? If the US, then either Fuqua or Kellogg would be great options. If Europe, then IESE would be a good option. 2) Would you be able to secure a work visa in the US? 3) Is your wife interested in working while you are in business school? If so, would she be able to work in both the US and Europe or just in Europe? Meaning, If she can just work in Europe, then going to IESE would allow her to earn income of say $28k/year), which might make IESE a more attractive option. (1)

jezrien Likes Earned: 39 Hi eliot! Thanks for your response. 1) I am kind of agnostic regarding this, I have already experienced living in Europe (and loved it), and it's also exciting to work in the US. My mid-term plan (2-3 years post MBA) is to come back to my home country. 2) This is a big question - I want to be optimistic and say yes because everyone I know has achieved this objective, but I guess nothing is 100% sure in these matters. I would aim to a 24 month OPT. 3) Yes, she is interested in working. In Europe she would look for a regular job (employee), for about 1 year; in the US she wouldn't be able to work, but she's thinking on launching a venture in our home country and she would use her 'free time' to focus on that. There's also the possibility of studying something the 2nd year that allows to change her F2 visa to an F1. I would say US = higher risk, higher potential return / Europe = lower risk, lower potential return. Though call. (1)

eliot Verified User. Likes Earned: 1900 Thanks for your reply. Yes, I agree with your risk analysis. Again, there are merits to either option. It really comes down to what you want. Another way to think about it is to minimize regret. Imagine it is 5 years from now. If you went to Europe, would you regret not studying in the US? If you went to the US, would you regret not studying in Europe? (1)

jezrien Likes Earned: 39 I think that's a great logic. Honestly, I would regret more not going to the US because I've always been very risk-averse. I want to try the riskier option for once, experience something new and out of my comfort zone. I think I will most likely go with Duke due to the scholarship. Thanks eliot! (2)

anon10646 Likes Earned: 783 You have to account for the difference in take-home pay and hours in the US pay v Euro pay equation since healthcare, living expense are going to be higher and you're work/life balance will be lower in a US job. But, per you're other elements, if your wife has a viable plans that does not require US work auth and you also have a mid-term plan should you not get post-OPT work authorization. Having an EU-citizenship, you have a path to work in Europe without bschool, while you'd have a much harder path to do so in US without a grad degree. Only mitigant is if you're less interested in US work, but still want a US experience is to do one of IESE's exchanges with US schools. (2)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 More details on this decision in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2024/04/mba-wire-taps-348/ (0)

jezrien Likes Earned: 39 Hey! Thanks for featuring my case in the podcast, super interesting to hear you talk about this. Just to give you guys an update, my wife and I ended up choosing Duke, for the following main reasons (sorry for the wall of text): 1. Following eliot's logic, I tried to minimize regret. I've already lived many years in Europe, and the US is a new and greater adventure. If it's not now, I will most likely never be able to experience living and working in the US. In addition, as I said before, I've always been very risk-averse, someone with a "What if X goes wrong?" mentality. An MBA is a huge investment, and my wife and I decided that the question we should be asking ourselves is "What if we make it big?". Just seeing the glass not half empty, but half full. 2. We created an estimated post-MBA monthly budget for US and Europe as detailed as we could, and our "net cash flow" is most likely to be bigger in the US even in mid to high CoL cities than in Europe, even when we factored in my wife's salary in Europe. The difference in base salaries is just way too high according to the latest employment reports. 3. Post-graduate education and especially MBAs are seen widely different in the US than in Europe. In Europe, about 30% of professionals hold a master's degree (this can go up to 45% in certain countries), compared to an 8% in the US. Hence, if you hold an MBA in the US you should be able to differentiate yourself more easily from the rest of the workforce than in Europe. This is emphasized by the fact that in Europe, other master's degrees are almost equally valued as an MBA, sometimes perhaps more. Both job markets are quite difficult at the moment, but an MBA professional seems to hold more value in the US overall and these should give us a slight edge (I hope!). These 3 main reasons tipped the scales towards the US. Now, Duke or Kellogg? Honestly, this was more of a financial decision. Duke gave me around a $50k scholarship, which might not be a lot for many, but it is for us. Also the CoL should be higher in Evanston/Chicago vs Durham if I'm not mistaken. And last but not least, the Fuqua community in Perú is HUGE and very tight and supportive, whereas Kellogg's community doesn't seem that strong here. There are things that we'll never be able to predict (e.g. if Kellogg's prestige could open some doors in the future), but we're confident in Duke's brand and community. Was this the best decision? Time will tell! (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 Brilliant! Thanks for a very detailed and thoughtful summary of your final decision. Best of luck at Fuqua!! (0)