S was offered a coveted spot in the business Honors At McCombs. Only 120 students a year. Their own program…Wondering your thoughts on regular Ross v this program? Anyone have enough info to offer an opinion?
If tuition $$$ is not a factor, Ross would be better for finance and consulting. Everything else, I would look for fit.
^heh, depends on where you want to be. Mccombs place very well in the south/Dallas/Houston.
@bearcats, I understand your comment. Am I mistaken, that national companies recruit for all their offices…Another words, if you interview with a banking company or consulting firm, can’t you ask for placement in different cities than just adjacent to college location?
BHP in terms of salary is about $75k
https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/Career-Services/Statistics
Ross average is $72.5k
http://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/2016_employment_report.pdf
Also keep in mind, that 70% of McCombs students stay in Texas where the cost-of-living is much lower than Ross popular destinations such as New York City and Chicago, so the difference is much wider than just $3.5k
ForeverAlone, I definitely respect McCombs a great deal. It is a legitimate top 10 BBA program, and certainly a very worthy options over Ross, under the right circumstances. Assuming the cost of attendance is significantly lower, and/or assuming finances are a concern, should McCombs be the cheaper option, choosing it over Ross is the way to go.
That being said, I am not sure where you got your figures from. Ross’ $72,500 mean starting base salary is pretty clear, and solid when you consider the fact that Wharton’s mean is $77,500, only $5,000 higher, and a higher percentage of Wharton graduates end up living in the Northeast and California. In the case of Ross, 55% of the graduating class take jobs in the West, Northeast and Mid Atlantic, compared to 88% of Wharton’s graduating class.
Does McCombs actually list the starting salary of BHP students? Your link only shows the mean starting salary for all McCombs BBAs, and that’s $64,500. And even if the mean starting salary for BHP students truly is $75,000, do you honestly believe that 70% of BHP students accept offers from Texas, or do their geographic dispersement lean more to the West and Northeast?
I would guess McCombs does better in and around Texas (McCombs is in Texas, after all), but having a boost in that region is not as critical as having a boost in the northeast, pacific coast, and Chicago for prospective finance/consulting career seekers. For this, Ross wins out.
Also @BigPapiofthree is correct in saying you can ask for a different city/region. However, in finance/consulting, it is usually tougher to transfer to a city like New York, Chicago, or San Francisco than it is to a city like Dallas.
I can only speak for finance/consulting, because I (along with many of my friends), have gone through that recruiting process.
Alexandre, you should learn how to navigate the website.
Wow, all these comments are helpful. For clarification, the BHP program is a separate program/major for 120 students. They have their own recruiting, and 100% job placement over the last 5 years. The average starting salary for BHP is 12-15 thousand more than the regular Mccombs majors. @yikesyikesyikes, may I ask clarification on what you said. Are you saying that it is hard to transfer between cities. I was asking if a BCG is interviewing in Austin, can’t you tell the recruiter you would like to live in a different part of the country? Lastly, McCombs might be cheaper, as OOS students can get instate tuition with little effort after one year. This is attractive to me. My S seems drawn by the prestige of Ross. I think BHP is an equalizing factor in the prestige race…Thanks for thoughtful remarks all
BHP is remarkably prestigious and combined with in-state tuition, I don’t see why you don’t just take a flight to Austin now.
^ditto
@kujo.jolo, before this game is over, we will visit. Will wait for all acceptances, and aid offers, and then make best decision. Trying to do my research in advance… Ross may not come thru…
I have not experienced recruiting specifically for BCG, but if it is like other firms, then, in most cases, transferring from the Dallas to New York office is harder than the other way around.
ForeverAlone, you still haven’t provided evidence that 70% of BHP graduates work in Texas. And comparing the top 15% of McCombs students to the entire Ross class is very unfair. If you look at the top 15% of Ross’ class, the average starting salary would be much higher than $72.5k.
But since you suggested that I “learn to navigate the McCombs website”, here is what I found, comparing apples to apples:
Average starting salaries in the Northeast:
McCombs: $73,000 (12% of the class)
Ross: $77,000 (40% of the class)
Average starting salaries in the West:
McCombs: $67,500 (9% of the class)
Ross: $72,500 (13% of the class)
Average starting salaries in Investment Banking:
McCombs: $81,000 (12% of the class)
Ross: $85,000 (20% of the class)
Average starting salaries in Consulting:
McCombs: $69,000 (27% of the class)
Ross: $72,500 (25% of the class)
They seem to be pretty even across the board, with the slight edge going to Ross. It is safe to assume that the majority of the IBanking, Consulting students, as well as those who end up working on the West Coast and in the NE are BHP graduates, although that would be an assumption.
