Cornell Dyson vs UMich Ross vs Washu Olin FOR BIZ

Into marketing / entrepreneurship / social impact !! Hoping to pursue consulting in the future !! money is not the MOST important factor, i could afford to attend all of these schools

CURRENT MINDSET:
(ranked also from 1-3 in amount of financial aid given to me / biz school ranking from US news)

  • Cornell Dyson
    • smaller private school (~200 kids in c/o 2024)
    • Ivy League + amazing connections / alumni network generally
    • one of the big 3 consulting firms doesn't hire from Cornell, but they still send the same percentage of kids to a big 3 firm as UMich Ross // less consulting opportunities
    • vibe wh the current community the most
    • #2 in both cost and ranking

  • UMich Ross
    • bigger public school (~400 kids frosh year and then 100 transfer)
    • good connections / alumni network but mostly within ross
    • sends a lot of kids to the big 3 consulting firms !! (on par with UPenn Wharton) // have a lot of consulting centered clubs / events and the big 3 regularly visit the school
    • feel like i might get lost within the huge community / don't vibe wh the greek life vibe as much
    • #1 in ranking and #3 in cost (didn't give me too much financial aid)

  • WashU Olin
    • smaller private school (~150 kids in c/o 2024)
    • good connections and alumni network generally
    • also sends a lot of kids to the big 3 consulting firms !! (very similar to Ross) it also seems to have a very solid curriculum that supports consulting // I currently am a Dean's Scholar finalist and entrepreneurial scholar, so I will most likely be already at the top of my class
    • i like this location the least, but the people seem nice !!
    • #3 in ranking and #1 in cost (assuming I receive the full ride from being a Dean's Scholar)


relevant links:
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2018/05/25/target-schools-for-mbb-consulting-firms/
https://olincareers.wustl.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDFs/WCC/WCC_BSBA_EmploymentReport.pdf
https://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/default/files/documents/19_bba_employment_report.pdf
https://dyson.cornell.edu/programs/undergraduate/careers/career-statistics/

Also if you have any specific reasons as to why I should choose one over another plz lmk down in the comments !!

(plz at this point anything will help)

According to your post, WashUStL-Olin “sends a lot of kids to the big 3 consulting firms” and your career goal is to become a consultant. You assume that you will receive a full ride scholarship offer from this school.

Really depends upon the actual COA for each of your 3 options.

Without more COA details, “free that gets you to where you want to be” versus “full pay” at your other options, leads to a clear choice.

It is good that you included the relevant links regarding placement, employment & compensation for each school, but it would be helpful if you extracted & presented the relevant information in a more concise manner.

Otherwise, you can expect to get answers such as free is good, or another school is top ranked, or another is an Ivy so go there.

In short, if you want responses based on the data contained in the links, then you need to extract & present the relevant data in a concise fashion. And, bluntly speaking, if you do so, you probably won’t need outside advice.

Once again ^^^.

So you only have good choices…Congratulations on that.

It seems the business students always have a hard time making business decisions. This is one!

You are waiting on Financial aid but state your parents can afford any of these very expensive schools. Can they during a financial recession that we will be in?

Many state that students that go to Ross don’t really need an MBA afterwards. Not sure about the other 2.

But also look at ROI. Hard to beat free if it’s for all 4 years.

I honestly would not get to hung up on schools rankings etc… If cost is truly not a factor then what type of 4 year experience do you want. Michigan is vastly different then the other two. My son goes there but not for Ross but has probably done more business things on campus due to opportunities they have. They are immense there.

Lastly, the name of the school isn’t getting you the job. . What you do on campus at any of these schools is with good grades.

“Also if you have any specific reasons as to why I should choose one over another plz lmk down in the comments !!”

Not a reason why you should choose it over another necessarily, but the reason I am favorably disposed towards Dyson in general : I am a Cornell alum and this program was basically nothing when I attended (years ago); there was just a backwater “agricultural economics” major. But it became a big deal a good while back, changed a lot, and since that time, as I follow the university a bit, I’ve paid atention more than the average person, and I’ve read stuff about it . And basically everything I’ve heard sounds like this:
https://blogs.cornell.edu/david/2014/05/02/6-reasons-why-aem-was-the-best-move-of-my-cornell-career/
It became the most selective unit of the whole university. And the students love it.
I think the link illustrates why. It’s the smaller size plus the “togetherness”/intimacy it fosters.

A characteristic of Cornell more generally is the distinct undergraduate colleges, with their various missions, students and courses. There are many directions to expand your education there, and you can take courses at any of the colleges (if you have prereqs natually). Of course Michigan is no LAC either, to say the least.

OP: You have 3 outstanding choices. If I recall correctly, P&Q ranked WashUStL-Olin the #1 undergraduate business program a few years ago.

All 3–Cornell-Dyson, Michigan-Ross, & WashUStL-Olin–are outstanding undergraduate business schools.

As noted in your original post, Michigan-Ross is well organized & offers important business clubs.

Your qualifications must be outstanding as you have been admitted to three of the most difficult undergrad business programs.

I agree with the feedback so far.

Adding…take a look at the the business school clubs at each school. Are they competitive entry? If so what are the requirements to join? What % of applicants are asked to join?

Some of Umich business clubs are hard to get into BTW. But there are so many other opportunities to do business like things like start up incubators of many different types and ways to do leadership etc. If interested PM me and I can give links to examples.

The US News 2020 undergraduate business rankings have Michigan #4, Cornell #10 and WASH U #14. You cannot go wrong with either of the 3. In CA, Michigan and Cornell are probably perceived better. There is something about the Ivy mystic that many employers enamored about, which Cornell has.

https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/areas-of-study/entrepreneurship

https://lsa.umich.edu/bli

https://desaiaccelerator.umich.edu/program/

https://www.optimizemi.org/

https://michiganross.umich.edu/undergraduate/entrepreneurship-minor

https://ai.umich.edu/who-are-we/letters-from-the-executive-director/

https://innovateblue.umich.edu/about/

Just a few. Look up clubs etc in your interest of study.

You have three excellent options so there is no right or wrong answer here.

I’d first take out any unaffordable school (one that would saddle you with loans/cause your family hardship to pay for) from consideration and after that go with the one that feels like the best fit.

My best piece of advice is once you make a decision never look back!

@happy1

“My best piece of advice is once you make a decision never look back!”

Agreed!!!

OP: congratulations on your succes! What did you end up deciding? If you don’t mind me asking would love to know your HS stats and kinds of ECs? Thanks!

@richoux OP hasn’t been back since mid-May. Closing thread.