Hey, I’m very interested in a future in business related fields - (Management consulting, private equity, venture capital, corporate development) (Not interested in I-Banking). I’m going into undergrad and am deciding between CMU Tepper and Michigan. As of right now, I’m not a pre-admit into Ross. I don’t mean to sound presumptive and hope I don’t come off cocky but I’m fairly certain that I can get into Ross once I get to Michigan. So for me, I’m weighing between whether the small chance of me not being able to get into Ross outweighs the potential benefits of post-graduate employment I would get from going to Ross. Another factor I’m taking into account is the quality of life. From what I’ve read, Carnegie Mellon is generally considered to be a very stressful school with little school spirit. I personally love the community feel that Michigan has - with ann arbor being a college town. Students at Michigan have great work-life balance and can enjoy a variety of school activities like Football. Because Michigan is also larger, there are more clubs and activities which I would enjoy doing. The last factor weighing on my mind is that as business jobs become more technology oriented, Carnegie Mellon’s quantitative focused curriculum and strength in computer science may help me. Michigan is great quantitatively to, and I could directly double major or minor in computer science/data science at Michigan, but CMU is a whole different tier (I can minor in CS, though if I want to get a major in CS at CMU that’s not guaranteed, I would have to do really well in my cs classes and transfer in to the school of computer science). To be clear, I am considering getting a minor/double major in computer science (I also enjoy cs so I’m not just doing it out of pure concern for employment prospects). The reason I’m so concerned about quantitative skills is that I see the world of business and finance moving more towards technology. As investment bankings job and traditional hedge fund jobs disappear (old fashioned research strategies being replaced by quantitative strategies like statistical arbitrage), I will need more data analysis skills to be able to pursue the jobs that I really want and find intellectually rewarding. I know that all this information is a lot to take in so thank you if you’ve made it this far. Any general advice, and specifically, if anyone can verify the accuracy of my observations/help me weigh between the benefits of each school to decide which benefits should be more important in my decision, it would be greatly appreciated.
You’ll need a 3.6+ at Michigan for a good chance at Ross. This upcoming year may be more difficult because of the way students are admitted being changed. There are far more pre-admits than in previous years.
You have a pretty sound plan and it sounds like it will come down to guaranteed admit - MI CS vs guaranteed admit - CMU business. Which is more important to you?