Undecided - 01-21-2020 | Clear Admit DecisionWire

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January 20, 2020 9:05pm ET

Enrolled: Undecided

Admitted: Columbia , Duke / Fuqua $

$140,000

, Michigan / Ross $

$70,000

, UVA / Darden $

$140,000

Applied: Columbia, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, UVA / Darden

Entering Year: 2020

Post MBA Career: Technology, Venture Capital

GMAT: 720

Location: International

Notes:

Keen on breaking into the US Venture Capital industry as an international. I like Columbia's location advantage but unsure how much of an impact that would have. The scholarship dollars have made this a tough call and I'm looking for so much-needed guidance! Your help is appreciated.

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Show Comments (7) Last: January 27, 2020

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 Breaking into VC is very hard, as I'm sure you know. Columbia would like give you the best opportunity to do that. The NYC experience will be quite different from the other programs, which are offering some great awards. Do you have a plan B in mind, if VC doesn't work out? (0)

anon25299 Likes Earned: 18 Yes, I agree but will be trying hard since VC is my first preference. Plan B is corp finance/PM in tech, Plan C is consulting (will attempt consulting in year 2 based on first year internship recruiting experience). Does Columbia finance + location advantage merit passing over the $$ from the others? I personally don't care about the rankings (they all seem to be between the 5th-15th range) but not sure how it translates to real-world recruiting advantages/disadvantages. Thoughts? (0)

anon93897 Likes Earned: 14 congrats on amazing offers. Good problem to have! VC will be hard wherever you find yourself. It will depend mostly on your experience and network ( which I assume the school factor comes in). If I were in your shoes, I will go for Fuqua/Darden. I don't think Columbia is worth passing on 140K for a possibility in VC. Fuqua/Darden will give you 100% entry into Tech/ Consulting from which you can transition to VC if you are unsuccessful with VC at first try. May favour Fuqua slightly over Darden due for its success in placing students in the West Coast and the booming market in the Research Triangle. (0)

anon36922 Likes Earned: 15 Duke or Darden would be my call. The money is a big difference and you can get into VC at either one. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 It's good that you're not focused on rankings, but rankings aside, generally Columbia > Duke/Darden/Ross in terms of overall brand, networks etc. For your plan B and C, I'd think the money makes a difference. For plan A, that doesn't seem to be clear cut. Sorry, tough decision (0)

anon10660 Likes Earned: 292 I think Duke or Darden make the most sense to me. Its a very big amount and both can potentially land you a vc job either via consulting or tech. Between the two, it depends on if you want the case based method of Darden or lecture/case mix at Fuqua. Congrats!! (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 More details on this decision, in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2020/01/episode-77-wire-taps-mba-profiles-with-680-gmat-3-65-gpa-no-gmat-gre-yet-and-choosing-a-business-school-on-decisionwire/ (0)