<p>Apart from their rankings, Emory (usually 4 or 5) and UT-Austin (usually around 9 to 11) what are other comparisons about the 2 business schools, and, really, the entire school in general. </p>
<p>Both are in booming economic towns,
Both in south,
One is known to be a party school, the other doesn't even have a football team. </p>
<p>More thoughts please. </p>
<p>=)</p>
<p>bump bump bump!</p>
<p>Shubhsingh,</p>
<p>Notwithstanding the rankings (which mean nothing out of context), there are big differences between Goizueta and McCombs for undergraduate business programs.</p>
<p>Speaking from a perspective of a business person with 30+ years experience working with a breadth of industries, diversity of companies and wide-ranging business functions, I have formed biases which are subjective in their basis. That said, I can offer some thoughts that you may want to factor into your decisions.</p>
<p>The obvious difference between the two B-schools is in size and resources. Goizueta has less than 600 students, with a faculty/student ratio of 9.2/1. McCombs has 4400+ students, with a faculty/student ratio of 44.5/1. Its partly the difference between a private university vs. a public school. If you were a Texas resident, the cost difference would be a factor, given the reduced tuition/fees cost for Texas residents. On the other hand, if you are a non-Texas resident, then the cost difference for tuition is not as significant, although annual cost of attendance at Emory would still be approximately $5K more than UT/Austin.</p>
<p>Another big difference is in the orientation of the BBA programs with Emory being a 2-year program and UT/McCombs being a 4-year program. Emorys philosophy is that there is value in the liberal arts foundation to acquire breadth of knowledge, critical thinking skills and academic engagement with the varying contexts of your world. This is a philosophy that I agree with. Business approaches and management practices are insignificant in themselves. They become meaningful when applied to the needs and requirements of business opportunities that are exposed through engagement with your world. Even the greatest companies find that they need to reinvent themselves as ever-present changes occur in business climates, practical realities, and demand for products/services. In order to see the opportunities, you must first be observant of the needs that sometimes hide in plain sight, and then to engage with the application of your acquired knowledge and critical analysis skills.</p>
<p>In my observations, I think that Goizueta alumni venture more broadly afield than UT alumni. There is a certain provinciality with UT due to the desire of alumni, who are mostly Texas residents, to remain Texans. Emory students are much more diverse demographically, with students representing most of the 50 states and many countries also. This diversity alone presents more opportunities to think beyond narrow scopes the bigger picture mentality becomes ones mindset. For me, here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I tend to see more Emory alumni than I do University of Texas alumni. I think that a big reason for this is due to UT alumni desiring to stay home after graduation.</p>
<p>While both cities, Austin and Atlanta, are indeed growth oriented, by comparison to some of their Midwestern counterparts who are suffering more from the economic downturn, the economies are different. As a whole, Austin is driven by high-technology and electronics companies that are either based or having major operations present (i.e., Dell, IBM, Freescale Semiconductor, HP, AMD, Sun Microsystems, et. al.) By contrast, Atlanta is home to more corporate headquarters and has more diversity, industry-wise. As we enter into recessionary times, I tend to think that economies with substantial breadth of industries are better able to withstand business challenges ahead. Also, given the near requirement to engage in internships and corporate partners in ones BBA studies, you will want to evaluate where your particular business interests lie. If you are leaning toward high-tech/engineering, then UT/McCombs is a good option. On the other hand, if you prefer finance, healthcare or general business, then Goizueta may provide better connections and resources. Atlanta is the acknowledged hub of the Southeast and a large cosmopolitan metropolis. Austin is a city of 656,000, with the larger Austin-Round Rock metropolis totaling 1.5 million residents (4th in size within Texas). It is a smaller business center than either Houston or Dallas/Ft. Worth.</p>
<p>Ultimately, you may have compelling reasons to choose one school over the other, and you should know that you cannot make a wrong decision. What is right for you will be borne out through understanding your own needs and personal preferences.</p>
<p>NorCal, I couldn't ask for a better rundown.</p>
<p>thanks a helluva lot!</p>
<p>Yes, that's a great post NorCalDad.</p>
<p>If I can add one thing, let me say that most students at Emory do not choose a major (only 20% do), while everyone at UT Austin does (100%). The reason is that the Emory core is designed for a general management perspective--and while you do take 3 courses in a specialty, you don't get a major as such (unless you take many more courses--and are in that 20% group). I suppose the most similar program to Emory's would be the one at UC Berkeley Haas. UT Austin is more similar to what is normally seen at a regular business school--other similar programs would be USC, NYU, Illinois, Indiana, and North Carolina.</p>