Undecided - 01-16-2020 | Clear Admit DecisionWire

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January 16, 2020 10:02am ET

Enrolled: Undecided

Admitted: Carnegie Mellon / Tepper $ , USC / Marshall $ , UT Austin / McCombs $

Applied: Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, USC / Marshall, UT Austin / McCombs

Entering Year: 2020

Post MBA Career: Consulting, Technology Companies: BCG, McKinsey, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft

GMAT: 750

GPA: 3.7

Location: United Kingdom

Notes:

I have been working in the Automotive sector as an electronics engineer for past 5 years (2.5 years each in India and UK). My post-MBA goal is to transition into product management or tech strategy role in tech industry. Alternatively, I would also be willing to look at Tech consulting role in management consulting firms that sponsor internationals

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Show Comments (8) Last: February 24, 2020

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1228 Congrats on your acceptances! How much scholarship are we talking about here for each program? The reason I ask is because most would argue that these are more or less peer schools and that you should focus on your fit and each school's placement track record in your target domain (unless there is a large difference in scholarship awards). I take it from your comment that you are hoping to stay in the USA? Do you have UK citizenship or just India? In any event, staying in the US could be challenging.....but perhaps CMU Tepper's STEM designation comes into play there? Also, just as a tip: the likes of McKinsey etc may be more inclined to take you on (and sponsor) if they deem you to have specialized expertise - like in automotive - that can be used with clients. As such, you may want to keep this in mind as you pitch yourself to these firms going forward. Best of luck!
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anon17900 Likes Earned: 3 OP here: SO Tepper's offered $80k, Marshall $100k and Mccombs $70k. And yes, I only have Indian citizenship and would ideally like to work in the US for few years post the MBA. In that sense, obviously the OPT-3 from Tepper is appealing to me. But also, Marshall has a management science specialization that is STEM designated and allows for OPT-3. So there's a call to be made here on other grounds. Also, I have heard quite a bit about the Trojan network in SoCal, and at the same time about the Tepper fit for post -MBA tech leaning goals. Based on all that I've all but ruled out McCombs, but slightly confused about the other two. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1675 I'd think that Tepper is more aligned to your tech-related goals. (2)

anon35687 Likes Earned: 2 No doubt go to tepper (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1675 More details on this decision in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2020/02/episode-80-wire-taps/ (1)

anon17900 Likes Earned: 3 OP here : Thanks a ton Alex and Graham for your insights (some of them really addressed some of my decision points) and for picking up my situation in the podcast. Couple of points of clarification, in India my auto sector experience was in Tata group and in UK, it is in Jaguar Land Rover. And also, as you've wondered aloud if these were the only schools I applied for, the answer is no. I also applied for Michigan Ross in R1, and got waitlisted without an interview. However, after they released their R1 admits they sent an interview invite to me. I had that interview with an alumnus in London, and am fairly certain that I'll get in at UoM Ross when R2 admits come out. But I don't foresee any scholarship money. So knowing what you know about my profile and goals, between Tepper (where I already booked my seat with the deposit) and UoM Ross with, say, no funding, where would you think I might fit better? And I just wanted to say that your candid perspectives, pricing in the small-but-useful-details, are invaluable especially for many internationals like me. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1675 Fingers crossed Ross comes through. That does make it a more difficult choice, some of which will depend on your own ability to handle debt/risk tolerance, etc. Ross would be considered a notch above, potentially providing more access to opportunities/networks Eric. (0)

anon17075 Likes Earned: 0 I think the STEM designation from Tepper really makes the decision easy here. (0)