<p>Hi there,
I know the views are probably going to be skewed or with bias, but in your honest opinions, what the pros and cons about each business school. As of now, I'm hoping I can get into these colleges as a member of the class of 2012 so what makes each school great or awful?</p>
<p>I’m from Va and graduated from Ross, so I can probably help with that. </p>
<p>Pros:<br>
-Both programs are extremely competitive and you will have no problem finding a job from either school. At Ross, recruiters will literally come to you if you’re competitive, and I’m assuming its the same at McIntire.<br>
-Ross is a 3 year program, so you you’ll have a more comprehensive view of the material.<br>
-Ross doesn’t require you to take a language, so if you’re not a language person, Ross lets you avoid that requirement. </p>
<p>Cons:
-Both schools require you to apply for the program after getting into college, so if you attend either of these universities, there’s no actual guarantee of getting into the program, so you may get stuck studying something you don’t really want to pursue like econ.<br>
-I can’t speak for UVA, but for Ross, you have the curve. The curve in elective classes isn’t so bad because you have all the LSA kids to set the bar nice and low. But, when you get to the BBA core classes, especially the quantitative ones like Accounting, Finance, and Operations, the curve is really competitive and being stuck with a bunch of overachievers in your section means you’ll be studying a whole lot just to break even on the curve (too many banker kids). </p>
<p>From a curriculum standpoint, both schools are very competitive in all fields. Michigan has top 5 in almost every department, and I’m assuming UVA is close if not the same. At Michigan, Finance, Operations, and Marketing are probably the strongest programs. Beware on the marketing side though. Michigan follows this Big Picture Model theory that the head of our department invented. Its not the same type of marketing education that you’d get at other universities, so if that is your goal, you might be better off with UVA. Finance is very competitive even in the electives as most kids at Ross want to go into banking or consulting. </p>
<p>I guess long story short:<br>
-Both programs are good.<br>
-Ross is the place to be for Finance.
-Marketing is most likely better at UVA.<br>
-There’s risk of not getting in at both programs after being accepted into the university. </p>
<p>I would say, go to whichever is in state if you have the option, because you don’t want to burden yourself with undergrad debt, the degree just isn’t worth it after your first job because taking on debt can delay your grad school timeline.</p>
<p>They are both stellar programs IF you can actually get into either. You have to be pretty stellar to get into McIntire or Ross.</p>
<p>IDK, I saw your other post. You should have no problem getting in with those scores, as long as you keep up the good work in your first year of college and get involved in clubs and extra curricular activities. </p>
<p>But, if you’re from New York, you should check out NYU, they are just as good and I believe they have a tuition break for New York students.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, I appreciate the responses. Say I do make it to either UMich or UVA (crossing my fingers!), what are usually the paths of the students who don’t make it in the business school?</p>
<p>Both schools have strong on campus recruiting past the B schools and thus you can probably major in something like economics and still have many of the same opportunities offered in the B schools. </p>
<p>I have also heard if you are intending to go to get an MBA later on in life BBA/MBA curriculum can be repetitive.</p>
<p>If you are not in the specific Business Program at a college like Michigan or UVA, are you still going to have the same type of real-world experience opportunities that can help you get into grad school for your MBA?</p>
<p>Most people who don’t get into the business school at Michigan do Econ or Political Science, thought I wouldn’t recommend either path. The main problem here is LS&A (that’s the main college at Michigan that encompasses most majors) doesn’t have a very good recruiting/career services department. Basically what you’ll get is a giant expo in one of the ball rooms with a bunch of companies that have set up shop looking for interns. The problem is that very few of those companies are actually looking for you, and the ones that are you wouldn’t want to work for. For instance, there are many companies specifically looking for computer science majors, or actuarial math majors, but almost no one looking for Econ majors or Psych majors. There are companies that will take anyone, but those are like American Eagle store manager positions and Liberty Mutual claims adjuster type jobs (things that wouldn’t be considered a career track for business students). Also, because this one event is somehow supposed to support LS&A’s thousands of students, don’t expect to get anything with below a 3.6 GPA. It also doesn’t help that anyone from any college can go to the LS&A career fair (where as the business career services is just for business majors, and the engineering career fair is just for engineers). </p>
<p>No, I would say that if you go to Michigan and don’t get into the business school, you should go Engineering track, that is arguably the best track, and at the very least second best if business is considered best for you. Engineers can be very snobby and not respect other graduates who do not hold an engineering degree (I’ve seen this in the work place as I work for a Tech firm). Having one will give you respect both among the engineers and the business majors (even if its just Industrial and Operations Engineering). Even if you do get into the business school, I would recommend picking up an IOE double major, just because its easy to do with the loose business degree requirements and will enhance your resume significantly. I only know three classmates who doubled in engineering and business (I’m sure there are more), those three are working at JP Morgan (Investment Banking), Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte. Anyway, the point is, if you don’t go into the business school or decide its not for you, the next best thing to go into a business type job is to get an IOE degree (did I mention it pays better on average at the entry level too!!). </p>
<p>Good Luck!!</p>
<p>@Seahawks:</p>
<p>Its hard to tell what your work experience will be if you don’t do business track in undergrad, but that is by no means bad. I know a history major who ended up working for Google, and that will give her all the work experience she needs to get her MBA (and she’s not the only one to have an experience like this). </p>
<p>The other thing to remember too is that MBA programs are interested in hiring people from a diverse set of backgrounds. Having an undergrad degree in business neither helps nor hinders your chances of getting into a top MBA program because top programs will want anyone so long as they have proven themselves in their respective fields and have the grades and test scores to prove their competitive academically. I’ve even seen music theory majors go back to get MBAs, siting their ability to interpret and organize ambiguous musical compositions as a skill they can carry forward in understanding how to make decisions when facing ambiguity. It all depends on what you do once your out of college.</p>
<p>As someone that went to UMich Ross (initially majored in Econ in LS&A), you have some pretty good advice from the posters above. </p>
<p>Get into the business program or do engineering if you want a respectable job out of college.</p>