BigPapiofthree, are you a resident of Texas? Will attending McCombs be materially cheaper than attending Michigan?
OP said their son got into BHP which is why I mentioned it.
Try to keep it classy ForeverAlone. The point isn’t that the OP’s son didn’t get into BHP, the point is that you do not know where the OP’s son will place at Ross. He could well be among the top 15% at Ross too. Regardless, if you are going to compare McCombs (BHP or otherwise) to Ross, your comparison in post #4 was flawed, mine in post #13 is correct. Not that it matters, the OP’s son must first be preadmitted into Ross, and even if he is, the CoA must be comparable unless cost isn’t concern. But if the OP’s son is pre admitted into Ross, and cost isn’t a concern, Ross > McCombs, BHP or not.
Sort by major , Honors + BBA. You must be illiterate, BHP was mentioned by OP. So yes, that is the point. Recruiters know distinctively that BHP is, more often than not, better than the rest of McCombs. The top 15% at Ross isn’t necessarily clear cut. That is subjective. GPA isn’t exactly a good indicator because that’s only one factor, the recruiting process is holistic taking into account leadership and past projects. PreAdmit for Ross isn’t a actual program such as BHP which includes an exclusive 14 courses, but preadmit will become regular and internal transfer will be less frequent.
I am an idiot and illiterate eh? LOL!
I did sort by Major, Honors + BBA. Let us move past that since it is a completely meaningless data point. Ross has no honors program. Even if the OP is admitted in the BHP program, it has no relevance on how he will do at Ross. BHP students are the top 15% of McCombs’ student body, if you are going to compare the average BHP graduate to the average Ross graduate, you are assuming that the average BHP student is the equivalent of the average Ross student. That is not the case, especially if the OP’s son is OOS. Either way, BHP students are extremely qualified academically, certainly on par with the top third if not the top quarter of the students at Ross.
As such, you must compare all of McCombs to all of Ross if you want to compare the programs. But as you suggested, it makes much better sense to compare salaries according to industry (Consulting, finance etc…) or geographic area (Northeast or West etc…).
BHP or not, Ross is a superior program. If the OP is admitted directly into Ross, and if cost is not an issue, Ross is the clear cut winner. Companies like McKinsey, Bain, BCS, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lazard, Blackstone, Carlisle etc… line up to hire Ross students, and last time I checked, the entire point of a Business degree is to actually get a job when you graduate. Ross students get higher pay across all industries and all regions. Like I said, BHP graduates most likely make up the majority of the 20% who end up working in the Northeast and West Coast, in Consulting and IBanking, and Ross students still out-earn them.
Below are some Ross placements over the last two years:
McKinsey: 14 full time, 6 interns
Bain: 7 full time, 1 intern
BCG: 15 full time, 5 interns
Goldman Sachs: 20 full time and 24 interns
Morgan Stanley: 17 full time, 24 interns
JP Morgan: 30 full time, 27 interns
Citi: 21 full time, 17 interns
Deutschebank: 10 full time, 13 interns
Barclays: 9 full time, 5 interns
BoA Merrill Lynch: 10 full time, 5 interns
TOTAL: 153 full time, 122 interns
Those figures do not include exclusive boutiques like Blackstone, Carlisle and Lazard, or BB IBanks like BNP Paribas and UBS etc…Those typically hire an additional 10-15 combined annually.
In total, roughly 20% of Ross graduates end up working at those extremely exclusive companies listed above. But there is far more to life than Investment Banking and Consulting. Roughly half of Ross best and brightest are in fact not interested in those industries, preferring rather to stay put in the Midwest and work for a company like Ford, GM, GE or P&G, or going out West to work for a small zippy startup. Those Ross graduates may not make as much money, but they get a much healthier work life balance.
The OP did mention that his son in interested in Consulting. The Big 3 hired 36 Ross graduates in the last 2 years. How many BHP graduates did they hire, if any? I was trying to find BHP placement figures, but I could not find them.
https://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/Community/pdfs/15_recruiters_guide.pdf
http://michiganross.umich.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/2016_employment_report.pdf
Wow. I never thought my question would generate such passion. Clearly, it is an interesting dilemma… BHP is closer to the top 10% of McCombs Admits. To clarify, we are OOS. Finances will come int play. Hoping that Michigan’s recently improved OOS Aid will narrow the gap. Texas does not give aid, but as previously stated, allows in state tuition after one year. We will have to compare costs vs potential income return, and then factor fit. S visited Michigan, and liked it. We will visit Texas. This debate, has been helpful. Thanks all for your passion, wisdom, insights, and perspectives…