<p>So I have been blessed with the ability to decide between these 3 awesome schools. Quickly, because this post could get long, I am from NJ and am interested in business/econ and am leaning towards consulting. I do not know much about IBanking and all that stuff, hope to learn more in college, but working 110 hour weeks doesn't really appeal to me all that much, although I'm still open to anything. </p>
<p>Money will be a bit of a factor, but my dad still has to file taxes so I don't have Fin Aid yet, and likely won't for a while.</p>
<p>Anyway, I was just wondering what thoughts you guys may have on any or all of these schools and why you choose one school over another. I have visited NU and will be visiting GU again. I love the DC and Chicago area, but I am not a huge fan of the cold. Still yet to visit Ann Arbor - not sure if I will be able to. These 3 schools seem so similar in so many ways that it's making this a bitterly sweet decision. IE both have top sports, academics, internship opportunities, great locations, etc. </p>
<p>I really appreciate any input you guys may have! Thanks in advance!!!</p>
<p>PS, I have posted this in the other forums as well!</p>
<p>In terms of career aspirations, you can’t go wrong. Michigan, Georgetown, and Northwestern are all excellent. If you are not pre-admitted to Ross, know that the application process is fairly competitive, and that Ross students receive a majority of the top-tier consulting (and banking) job offers. For academics, realize that Economics is very different from business (seems trivial, but many incoming freshman don’t realize that). </p>
<p>I’m not sure I would say Northwestern and Georgetown have top sports. If sports is a priority for you, I would definitely lean towards Michigan. I’ve been to Northwestern and Michigan basketball and football games, and there is no comparison. The students here are definitely much more passionate about athletics.</p>
<p>Having been to Northwestern on several occasions, I would say that the average student is more intellectual than the students at Michigan. The school definitely has a bit of a private school vibe, regardless of its Big Ten athletics. I’m guessing Georgetown is similar, but couldn’t tell you for sure.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor social life is much more prominent than Northwestern and Georgetown. There is definitely a “work hard, play hard” mentality here. </p>
<p>Definitely make a visit to AA if at all possible. I was stuck between Northwestern and Mich (studying business/econ as well) before visiting here, but after it was no contest. </p>
<p>You can’t go wrong. All three universities are excellent. Go with your gut. I disagree with Pat about the intellectual presence on those campuses. You will be hard pressed to find a more intellectual community than Michigan/Ann Arbor, and NU and GU are not amongst them.</p>
<p>Also, it terms of career prospects, Ross and McDonough edge out NU, unless you are part of the MMSS program, in which case, all three are on par with each other. </p>
<p>I would go for fit though. There is more to college than professional placement.</p>
<p>I was admitted into Ross already, so I don’t need to worry about that. And yea, it seems Ross and GU are gonna top NU in the job prospect part. Hopefully after visiting GU next week, and hopefully Ann Arbor soon, the choice will be clearer. Thanks for the help so far guys</p>
<p>No idea how Georgetown’s b-school places into top consulting shops, but consulting at Ross for the MBB positions seems pretty competitive. If you’re a preadmit, you’ll likely have an easier time than the kids who are admitted regularly, but it is still cutthroat. There are about 15-20 positions for those firms, and ~150-200 kids going for them at Ross. There is still LEK, Oliver Wyman, AT Kearney and Booz, but it seems like everyone at Ross has a hard on for it. </p>
<p>I would post on Georgetown’s forum and ask about their consulting placement there. It might be the same as Ross. As for finance placement, Georgetown and Ross are peers, though as of late people seem to think Georgetown places slightly better into NYC banks and Ross places better into Chicago. </p>
<p>There’s a post on wallstreetoasis by a poster named Bankerella who ran a pretty lengthy study on job placement statistics on Wall Street for all the top schools. Michigan held its own, but Georgetown was unexpectedly at the top.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I would choose Michigan simply because I don’t think you can beat the combination of “work hard, play harder” social life, the school spirit and athletics, and the academic reputation and job placement. But that’s my two cents.</p>
