UW vs UIUC

[MentalGuy]

Hi guys,

I desperately need your expert opinion on making up my mind.

I recently got admitted to University of Washington and UIUC. And now I am in a big dilemma to choose one of these MBA programs.

Here is my research on both these colleges :

- UIUC
1. Strong brand name of the engineering school and is rising up in rankings.
2. Has Illinois Business Consulting program that is almost unparalleled in its approach to provide real time consulting experience.
3. Urbana-Champaign area is an inexpensive place to stay in.
4. A new $60 million Business Instruction Facility with state of the art infrastructure.
5. Proximity to Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis which means a cross-section of industries and employment opportunities.
6. Great campus life in a quite campus town.

Cons:
1. Not in a big city.
2. MBA program overshadowed by the Engineering school.
3. Average career services.

UW.
- Ranked higher than UIUC and has a very selective admissions program.
- No competition to this school in the northwestern region.
- Seattle is supposed to be a great place to stay in.


- The course is slightly more expensive than UIUC.
- Seattle is an expensive area to stay-in.
- Job opportunities limited to the northwestern region .. I should say just to Seattle.


I am gunning the IT-consulting kind of job after an MBA (Marketing is also on the cards).

I just wanted to know what is your opinion on these schools ?

ANY help would be really appreciated.

[rmbt]

Congrats for the the great calls, but as per the guidelines of PG, no comparisons between B-schools. Instead, PM the concenred seniors or puys to get more info.

All the best.

[Neo2000]

Hi MentalGuy, As you can see we've re-opened the thread. It looks like you are not a newbie here and you seem to have taken the locking in good spirit so thank you. More often than not the poor mod gets groaned at for locking the thread

Now, coming to your question, more often than not you are more likely to get a response if you post in the http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/intern...ance-desk.html (Phoren B-school Assistance Desk) given that there a lot more people checking that thread. It also appears that you might have an alternative career once you are out of b-school. It perhaps might be worthwhile to check which of the schools are more likely to help out/be more valuable should you ever choose to pursue that career.

It also appears that you know the UofW thread. You could probably ask there also.

All the best

p.s. i would rather be in your position and worry about which college to go to rather than mine where i'm wondering if i'll be going this year after all

[MentalGuy]

Thanks neo ... I used to religiously read your blog when I had applied to BU .. but I wasn't so lucky there.

I really did not know about this no comparison rule. Anyway, I shall take my questions to the link you provided and try my luck there ...

And I am sure that you will be going this year .. isn't BU the only school you have applied to ?

[huddeypuddey]

UIUC is better that Washington anyday. Who cares about the location, it's the education that matters. UIUC is also a great engineering school and I'm sure lots of companies are gonna be visiting all the time to recruit big time from that school..Urbana is Urbana man, the CS department is really good. Rankings is not a good criteria for selecting grad school and you'll see that when you experience grad school..Rankings is just a marketing thingie, but it has captivated and captured everyone and now everyone is starting to believe in it.. it's just a survey man by some guys who don't know jack about engineering, well do you believe in surveys??? or real facts like research impact etc... Also depends on what you like, do you like to study data bases? OS? Algorithms? computer archit? UIUC could be 100% times better that Washington in say algorithms offering more interesting and diverse courses with great faculty in that area..in that case why would you want to go to washington, just because its raking no. 4 and UIUC is ranked no. 6, it doesn' make sense.. from my experience, the top 3, like stanford, berkeley, MIT and probably CMU are in a totally different league, they're the elite. Other schools starting from rank no. 4/5 to rank no. 15 or so are almost the same, i mean it's a different league (call it league no. 2).. So you really can't say which school is good, it depends on what you want to study. that's the best way to go about selecting a grad school for yourself, and you'll see and learn this only when you take classes for couple of sems. and reaslise the diff. hope that helo, yo

Go for it - UIUC

from
huddeypuddey

[Neo2000]

Originally Posted by MentalGuy

Thanks neo ... I used to religiously read your blog when I had applied to BU .. but I wasn't so lucky there.

I really did not know about this no comparison rule. Anyway, I shall take my questions to the link you provided and try my luck there ...

And I am sure that you will be going this year .. isn't BU the only school you have applied to ?

Unfortunately, i just got dinged from BU too I really thought i would make it there.

The no-comparison rule primarily applies to the CAT section. I quote <will put name after consent>

I think you need to see moderation as slightly more subjective. Moderation on PG is not about completely flat rules where a rule is either followed or violated.

International MBA functions with a completely different set of variables than Indian MBA and I think you should try to understand it.

