If you got into UMich, NYU-Stern, and Indiana (Kelley) ....

College Search & Selection
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<p>Alexandre,</p>

<p>Regarding the Newsweek book, I have seen it. I would want to know how exactly "company" and "on-campus recruiting" are defined. That guide lists Carnegie Mellon as having 860 companies recruiting on campus...while CMU is respectable, I highly doubt the average CMU grad is going to have more recruiting opps. than Harvard or MIT grads. Come to think of it, its usually only the largest companies that even have structured on-campus recruiting (involves a lot of effort and travel on the part of companies)...so thats why the 1500 figure seems off to me (its 3X the number of fortune 500 co's). </p>

<p>The starting base salaries of non-business students:</p>

<p>NYU CAS: $38,000 (class of '04)
Penn SAS: $35,284(class of '03-'04 numbers not out yet)
UMich LSA: No info. available</p>

<p>Sources:
<a href="http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/college/2003salarydata_2.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/college/2003salarydata_2.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.nyu.edu/careerservices/survey/placement_summary.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nyu.edu/careerservices/survey/placement_summary.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Stern and Wharton both have higher starting salaries than Ross. I'd also venture a greater percentage of Wharton grads. work in NY than Philly, this is probably less so the case with Ross. I'd also question how much cost of living has to do with it, larger i-banks and consulting firms pay similar salaries to first year analysts/associates in all offices (often, positions in the regional offices are very coveted...same money as Manhattan, while costs are less).</p>

142

<p>Sorry, after reading both sides' arguments, I just felt compelled to make some observations. Again, this is really an unbiased point of view since I have no affinity towards either school...just some general observations.</p>

<p>-First of all, as much as US World News is flawed, it is still the most recognized publication out there and to the general public that do not scrutinize the validity of the methodology, it is good enough. An analogy would be the RPI ranking for college bball or BCS formula for college football. The ranking systems for both sports are somewhat flawed, they are still the first formula the general public uses in determining if a team is a better team. Basic point...can't discount USWN just because it is flawed.</p>

<p>-I don't believe the OVERALL acceptance rate should be a major factor in deciding which school is better. Just because Michigan has ~60% acceptance rate doesn't make it a less prestigious school. There are many, many, many schools out there that have a lower acceptance rate and higher avg SAT score that are nowhere near Michigan in terms of name recognition. Without doing any research, I think University of Miami has a lower acceptance rate...</p>

<p>-Avg. starting salary...were you guys talking about post-MBA or post-ug? There shouldn't be any argument over MBA because i thought the purpose of this entire post was to focus on ug. Also, even with the post-MBA you also have to take into account Cost of Living. Remember, most Stern students end up working in wall st or in the NY vicinity. NY's cost of living is easily 10k higher than most of the other parts of the country. </p>

<p>-Personally, living in Maryland-VA area my entire life, it is quite fair to say that I am looking from an unbiased 3rd person point of view. I do believe that among my peers Stern is a better name recognition Business School than Ross. However, in terms of overall reputition (All the other majors taken into account), Michigan is better known (Sports don't hurt either in terms of exposure).</p>

<p>Finally, every school has its share of gems as well as rotten apples. In the case of Indiana it is true that they have less room for error. However, in the case of Michigan vs NYU, there isn't really that big of difference. The name of the school on your diploma gets each student into the door for interviews, but after that each person controls his/her own destiny. I believe for undergrad, Michigan/NYU can both get you into the interview.</p>

143

<p>Terp1004 --</p>

<p>I generally agree with your assessment that Ross and Stern are pretty much equal, with each school having their particular strengths. If you plan on working in New York or for an investment bank, Stern is probably a better bet; if you plan to work in the Midwest or in marketing or manufacturing, Ross is probably the better bet. I think that consulting is probably a wash in that the big firms recruit at both schools. </p>

<p>While not the exactly the same ball of wax, my wife chose Michigan over Wharton and Tuck for her MBA because she wanted to stay in the Midwest and wanted a marketing or general management position (she also got a good deal of merit $ from Michigan). That is not to say that Wharton or Tuck are worse than Michigan (indeed, Wharton in particular probably has a stronger reputation than Michigan), but for what my wife wanted, Michigan was the better choice. In fact, she ended up taking an assistant brand manager at Kraft Foods after getting her MBA and was glad that she chose Michigan (since Michigan was a "core school" for Kraft, while neither Wharton nor Tuck are a core school). So, choosing the right school if far more subjective than simply looking at rankings.</p>

<p>In the end, both Ross and Stern are fine schools with fine reputations. Going to either one of these schools will not hurt you.</p>

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<p>No one talks about kelley at all here.</p>