<p>If you want a consulting position, I would choose Northwestern. They have pretty solid consulting recruiting, which I think stems from the fact that their MBA program, Kellogg, is a huge feeder into consulting.</p>
<p>If you are set on investment banking, go to Ross or Georgetown depending on which school you like better. They’ll both have roughly equal prospects with maybe a slight advantage to Ross since it gets a little more recruiting from top boutiques such as Evercore, Centerview, & Blackstone, firms which do not recruit on campus at Georgetown or Northwestern (example: <a href=“Join Our Team - Evercore”>Join Our Team - Evercore). However, the difference between Georgetown/Ross is pretty negligible for IB recruiting, but both are definitely a tier above Northwestern. I think Georgetown likely sends more kids to the bulge brackets than Ross does but less to the top boutiques.</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions. I’m not sure if I’ll check this thread again.</p>
<p>Among all the posts, I think plordy’s is the most balanced and consistent with what I gathered. </p>
<p>For Northwestern, aside from the MMSS that Alexandre mentioned, you may want to take a look at the Kellogg certificate programs. Kellogg cert programs provide even better recruiting resources than MMSS (though in reality, many MMSS are also in Kellogg cert). Due to the pre-reqs that discourage quite a few, the two cert programs have been self-selecting with 75-80% admit rates in the past few cycles.
<a href=“http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/certificate/about.aspx”>http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/certificate/about.aspx</a></p>
<p>Plordy, you underestimate Ross’ appeal among consulting firms. Like Kellogg, Ross is also very highly recruited by Consulting firms at the MBA level and this definitely has a trickle down effect on undergraduate programs at both NU and Michigan. Consulting firms do not recruit as highly from undergraduate institutions, but I would not give Northwestern (even MMSS students) the edge over Ross in this domain.</p>
<p>Ross has relatively weak consulting recruiting for BBA. MBA is strong, but Kellogg is a far better target. At the BBA level, Ross gets 3-4 kids each to MBB. Just do a linkedin search for Northwestern and you’ll see they get double that, 7-8 to McKinsey alone for instance. I’m not underestimating Ross’ appeal to consulting firms. The fact is, we’re pretty weak.</p>
<p>Kellogg is sending 46 to McKinsey, 38 to Bain, and 34 to BCG out of 305 students listed.
Ross is sending 17 to McKinsey, 8 to Bain, and 12 to BCG out of roughly 200 MBA full times listed.</p>
<p>At the undergrad level, it also isn’t even close. Ross sends only ~3-5 kids each to MBB. Consulting recruiting is quite poor. By simply searching on Linkedin, I was able to find DOUBLE the incoming McKinsey full-time hires at Northwestern than the number that I know are going to McKinsey from Ross (I was a student last year, and I have friends in the b-school right now who have told me the number for this year, generally it is ~3-5). Keep in mind, there are likely more incoming McKinsey hires that have not updated their linkedin or have not made it public enough. For consulting, Ross vs. Northwestern isn’t even close. However, for banking, Ross far exceeds Northwestern.</p>
<p>Kellogg is sending 46 to McKinsey, 38 to Bain, and 34 to BCG out of 305 students listed.
Ross is sending 17 to McKinsey, 8 to Bain, and 12 to BCG out of roughly 200 MBA full times listed.</p>
<p>At the undergrad level, it also isn’t even close. Ross sends only ~3-5 kids each to MBB. Consulting recruiting is quite poor. By simply searching on Linkedin, I was able to find DOUBLE the incoming McKinsey full-time hires at Northwestern than the number that I know are going to McKinsey from Ross (I was a student last year, and I have friends in the b-school right now who have told me the number for this year, generally it is ~3-5). Keep in mind, there are likely more incoming McKinsey hires that have not updated their linkedin or have not made it public enough. For consulting, Ross vs. Northwestern isn’t even close. However, for banking, Ross far exceeds Northwestern.</p>