I applied to 7 schools, got 6 interview invites, conducted 5 interviews, took 4 long-haul flights, was accepted to 3 universities (I won the Forte scholarship at one), received 2 denials and 1 waitlist (at my dream school). I am currently in the midst of Round 2 for the schools that I was too exhausted to get to in Round 1.
The big distinguishing factor between Round 1 and Round 2 is that I unwittingly stuffed all the public schools that I was applying to into Round 1. I have been accepted to two and voluntarily withdrawn from the third/released my seat because I had already been accepted at a school before my last interview occurred.
My parents are seriously worried about me going to either of these two public schools due to major problems in the state economy. In fact, I just heard from both of them very recently because of the weeks long furlough right in the middle of admissions season. I don’t want to pinpoint the school in question, neither is located in a state that is doing too well-and it looks like long-term problems in the state economy. I have also been accepted at a private school that is slightly lower ranked than either of the two public schools, and has a smaller class size, but that gave me a significant scholarship.
My second major issue is that I attended a well-known public undergrad (in Canada) and a Big 10 school for law school and I am, quite frankly, a little burned by the state of public education given that I am a K through JD public school veteran. I know business schools conduct their affairs a little differently (starting with grade non-disclosure) but I’ve long felt that private schools seem to worry about their grads and help them a little bit more than public school.
All the schools in question are in the Top 15 in the United States according to US News and World Report. None of them have ever fallen out of that ranking and one of them has historically meandered through the Top 10.
In the meantime, I am trying to talk my way into my waitlist school and have applied to 4 private schools in Round 2. I didn’t even realise that my Round 1 applications had so many public universities.
So, what, private schools are inherently better than public schools? News to me.
I’m a grad student at a public school. My program is ranked higher than all but two of the Ivies (Harvard and Princeton beat us out), the University of Chicago, NYU, USC, and plenty of other private schools.
In any scenario where a top 15 business school can’t find the money to fund its operations, we will all have much bigger things to worry about. Go to the highest-ranked school that makes you an offer and never look back.
Really, I understand that dream that if you just pick the right school, all the other details will fall into place, but I’m not seeing that you are accomplishing much beyond wearing yourself to a thread right now.
Yes, public schools (in general) are hurting right now because of the economy and may be overburdened with people wishing to take classes because of the economy. But don’t kid yourself that private ones are neccessarily better off–if they are heavily endowed, bet they are holding tight to that money for all they are worth. And if they aren’t heavily endowed, well, . . .
But the biggest determiner of how well you will do upon leaving business school is not the location of the school, or it’s name recognition factor, it is YOU. How hard you work to sell yourself to your employers, etc . . .
You’ve picked some good schools, they’ve decided if they want you, the future is in your hands.
This is not what I said. Unlike you, I already have my graduate degree and have had it for a while. Also unlike you, I have a professional degree in an industry that is extremely snooty and will issue demands like “Must be from Top 14” (they then apply a sliding scale, requiring a higher GPA the further down you are in the ranking). The industry I’m aiming for is also pretty snotty.
As I said, I feel I suffered by attending a public school that refused to help recruit for students outside of the top 10%. And again, I have already attended 2 well known public universities. My undergrad, in particular, has slipped in the rankings because of its refusal to raise tuition. My law school was one of the top law schools in the country through the 80s and 90s, and again, has slipped in the rankings (it’s still in the top 25 but was once significantly higher). The economies of the states in which these business schools are located are constantly in the news. PS, this is my 3rd degree. I have a right to question whether or not I’m going to get ROI.
My issue is not the way these schools are currently ranked-they’re both ranked very high-it’s whether or not I should be worried about them slipping, as both my undergrad and law school have. I’ve watched Washington University climb its law school higher and higher into Tier 1 as I’ve watched my alma mater sort of slip in and out of the Top 25. I’m just worried that the private school that admitted me is aggressively planning to spend its way up while the public schools are going to slip.
What you are saying makes sense. States are really struggling right now and cost cutting for public universities is definitely on the table.
Though private schools have their own issues in this economy. Their alumni contributions go down, their endowments are less than they were eighteen months ago - they may end up in the same cost cutting mode as public schools. It isn’t a sure thing.
One of the money magazines ranked private schools on how they managed their endowments - i.e. who still had money after the market crashed. Might be worth doing a little research on how these private schools are sitting for cash and how they are managing their assets before you decide to trust a trustee with an endowment over tax funding.
That’s a crock. Not a complete crock but a crock nonetheless. Your school name has a lot more influence than you as an individual. Especially in business school and when talking about the top 10. I have an MBA by the way from what is usually the top ranked international business program in the US. But having an MBA from a top 10 school would be “worth” more.
Now, I don’t think there is a lot of difference betwen a top 10 public versus private school. All things being equal, if I had a public school background and a choice between equivalent schools. I would probably lean private.