1. Firstly, unlike Indian schools, there is more to US MBA schools than just the placements... there are strong differentiating factors.

2. Secondly, aspirants going for International MBA don't fight like immature 15-year-olds when comparing b-schools, something that we see in Indian-MBA aspirants.

3. And because of the fact that a US MBA degree easily costs upwards of Rs 50 lakhs, it's a fair question for people to ask which out of 2-3 admits they should take.

I've applied to BU and Ross. Ross was an outright Ding and BU denied after interview. Now, am down to Rotman.

[wot_me_worry]

Dude HuddeyPuddey ..

I think you didn't realize but mentalguy here is trying to decided between the B-Schools of these universities. So the prestige of the Engg School would not really matter to someone who wants to decide/attend/recruit at the B-school.

@Mentalguy - Prospective UIUC classmate here. I am also deciding b/w
UIUC and Boston college. I have dropped a few schools from my list already due to the cost factor and had almost dropped UIUC too because of the deal I was getting at BC. Good Education, Location , Brand in Boston and inexpensive. However there are also some negatives about BC and after talking to someone from UIUC i got some good reviews about the place. I'd say the only way to decide b/w two schools is to talk to people with similar profiles from both the schools you'd applied to and gather each bit of information. Asking people on a forum for their verdict won't help because most of us will confidently tell you which school is better simply based on a a few facts and our perceptions. So although comparison threads such as this one produce some interesting reading material, trust only your research while taking the decision.

That said, @neo - what do you think about the idea of creating a child thread under the help desk thread. something like this perhaps International and Indian MBA schools accepting GMAT > Phoren B-school Assistance Desk > School - X vs. Y vs. Z > UIUC vs UW. Just a thought. Or have you guys explored and discarded that idea already?

Cheers!

Originally Posted by huddeypuddey

UIUC is better that Washington anyday. Who cares about the location, it's the education that matters. UIUC is also a great engineering school and I'm sure lots of companies are gonna be visiting all the time to recruit big time from that school..Urbana is Urbana man, the CS department is really good. Rankings is not a good criteria for selecting grad school and you'll see that when you experience grad school..Rankings is just a marketing thingie, but it has captivated and captured everyone and now everyone is starting to believe in it.. it's just a survey man by some guys who don't know jack about engineering, well do you believe in surveys??? or real facts like research impact etc... Also depends on what you like, do you like to study data bases? OS? Algorithms? computer archit?
from
huddeypuddey

[Neo2000]

Originally Posted by wot_me_worry

That said, @neo - what do you think about the idea of creating a child thread under the help desk thread. something like this perhaps International and Indian MBA schools accepting GMAT > Phoren B-school Assistance Desk > School - X vs. Y vs. Z > UIUC vs UW. Just a thought. Or have you guys explored and discarded that idea already?
Cheers!

The number of combinations this would throw up would be staggering no??

Not to mention, deciding which school to go to is more that just mere numbers. Its all down to personal decision and personal factors. There's a guy who cant seem to decide between Darden and B.U. whereas if you ask around most ppl would say pick Darden its ranked higher. However, the guy has a complete schol at B.U.

What about the dude who has to chose between W,HBS and Stanford? ( ok so W's out but of the remaining two?)

Too many factors that can make comparison a simple process.

[wot_me_worry]

Oh yes, a bazillion threads for comparing x, y, z schools under a common parent thread. Like i said, it does not help in the decision making process usually unless some genius dude, who had done a thorough research on each of the schools being compared, decides to help a fellow confused puy. However, these comparison thread are usually very very interesting to read and purely for this reason I'd try to create a separate platform for such discussions. If it doesn't work out/ turns chaotic then kill it! Who knows maybe it will click .

So are you done with your Rotman interview ?

Originally Posted by Neo2000

The number of combinations this would throw up would be staggering no??

Not to mention, deciding which school to go to is more that just mere numbers. Its all down to personal decision and personal factors. There's a guy who cant seem to decide between Darden and B.U. whereas if you ask around most ppl would say pick Darden its ranked higher. However, the guy has a complete schol at B.U.

What about the dude who has to chose between W,HBS and Stanford? ( ok so W's out but of the remaining two?)

Too many factors that can make comparison a simple process.

[Neo2000]

Originally Posted by wot_me_worry

. However, these comparison thread are usually very very interesting to read and purely for this reason I'd try to create a separate platform for such discussions.

Baa-aaad Boy!! You just looking to have some fun :-p
1 single thread to compare schools would turn chaotic

Originally Posted by wot_me_worry

So are you done with your Rotman interview ?

Have yet to submit an app to them. Should hopefully be done soon.